Kylie Grunsfeld, Opinions & Humor Editor
During COVID, I found myself in a hyper-liberal bubble of the internet. My algorithms were consistently pushing videos made by creators who shared views similar to mine. It resulted in a very unbalanced perception of the average political alignment in this country, especially among people my age.
Isolated as I was, when I went back to school after lockdown, I was shocked to find that my peers were actually a lot less tolerant than I expected. I did not know how to approach them with anything less than bewilderment, which would quickly turn to frustration. If I ever tried to have a genuine debate, I was at a loss. I had no earthly idea how their brains worked or how to deliver my own opinions in a way that was not, frankly, patronizing. There is very little a person hates more than being patronized, especially during a conversation about society and/or politics.
This goes both ways. Whether you are left-leaning, right-leaning or identify with neither side, the ability to understand is an important tool to have. When people chastise a publication for including an article written by someone whose opinion differs from their own, sometimes they forget that, just like in movies and television, depiction does not equal endorsement.
Understanding opposing attitudes can be instrumental in strengthening your own belief system.
I remember once in high school, a Latter-day Saints classmate of mine explained to me and a group of classmates the church’s belief system. Being non-religious and a skeptic, it was definitely out of my comfort zone to listen to him go into detail about something so antithetical to what I believe to be true.
This interaction is very vivid to me not because he changed my mind in any way, but because I now understand something that I previously refused to. Before, offering up my attention felt like admitting defeat. But because I understand his perspective better, I feel more ready and able to engage in a conversation (or debate) with someone who shares the same belief system — or more specifically, one who weaponizes those beliefs to try and strip the rights and dignities from other human beings.
In the same vein, when it comes to publishing the articles we do, our intention is not so much to convert or convince, but rather to introduce ideas and provide explanations. Why does this opinion exist? Where is it coming from? What life experience led to that perspective?
Again, we do not endorse every opinion we publish, but for the reasons above, we still feel that they are worth reading. That being said: if we ever receive a submission that is discriminatory, harmful or clearly done in bad faith, there is a line. It helps no one to platform opinions of people who have bad intentions or are spreading mis/disinformation.
VCU is home to a plethora of students from different ethnic, cultural and economic backgrounds. Therefore, it only makes sense that this paper and this section — made by students for students — would reflect that as well.
I am not here to take a stance on which opinions are right and which are wrong. I am not even here to insist you agree with me after reading this. Only to say that though a given opinion may not be true to us, it is to the person who wrote it. By asking why, we may realize things we would not have otherwise — about the world around us and ourselves.