Disappointment
Jun. 1st, 2009 06:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missroseroseI realize that abortion is a hot-button issue and everyone's got an opinion on it, and that's fine, but...
...when one posts a link to an article relating to a very specific aspect of the whole debate, is it completely bollocks to think that people might read and think about the content of that article, and respond to the content of the article rather than just posting their opinion about abortion in general?
There are plenty of forums to express opinions on abortion, and I'm more than familiar with most of the arguments one way or another. Frankly, the reason I posted the link was because I was interested in getting people's thoughts on the specific subject of the article, which brought up an idea not often seen in the debate. Instead, it seems everyone just saw the word "abortion" (and maybe "Tiller") and gave a knee-jerk Pavlovian reaction.
Maybe I'm expecting a bit much from folks on the Internet - I know a lot of people don't go to LiveJournal to think. But still, it's a bit discouraging seeing how easily manipulated people's feelings can be (and I'm including myself here, I know I'm prone to it too) just by bringing up one or two loaded terms. It's why I always make doubly sure to rethink anything I might say regarding a subject I feel strongly about, because it's so very easy to get wrapped up in your feelings and completely miss the actual point someone might be trying to make.
...when one posts a link to an article relating to a very specific aspect of the whole debate, is it completely bollocks to think that people might read and think about the content of that article, and respond to the content of the article rather than just posting their opinion about abortion in general?
There are plenty of forums to express opinions on abortion, and I'm more than familiar with most of the arguments one way or another. Frankly, the reason I posted the link was because I was interested in getting people's thoughts on the specific subject of the article, which brought up an idea not often seen in the debate. Instead, it seems everyone just saw the word "abortion" (and maybe "Tiller") and gave a knee-jerk Pavlovian reaction.
Maybe I'm expecting a bit much from folks on the Internet - I know a lot of people don't go to LiveJournal to think. But still, it's a bit discouraging seeing how easily manipulated people's feelings can be (and I'm including myself here, I know I'm prone to it too) just by bringing up one or two loaded terms. It's why I always make doubly sure to rethink anything I might say regarding a subject I feel strongly about, because it's so very easy to get wrapped up in your feelings and completely miss the actual point someone might be trying to make.
