Prompt:
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
The common idea that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion is just plain wrong. People often voice opinions that are based on emotion rather than logic. Such opinions may reveal a serious ignorance of the facts. Of course, free expression should not be suppressed, but factually incorrect opinions are not worthy of respect, no matter how passionately they are uttered.
Assignment:
Are emotionally based opinions worthy of respect? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
Response:
Mary Tomlin once rightly remarked, “Sentiment obscures more than dementia. I’d pick being senile and wrong any day of the week over being emotional and wrong” More often than not, instances from literature and history demonstrate that emotionally based opinions are not only incorrect, but extremely hazardous as well. Such opinions cloud one’s judgment and make it unworthy of respect or attention.
In J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Faramir, the steward of the kingdom of Rohan, convinces his army of little more than 1000 soldiers to fight the army of Sauron, which is 10 times stronger. He does not wish to join hands with the king of Gondor because of a long-standing feud. All of Faramir’s soldiers are killed in battle simple because he let his emotions rule over his head. Faramir was too vain to let go and mistook his foolishness for valor and honor—things he was passionate—too passionate—about. Had Faramir looked at the plain facts, the lives of his soldiers would not have been lost and he would have commanded more respect.
As illustrated in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Boxer, the bravest of the pigs on the farm decides to forsake his life for his vague idea of courage. Boxer’s thoughts are seriously obfuscated by what he believes to be nobility and bravery. In order to persuade the other animals to fight back against humans, Boxer valiantly walks into the slaughterhouse with the intention of having a duel with the farmer, killing him and hopefully emerging unscathed. However, Boxer does not survive and is killed by the farmer. This goes to show that Boxer’s ignorance of logic in favor of what he believes to be courage ultimately kills him.
During the Egyptian wars of 1131, King Tutankhamen lost his kingdom and any respect that he ever commanded. King Tut was an ardent believer in Fate and chose to make every strategic move based on the advice of an oracle. Even as things went from bad to worse and it became obvious that King Tut would lose the war against King Ra if he did not start doing something rational, King Tut continued to trust the oracle. As it turned out at the end of the war, after King Tut had lost everything, the oracle was a spy of King Ra’s. Even though King Tut had everyone in his kingdom convinced that they were the “chosen ones” and that Fate favored them, the war was lost.
These instances from literature and history demonstrate that people who opine based on sentiment should not be trusted, much less respected.