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| English: Cat Play-fight (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Do You Want to Fight?
This is a wishy washy post. In other words I don't want to bring up any specific issues about what I believe or about which I have opinions. We all have some sort of belief and probably most of us have strong opinions about certain specific issues. These beliefs and opinions may concern matters of major consequence to society or they may be irrelevant to most people. The point is that there are matters of disagreement that we all have with someone somewhere. Do we defend our stance on an issue or do we cede to the side with the loudest or most persistent voices?
My blog often will present debatable topics that have some degree of controversy. This can be risky when it comes to retaining readers and not sending them off in anger, distaste, or some sense where they feel that my blog does not fit it with what they want to read. I take that chance in the interest of discussion as well as the increase of knowledge and understanding. My greatest desire is to find thoughtful readers who enjoy discussion among those with differing viewpoints.
There are, however, certain topics that I do not address here and probably won't because they are such hot-button issues that they will target me from the opposing side causing more flack than I care to deal with as a blogger. I don't have the stamina or heart to take up certain battles.
Then there have been a few battles that I have taken on because I felt a confidence that many readers were on my side and my discussing the topics would not create any significant opposition that would overly affect me in an adverse way. I won't name those topics, but I will say that the nature of them has been so absurd in many ways that arguing against them has mostly been an exercise in futility with a bit of debate entertainment thrown in the mix.
The blog battles that I have enjoyed the most so far are the Battle of the Bands posts that I do here every 1st and 15th of the month. Otherwise I'm not here to battle any issues in a fierce combative manner that goes on and on. Some topics may crop up more than once and there are some that I may never talk about. I won't name any of them here in this post.
Why Do We Pick a Side?
Let me present to you some sketchy thoughts on choosing sides and why we might choose battles to fight. This is a much more vast topic than I want to address in this post so I'll present them as a list. A few things that we base our decisions on:
1) Feelings
2) Unwillingness to accept personal accountability
3) Self-centered me-ism
4) What we think others think
5) What we think others will think about us
6) Our cultivated morality or lack of morality.
7) Rebellion against traditional values or alignment with societal norms
8) To feel accepted and to be part of a movement
9) The platform of our politics
10) What will benefit us individually or the needs of a group with which we affiliate ourselves.
What other reasons for decision making when forming opinions can you think of? Do you have causes that you feel strongly enough about to take action for or against? What kinds of causes will you risk taking up even with the knowledge that you might be labeled in some way? Do you avoid discussing your advocacies on your blog or do you tend to be open about your beliefs? Are there any types of opinions that would make you stop reading what a blogger had to say? What causes have you seen taken up that you would consider dumb or frivolous?
Thursday #AZchat
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| Twitter Logo (Photo credit: Jon Gosier) |
Hope you can join us tomorrow (Thursday March 20th) at 1 PM and 8 PM Eastern U.S. Time for our weekly Twitter chats. The previous ones have been fun and informational. Topics relevant to the April Challenge are introduced and addressed by A to Z Team members. If you have a question that you've been wondering about, this is a good time to ask. If you've never joined in on a Twitter chat this is a good way to find out what they're all about. Hope to see you there.
A to Z Theme Reveal
It's not too late to sign up for the A to Z Theme Reveal coming up Friday March 21st. This is the event where you tell us about the theme you've chosen for the Blogging from A to Z 2014 April Challenge. It's a good way to get a head start on the Challenge and let other bloggers get to know you better. If you've already revealed your theme you can still sign up since there are undoubtedly many bloggers who still don't know what you're doing. Introduce yourself and your blog to the A to Z participants. To sign up you can go to A to Z Theme Reveal.
