Let's think about that

I acknowledge that a lot of what's in this post comes from the wisdom of others.

Someone says "The illegals are coming into the country and taking our jobs."

Let's think about that.  Someone can't really just take a job.  They have to apply, usually be interviewed, sign paperwork.  Were you standing in line for the busboy job and just as you were about to be hired, a Honduran stepped in front of you and grabbed the hire slip?  The premise is bogus.

Someone says "Late term abortions are horrible, murder, criminal."

Let's think about that.  If a woman is in the last trimester of her pregnancy, she has probably already chosen a name for her child, bought clothes and a basinet, painted the nursery.  Late term abortions are not done casually.  They are tragic.  They are based on there being a serious threat to the health of the mother or a serious defect in the fetus.

Someone says "The Jan. 6 rioters weren't Trump supporters, they were Antifa or Black Lives Matter or Democrats pretending to be Trump supporters."

Let's think about that.  Do you think it's possible that Antifa or BLM adherents or Democrats wanted to disrupt the election certification and keep Donald Trump as President?  That's completely backward.

Someone says "There's evidence for massive voter fraud, even if no one has presented it."

Let's think about that.  If you were accused of a crime, would you want the prosecuting attorneys to say "We have evidence of this person's guilt.  We'll present it a few years down the road.  But we really do have it.  We promise."  Wouldn't you want there to be clear, concrete evidence, undeniable proof of your wrongdoing before you could be convicted?

Someone says "Homosexuality is disgusting, it should be illegal."

Let's think about that.  I happen to find your attitude disgusting.  Does that mean I get to make your attitude illegal?

Too often it's easy to get caught up in a strongly voiced or cunningly phrased assertion, but almost always, all it takes is going one question further to start to unravel that assertion.  Perhaps that is a key to having conversations that actually have substance.  There are too many meme-driven opinions strangling critical thought these days.  Time to look deeper.