Common sense tells us that dialogue is very important. Dialogue is an art that opens doors to differing opinions. At the same time, there is useless dialogue that does not accept other opinions or even listen to them.
Listening to and respecting other opinions in discussions will lead to healthy dialogues characterized by logic and rational thought.
Too often we get angry simply because we hear an opinion that is different from ours.
Our vision is so limited that we become hostile to those who have different opinions from the ones we hold. It is not necessary that dialogue lead to agreement or even common ground. Nor is it necessary that at the end of dialogue, people fight and swear at each other.
The person who holds an opinion different from ours is not necessarily an enemy. Basically this is a problem that we have been facing.
We did not discover the dangers and pitfalls until it was too late. We hate each other and look down our noses at our own people.
Accepting other people’s opinions does not necessarily mean surrender or agreement and neither must it be seen as unusual.
Rather, it is opening doors for our minds to see from another perspective, to be more flexible and to be able to engage in useful discussion and debate.
People who accept only their own opinions are very much the same as people who isolate themselves in a closed room, talking to themselves because they see and accept only their own views and opinions. Those who have the ability to engage in healthy discussion and accept other opinions are like a person with a ball who can kick it wherever he wants.
One reason for Western superiority is that they do not try to isolate people in a discussion just because of different opinions. Democracy means in part that we accept that there are people who have different opinions.
Arab News From the Local Press 12 August 2003
