Ontological Perspectives

Law school, I'm sure no one will be surprised to hear, is full of arguing. Yesterday, we were assigned a practice problem in my Contract class, and all morning, the lounge was abuzz with people debating their answers. I won't bore you with that they thought they were, suffice to say:

optioncontractunderrestatement25or45butwhatwastheconsiderationdoyouneedconsiderationforanoptioncontractyesnomaybedoesshehavelegalactionyesnomaybewasthiscommonlaworucc etc.

And while it may seem appropriate for law students to debate and natural for people to want to argue and try to persuade one another in one direction or the other, But consider this, arguing with the assumption that you are right and your brother is wrong is a judgement. You are judging him.

Romans 14 reminds us, "who are you to pass judgement on someone..," and goes on to discuss difference of opinion. Not about religion or the Lord, but about the importance of the days of the week and eating a variety of foods or just vegetables. "Let everyone be fully persuaded in his own mind." Which I took to mean, respect one another's opinion.

The US seems to be at each other's throats lately with the arrival presidential candidates debates and the surplus of candidates we have this year for the primaries. And while I try to avoid politics, I thought we could springboard this into an issue of respecting another man's opinion, because you are not his judge in the first place.

One of the most important lessons I learned during my undergrad (in a women's studies class), was the idea of life experience and how it alters perceptions. Which seems painfully obvious, but when
you are reading books from all over the world by authors with all kinds of life experience that you cannot possibly relate to without experiencing it, it helps to remember what and where they are coming from. Their opinion, your opinion, my opinion has been shaped by their own unique life experiences-their personal ontological process.

Which means the art of persuasion, to persuade someone to think or act a certain way... Don't do it. Let everyone think their own thoughts. God will pass judgement for them when the time comes, but it isn't your problem to deal with. It isn't your place to persuade someone. You can have conversations, lively debates, offer your experiences, but when it is all said and done, their ontology allows them the opportunity to form their own opinions- regardless of or in light of what you have said and done around them.

Tota tua,

LeAnn