Time to speak up.

You know, I think I've come to a decision. What really makes me upset lately is not so much some people's ignorance. It's people's willful ignorance. Take for example, a certain person I know. (And you all know at least one, so don't pretend you don't relate.) This person has, apparently 'figured it all out'. In a less than 10 minute conversation with him, I found out that:

1. Barack Obama is a Muslim. (No he isn't.)
2. Atheists believe this world came from nothing. (No we don't.)
3. AT&T is evil. (No, just too bloated and scattered to be efficient.)
4. The Koran is a book about how to hate America. (I doubt that.)

I could go on, but I stopped actually listening to him at that point. Actually, I think I stopped listening to him right about the time he said...

Him: "The Koran is just a book to teach them how to hate America."
Me: "Really? I wouldn't know, I've never read the Koran."
Him: "Well, I've never read it either... but I read about it on the internet!"

I am not making this up. The fact is, the information is out there for those who want to actually check their facts. I'm certain he knows perfectly well that he could Google editions of the Koran if he wanted to. He just chooses not to.

Same for the various facts about Barack Obama. They are all well within checking, yet most people, like my inauspicious acquaintance, refuse to do so.

Why? Why is it so hard to just do a little fact checking? I think it boils down to a simple reason, that I feel compelled to reiterate again. Given what I just witnessed: As people, we tend to fear what we don't understand. That fear often turns into aggression, since we are threatened by our fears. Aggression becomes hatred, and ignorance feeds hatred like gasoline feeds fire. I suggest we all work backwards through that chain, towards some understanding. Now. Before we get burned.

Thanks.
-D.