This is a thought that's been rattling around a while.. then something happened that clarified it for me. We know we should respect people's opinions, even if they are different from our own - that suits me as long as no one's in danger and no one's going to get hurt. But what happens when an opinion is being professed as if it were fact? It gets messy there.. people will often believe their opinion is fact.. it's very common.
So, what happens when we discover an opinion that's based on a misunderstanding of facts, or on false facts? We are told we should respect other's opinions... but shouldn't we try to educate people if they base the opinion on something that is factually incorrect?
Here's an example.. a person on another site posted about rescue kitties...There was a kitty who was 15 in the shelter and in this person's opinion the rescue centre workers should euthanise the kitty and put it out of it's misery. The poster's opinion was based on the belief that felines only life to around 12-16. So that's an example of where the opinion was based on false information.. Felines can live anywhere between 16-22 or more.. Knowing that would put a different slant on things.
I guess my feeling is that opinions are one thing.. facts another. and if there are facts that substantially alter things then personally, I would always want to know. I can, have and will again change what I think in the light of new, convincing and checkable facts :) I guess it's something I feel strongly about.. that we can have as many opinions as we want to .. .and we do... but if they are in contradiction to the facts then we should be prepared to learn and revise our opinions in the light of new information..
Randy D 