A time and Place not far from here

There is a timeless piece of advice on etiquette, that is often revolves around a well dressed dinner table, that goes "Don't discuss Religion or Politics". Why? Because people's opinions on these subjects are often strong, personal, held dearly and tend to resemble a child clutching their favourite toy, unwilling to share.

But though this rule may of started out to preserve the peace at Victorian dinner parties, where lets not forget that a major disagreement could end in pistols at dawn, It has slowly but surely simply became a rule of life. No longer do you need to be within arms length of a tea-cosy to be limited in what you might talk about amongst friends, Now we carry the dinner table around with us wherever we go, Just like Zarathustra's corpse.

Religion and Politics are, it seems, simply off limits.

I've seen people proclaim that Religion isn't something to be talked about on facebook, I've seen entire forums almost visibly flinch when those subjects are brought up, people will cower from discussing it directly but will find boundless energy with which to police the tone of those that do wish to discuss it, and obviously the almighty dinner table is as off limits as it has ever been.

But you may notice something of a trend here, an irony; Facebook, Forums, Social gatherings - They are all based entirely on conversation and sharing thoughts and opinions. Facebook is a place MADE to share your thoughts, your feelings, your life...but not on religion or politics. A Forum is made specifically to be a marketplace of idea's, an exchange of thoughts and opinions between anyone...but not on religion or politics. Dinner parties are usually between close friends, comfortable with each other, where the only entertainment is conversation...but not on religion or politics.

But religion and politics effect everyone, everyone has an opinion on them to some degree or another and a persons opinion on these matters can reveal a lot about a persons integrity, their ethics, their view of the universe and our collective place within it...and much more besides.

Where else are we supposed to discuss these topics, when "amongst friends" and "in places made for discussion" are off limits? Where even an attempt at bringing these subjects to the forefront of discussion are looked down upon. Where trying to engage with another human being on subjects deeper than what happened on last nights "America's next top Hooker" will net you little more than dismissive lectures on tone, or appropriateness.

And lets look again at the "Justifications" for avoiding these subjects, they can be summed up as off limits for the simple reason of "Well, they matter to me"; Yet this is a reason NOT to discuss them! Madness! It is as if we want to live in a superficial, shallow, fantasy world. Where everybody agrees, everybody gets along and nobody has to go through the pain of being wrong if we make it a sin to suggest it is even a possibility they're wrong.

And its something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. People get flustered, worked up and easily offended by dissenting opinions because they're rarely, if ever, confronted with them...and this somehow justifies not confronting them.

The opposite is true. If we did that, not only would we be able to have meaningful conversations with people without offense, but we would also have a greater understanding of the people we surround ourselves with and share this planet with.

Alternatively, however, you could always just keep clutching your prized firetruck, whimpering that no one else is allowed to play with it and never truly grow up.

~CleverCarbon