I’m sure if I sat here long enough, I could think of so many answers to this question!
When I was younger, I felt extremely sure about a lot of things. But the older I get, the more I realize that I did not have it all figured out when I was 18 years old. Ha.
A few years ago, Just Mercy was our book club assignment. It’s by Bryan Stevenson, an attorney who has spent his life helping wrongfully convicted people on death row.
If you haven’t read it, I do highly recommend it. It’s sad and hard to read, but I thought it was really eye-opening, especially for me as a white person who doesn’t live in the south.
I could hardly believe that so many of the things he wrote about happened in my own lifetime; they seemed too horrible to be true and recent.
I know the debate about the death penalty tends to focus on whether or not the death penalty is ever ok to use. But after reading Just Mercy, I came to the conclusion that our justice system, as it stands, does not seem to be capable of fairly administering the death penalty.
In that case, where you land on the issue of the morality of the death penalty seems fairly irrelevant. Even if you support the death penalty philosophically, it doesn’t make sense to support it the use of it in a system that seems to be so often giving that sentence to innocent people.
Anyway. That book really changed how I thought about this whole issue.
Like you, soooo many things since my all-knowing adolescence. One thing, though, that I have become more and more adamant about over time: No plastic. HATE plastic. I grew up drinking from plastic cups and wearing polyester sweaters. Those things are no longer a part of my life and never will be again if I can help it. I have a very negative visceral feelings about it (things don’t taste good to me out of plastic, and I tried wearing an old polyester blend sweater and was all sweaty and clammy–it felt just as if I had wrapped myself in Saran Wrap), as well as now understanding the various environmental issues with those materials.
I agree with you! My daughter gets a rash from wearing too much polyester. I hate the way it feels.
I agree with both of you. The justice system has so much room for boondoggles. It’s pretty frightening. And, got to admit I’m not at a no-plastic stage, but I far and away prefer not to use it. We do like American cheese on sandwiches at our house, but our little store just stopped carrying the ones that aren’t wrapped in individual plastic sleeves, and those are a hard nope. Talk about an unnecessary use of plastic.
As far as changing my own opinion about something — gosh, I am just constantly wrong and revising what I think. I’ve gotten to where I think it’s easier not to have an opinion just because it’s sure to be wrong. There’s no way I can research enough to be right. (Among other things, I’m not in love with researching.)
I can’t claim to be NO plastic–that’s very hard to achieve in the modern age. I mean, I buy things at the grocery store, and that almost always involves plastic. Just that if there is an alternative, I will certainly take it.
I get it … I didn’t think long enough before wording that. We do have some plastic cups and some plastic, y’know, laundry baskets and stuff. I haven’t tried hard enough to get around plastic durables. But individually wrapped cheese slices — I can manage to avoid that.
Even the beef from the locker comes in plastic, but I can’t think of a way to get around that without risking significant spoilage.
Anyway. 🙂
I haven’t read this book yet, but it’s on my “To read” list. I heard Bryan Stevenson interviewed recently as he shared this book on Wisconsin Public Television.
I agree that our system is very flawed, because people are flawed. I think only God can make a decision on life…and after Mr. Stevenson’s interview I felt this all the more strongly.
I’ve changed my opinion on so many things since I was 18 I wouldn’t know where to start. Life has a way of changing opinions! One thing that hasn’t changed is being kind to others. Being kind can often lighten another’s burdens!
Oh…and I totally agree with the plastic issue too! 🙂
This book changed my life.
Totally agree- drinking from a plastic cup changes the taste of the drink! We definitely use less plastic at our house.
I love a good book recommendation and plan to read that book. I pride myself on my open mind but I must say I do have a strong opinion on the death penalty as my husband’s job investigates the worst of the worst crimes against children and women.
One thing I have changed my opinion and lifestyle on is our independence on growing our own food. It’s more economic and sustainable and healthy. And fun!
My feelings about the death penalty are mixed because I have had some odd connections with murderers and the death penalty. I worked as a researcher on death row of a penitentiary for a year when I was in grad school in the Midwest, so I spent a lot of time one on one with the men there (no women at that time). I came out of that experience feeling mixed, partly because some of those men were clearly intellectually deficient and others were born in circumstances that pretty much guaranteed they had no real chance in life. On the other hand there were men, sort of Ted Bundy types, who were evil, pure and simple, and society is lucky to be protected from them and executing them is the only way to make sure they never get out. Still, I felt like since some men would unjustly suffer if executed, that we should not execute anyone.
Then, a few years after I was back home, my friend and her husband were having a dispute with their landlord. One evening, as they were all sitting in the parents’ bed having the father read them a bedtime story, the landlord broke into the house and shot the father dead in front of the family. He went to prison and managed, if you can believe this, to escape, causing my friend more agony. He was recaptured, but if he had been executed they would not have been put through that torture.
Then, years later, a co-worker’s young daughter was murdered in a particularly grizzly way, and after hearing the circumstances and watching the father struggle to hold onto his sanity through the ordeal, I believe I would have had no trouble executing him myself. We do not have the death penalty in this state and I believe the family will suffer as long as the killer is alive.
(I know this makes Fairbanks seem like some sort of murder center, but killings are relatively rare here.) So, in the end, I still have mixed feelings but if I knew that the system were free of prejudice and some innocent people would not be executed, I would probably be all for it.
To get back on topic, the book that really changed my mind about a topic is Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. It really showed how difficult it is for the already poor to get and keep decent housing. While I still believe that many people are their own worst enemies when it comes to their finances, I had no idea how predatory some landlords and laws are and that there are often systemic reasons that keep people down. I am not talking about race, although that happens as well, but about how easily people can get caught up in a legal system that is incomprehensible to them and they do not have the money to hire a translator (meaning, a lawyer) to help them negotiate through it.
That WAS a great, very troubling book.
I tend not to get worked up anymore about my own opinions or how they are perceived – they change as my life experiences change me. So the way I think about something today may not be what I think tomorrow, but I allow myself to have my thoughts and opinions regardless. I think everyone is entitled to their opinions, whether or not someone else thinks they are justified. I read a quote once that said “what people think of you is none of your business”. Conversely, you aren’t justified in seeking to change others’ thoughts. I believe strongly in free will, but also that society has the right to put rules in place that ensure the success of the majority. Everyone lives in their own head, and everyone has their own reality.
I can’t even remember all of the things. . . so many. One thing I’m in wonder of right now is this: When I was younger, I loved reading “easy” books– romances, quick reads, etc. The assigned reading in high school was read by me because it was assigned. I didn’t pick up many classics. Then I became a literature major in college. Still didn’t pick up the “classics” on my own. Now many years later, I really don’t like the quick read sort of book or popular contemporary fiction at all; I’m gobbling up as many classics as I can, and they’re not even the ones I’m assigning my children to read for our homeschool.
When I taught in public school, my attitude was, “It doesn’t matter what they’re reading, so long as they’re reading.” Now I think very differently (though I don’t think only classics are good books).
I used to believe people were generally good. Now I look back at that belief and wonder just how I could’ve been so incredibly stupid.
And I was raised to think that people were more bad than good- always needing to be watching, worrying, suspecting, controlling, etc. Now I feel that there are many more good, well-meaning people who may be very flawed, but ultimately a force for good is more powerful.