By Nicholas Peters

I enjoy reading political articles in my spare time. My political beliefs are of a liberal nature, as I very much identify with the Democratic Party. As a result, you can imagine how confused my friend was when he saw me reading from a more traditionally conservative website. The article in question was discussing President Barack Obama in a rather negative light. He asked why I was reading a negative article about Obama, when he thought I liked him.

While I do like our current president, I do not subscribe to the notion of getting roped into a single train of thought. I wholeheartedly believe that it is unhealthy to not look at both sides in any debate.

This is why, when it comes to politics, I do my best to learn more about the issues on each side of an election. While you do not have to agree with certain beliefs, it is better to find out what makes said beliefs appealing as opposed to writing them off entirely.

On the political spectrum, people tend to identify as liberal or conservative and almost always stick to that set of beliefs. They will only read articles that reinforce that in which they already believe. This is dangerous, as it continues to create a sense of belief that they are on the correct side of the spectrum. In their minds, the other side is comprised of “bad guys” who are misguided and plainly wrong.

But how can someone write off a side as wrong if they have not given the other side a chance? This is why I was reading a negative article about Obama, a president of whom I approve for the most part. I thought it was important to understand why people do not like our president. Despite the fact that I did not agree, the article did give me a better understanding of a view contrary to my own. Our political leanings need to be completely well rounded and well educated in order to have constructive debate on the betterment of our country.

This is not relevant to only politics, and can be applied to much more. One such area where it is necessary to do this is religion. Many are born into a certain faith, and will never leave the comfort of said faith. This is not a bad thing, as I was born an Orthodox Christian and I do not think I will ever leave the church. However, I still want to understand what other faiths believe, not just what society says they believe.

There are many people who would now write off Islam as being a religion of hate, yet they have read the Quran. When I mentioned to some of my more devoutly Christian friends that the Quran mentions Jesus Christ, they were shocked. They thought that Islam was a religion completely different from Christianity and did not realize that both religions share many commonalities.

By taking a little bit of time to understand other ideologies, I have become a more tolerant person. As mentioned earlier, I will probably never leave the religion I grew up observing. However, now that I know more about the religions of others, I can say with confidence that I considered them. I am also a more tolerant person. Many people have biased beliefs towards certain groups, like Muslims, even though they have never taken the time to better understand the official views of the Muslim religion. If people were more accepting and understanding about groups with which they were not familiar, there would probably be fewer hate crimes in our society. Ignorance will only continue to hurt and hold back the United States from growing as a progressive society for everyone, just as its mantra supposedly claims.

We should not just do this for religion and politics, but even for how we entertain ourselves. So many people will only stick to certain music and movie genres that they enjoy, and never give other genres a chance. I can be accused of this, as I (like many others) have not really given country music a chance, because I have a perception of country music as something I would not enjoy. But there are qualities that other people find enjoyable in it. Even if you do not like a genre, if you give it a chance, you might end up with a couple of new songs and movies that become your favorites.

Food is another part of your life in which it is good to diversify your tastes. Many are often discouraged from trying new foods because of the way it smells or the way it looks. However, just like music and movies, you may try Indian food and find that curry is your favorite cuisine now. As children, our palletes are extremely limited and and narrow. As we get older and become more accustomed to other foods, we diversify what we enjoy and dislike. Even something as simple as trying other foods helps us to be more respectful of other cultures and traditions.

I recommend that you challenge yourself and do things that might make you uncomfortable. This helps you become more tolerant, likeable and personable. It is great to diversify yourself and to think about other people’s beliefs. It is helpful to understand what others see in their beliefs and why they like certain things. Empathy is far more helpful and appreciated than the often condescending and ignorant sympathy.

My advice is to dip your feet into new and foreign things. You do not have to like it, but at least you gave it the chance, and hopefully came out understanding why others like it.

Try something you do not normally eat at the cafeteria here on campus. Read an opinion piece in this very section that you might not agree with and consider the author’s points before you automatically write it off. Attend other religious services. Diversify your beliefs in order to make yourself a more tolerant and well-rounded person.