Accepting the opinions of others

My friend Krista jotted a Facebook post down about a friend writing about Satan being behind the acceptance of homosexuals in our country today.

I'm not going to touch on that topic, but it did give me pause to think about the lack of discourse in our country.
There is such a lack of nuance in discussion and that's because of a dwindling amount of deep thinking.

Whether the discussion is homosexuals being allowed to marry, Religious matters, our country's fiscal matters (debt, budget, etc) and even to things like who should quarterback the Cleveland Browns, there is a disturbing rigidity in people as they just don't feel the need for any type of understanding of the other side.

Often times, an immovable stance is taken, poured in concrete and no movement occurs.
Doesn't anyone grow with more information?
Doesn't it make you a better person to say "I see what you are saying and even though I disagree with most of your take, I can see why you believe that way and I understand a little more now than I did before"?
Anytime that there is nuance and trust me in the large majority of opinions there should be, the ability to look beyond your own opinion enables growth.

I'll give you an example-Early on in writing this blog, I was critical of Hagerstown Suns general manager Will Smith.
Often savagely critical to the point of looking biased, I stand by the opinions that I had of his job performance and attitude, but I sometimes didn't look deep enough into why Smith acted a certain way, his reason for his decision making and the stresses he was under.
I still think he was not a good general manager and not a wonderful person, but nuance comes into play here-maybe I was at fault for not adding perspective or seeing a few of his points.

Just try to be a little more open with discussion.
You can maintain an opinion, just try to see where the other person is coming from and maybe even on occasion get a little enlightenment.
A little understanding can go a long way if you just open up and take a closer look.