Have you noticed that people seem more divided in beliefs than ever before?

Every day it seems that there is some new quest to have some professor fired for having beliefs different than the majority. Heck, it has spilled over into the entertainment field.

I came across this exchange posted on Imgur and it just brought this whole thing to mind. A woman wants the network to fire Mike Rowe from narrating a show because of what she believes Mike is.

She wrote that Mike was “anti-education, science doubting, ultra-right wing conservative” and that he had no place on the Science Channel.

I was introduced to him from his show “Dirty Jobs” and, ever since, felt that he was a straight-up man of integrity. His actions in the years since have only shown him to be so.

I have included the screenshot of the interaction between Mike and his accuser Rebecca below. I know it is long, but it does show the thinking of a man with strong beliefs – and how Rebecca reacts shows her character in comparison.

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Where Do You Stand?

Rebecca is just one person in a huge group that now believes that a person should be fired for their beliefs. Oh, I mean for having beliefs that you don't subscribe to. The actual job performance is not important – just get a lot of “group-think” people.

That is always good for new ideas. /sarcasm

Have you noticed that everything you read, hear, or watch from a news outlet is basically reinforcing a certain view of life? It wasn't always this way. Years ago the news stated the facts, objectively. Nowadays that doesn't sell. At least in America.

You can't discuss an issue from both sides in the news as you only make both sides angry. The news outfit ends up with hardly an audience. So they now all fall to one side or the other. You have FOX news on one side and all the rest on the other.

It's a main reason I don't bother with the news anymore – it is only there to capture eyeballs, not to discuss real issues.

Everything is made for the audience that says “I agree with everything you say. I want to hear more to make myself feel more right.” It is just a source of validation.

Sad really. There is so much the human race has learned from listening and discussing viewpoints different than what we current had.

This close-mindedness only creates stress and anger as they try with all the fury they have to keep the other belief at bay. They just won't allow any crack to appear on this world belief they have built. Their world is the only correct way. A closed mind.

People with closed minds are like the Grinch's heart at the start of the story – they have a mind that's “a dead tomato splotched with moldy purple spots “ and “full of unwashed socks, a soul full of gunk.”

As far as I see it, there is only two ways this goes. Either this problem just gets worse, or we as individuals can decide to lighten up and see what this world has in the way of new ideas.

If you want to become more open-minded, here is what I ask you to do.

Stop reading just one side of an issue. For just a few minutes per day, read something from another angle from which you would normally seek. Read or watch something with different points of view to your predominate one.

I'm not asking you to agree with what they are saying, but just to listen. Try to see where they are coming from.

Do this long enough and something happens. Your mind opens up and expands (three sizes they say). You become less stressed and angry. It helps you become a more patient and relaxed person.

Finally, you end up becoming more philosophic and logical as you process multiple angles of an issue.

Go on, give it a shot! I have and it has worked wonders for me.