The Devil's Advocate

That would be me.

At least, that's how I feel at the moment.

I'm taking an online ethics class, and for extra credit, we can post in the online discussions about different ethical topics. In doing so, I've discovered that I really, really like to argue. No matter what the topic is, I will argue for the less popular side. I'll argue for the minority even if I don't agree with the minority. Why? I like stirring the pot. I like making people think.

Living in a community with a single predominate religion, I feel many in my area are too narrow-minded. Their thought processes are governed by what they've been taught their whole lives; everyone else is wrong. I hate that mindset.

Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of biases and I'm quite opinionated about certain topics. However, I try to understand the other side. In the case of morality, it isn't ever black and white. There are always shades of gray: the "what if" questions and the exceptions to the rules. If everything was black and white, there would be no need for government, no need for courts or judges. The world simply work. It doesn't work that way, though. People are different, products of circumstance and their environment. We think different, we act different, and that's the way it is. If we were all the same, what would be the point? It sounds like the premise of any dystopian novel or film.

So thank you Ethics class, for showing me that I like to argue. Perhaps a little too much, in this case. Something about the class just makes me want to oppose every idea thrown my way, to challenge it, to ask the "what if" questions.

If that makes me the Devil's Advocate, so be it.