Why Opinions Are So Dangerous

During an election cycle, the world abounds with opinions. Candidates express their opinions non-stop about how to fix Washington – and about their opponents. Caucus-goers weigh those opinions against their own; they express them in polls and focus groups and in the voting booth.

Here’s the problem – well, there are two. First, has the world gotten any better for all these opinions? Has Washington gotten fixed? Second, opinions are not facts. We convince ourselves that they are, but it’s not so. Opinions may be based on fact, but which facts? All of them, or just the ones you’ve heard, or just the ones that your personality has deemed acceptable because they align with what you already deeply believe? If you’ve ever heard of the book Lying With Statistics, you have an idea of what I’m saying. If you have studied the Enneagram, you really get what I’m saying.

Opinions determine elections. In courts, they are written down and read, and they can change law. Opinions can make or break relationships; if I love you but hate your opinions, the relationship is unlikely to last. Or, if I am convinced that my opinions represent objective fact, then I am right, and you are not. That makes you inferior, and who wants to be with someone inferior?

That’s what makes opinions so dangerous. We can get to the point that we believe them so strongly that we devalue those who don’t share them. We might even demonize those people.

So then, are we supposed to not have opinions, stand for and believe in nothing? Not at all! People with strong opinions can sometimes do courageous, amazing things that change the world for good. But here’s what would be awesome: to begin to recognize the personality sieve through which we filter the world. To see that we are not necessarily objective. Or infallible. Or superior. To begin to understand that all human beings are precious and beloved of God, regardless of their opinions. To see that our opinions do not—cannot—define who we are, because we are more glorious and beloved and valuable than something as small as opinions could ever make us.

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