Is Ignorance an Excuse?

Growing up in the South, I have been surrounded with the various Confederate flags and monuments my whole life and have always loved the history.  Since Confederate history is not taught in the classrooms, much of what I and others know about the Confederacy was learned through personal reading.

So I get frustrated with people when they do not understand the history of the South and the Confederacy. I, and others like me, sum it up to ignorance and leave it there.

But we cannot afford to do that anymore. Getting frustrated with ignorance is useless. Does it really do any good to get mad at someone for something they do not understand?

Conservatives do this with liberals, and liberals do this to conservatives. If I had a nickel for every time I heard a conservative call a liberal ignorant or vice versa, I would be able to pay off the national debt!

But we do not and cannot know everything.  So in a sense, ignorance defines our beliefs. And for me to get angry because of that is clearly illogical. Conservatives need to try and protect ourselves from condescension when we sometimes imply that people would be conservative if they only learned a little bit more.

If an argument about the causes of the Civil War is laced with arrogance and a belief that only your own view is based on legitimate understanding, remember this: people have reasons for believing what they do.  That doesn’t make them right, but you need to respect your opponent’s argument for an honest debate to occur.