nickhindes - It's my right to be right

I think I maybe a bit obstinate. Possibly, slightly combative. Sometimes far too aggressive for some individual's liking.

We could be discussing the merit of authors such as Margaret Atwood and Salmon Rushdie, why U.S. politics should cease to be two party, or how certain "Christian" literature is utter nonsense, how U.S. citizens do no give football (soccer) a fair chance as a national sport, or why people seem to love to hate the Big Ten Conference, especially the University of Michigan. There is a possibility you may have even had a conversation like this with me. And there is an even higher possibility you have gotten frustrated with the conversation and mentally checked out.

I sometimes have that affect on people.

I have a strong opinion. More than that, I want to be right. I like being right. It is not enough to be liked I have to be right. I mean you feel good when you are right. It gives you a sense of entitlement and pride. You are better than other because you are right. Sounds good, doesn't it?

It all started back in college. I was a political science/history major, who was looking forward to being a professor not a middle school teacher (the jokes on me). I took some classes on World Politics more so on Global Issues and U.S. Foreign policy. This is where I learned how to debate, to defend and promote a position. It came natural to be combative, and boisterous and opinionated. I should have gotten into law or became a lobbyist. I think I would have made a great lobbyist.

Aside from learning how to defend a position, I learned how to prove I was right. I became antagonistic. I used to pick debates every time someone else defended a weak position. I was unstoppable.

I started noticing that people were resenting me. To be quite honest I was called a jerk. In fact, there was a myriad of obscenities I was called, but those I cannot post here on this blog. Not very PG if you catch my drift. The fact was simple, I liked to be right and no one else seemed to care.

Then one of my mentors posed a question that has lingered like cigarette smoke: Why was being right so important?

Great question. I mean why was being right so important? I mean I thought it was. Still the question stayed with me. It provoked other questions: Why was it all right for me to critic and lambaste individuals for their opinions and views? Was any of this justifiable? Was being right worth risking integrity, being positive, and being influential?

Nope.

I mean I thought being right was great, yet now it seemed so frivolous. It meant nothing to be right. Nothing. Nada. Just another cyclical argument/debate that never resolved anything. Just a glorified pissing match, nothing more.

So I leave with you with this:

Why is being right so important?

Check out my guest post today on my dad, Michael Hindes' blog. Also check out his blog on "Kingdom Living in a Post-Modern World."