Yesterday I had a very interesting and in my opinion very fun University 1010 class. Before we even started class our teacher told us to raise our write hand. We said “I swear I will not hurt Ms. Joy.” As the entire class drew confused looks the teacher said we would be debating controversial topics. I was both excited, but concerned. While I myself enjoy these types of debates, I know some people can get really heated and it can end up in not being such a great idea. I am very glad our teacher did this however, as these types of conversations are very important in college. I believe it is a very good learning experience not only to hear other peoples views on different subjects, but also to learn how to be tolerant when it comes to those differing views. We discussed four major topics with scenarios for each to get a wide array of views. The first topic we went over was capital punishment. To voice our initial opinion the teacher split up the room into thirds. On side was yes or I agree. The middle was maybe or I’m not sure. The other side was no or I disagree. For capital punishment I went to the yes side. The class was pretty evenly spread on this topic. She then narrowed the topic to if your favorite relative was sentenced to capital punishment. Most people moved to the maybe and no side at this point. I stayed on the yes side thinking, “Well if my ‘favorite’ relative killed someone, they wouldn’t be my favorite relative anymore.” I feel capital punishment is cheaper than keeping someone in prison, which is nicer than living on the street. I also feel the person they killed didn’t get a second chance, so why should they? The teacher then brought up abortion. Being in the south I knew no one would say yes, so I ended up being the only person saying yes, it should be legal. I’m not saying I believe abortion is always the right choice, but I feel as humans we have a right to do what we want with our bodies and the law shouldn’t constrain that (as long as it is not harming ourselves). People moved as the teacher changed the scenarios, but for the most part my fellow classmates seemed to drift to the no side. The third topic was gay and lesbians. Again, I was on the yes side for all three scenarios. The first was should it be allowed. Most every student said yes. The second was should they be allowed to adopt. Almost every student said yes except for one who had the excuse, which I see as illegitimate, that the couple would abuse the child if it was the same sex. The third scenario was marriage. This is where the class split up. I stayed on the yes side, but the more religious students felt that it was wrong due to the bible saying marriage is between a man and a women. I understand where they’re coming from, but definitions change over time and it is not like the religion owns the word. If that were the case only christians could truly be “married.”
The final topic was drugs, which we didn’t discuss to great lengths. I finally moved to no when she asked if we would turn in a best friend, but then changed to maybe when I realized it really depended on the drug. I had a blast in this class because I always enjoy others views, even if I don’t agree and I felt like I learn a lot about my classmate for the better. I hope they learned the same for me.
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