I was reminded this past weekend just how hard it is to change people's opinions. We are all guilty of believing that our way of thinking is the right way--and many times, the only way. And, we become very defensive, and at times belligerent, when we run into the opposite view.
I was at a Lewis Black comedy event on Saturday, at a venue in what most people would describe as a very affluent, white, conservative, Republican area of Florida. If you know what Lewis Black is all about (he regularly appears on "The Daily Show"), you know what to expect at his performances. Apparently, however, there were folks who didn't know. My guess is that they bought season tickets to all performances at this place and didn't do any homework on Lewis Black. As a result, opposing opinions clashed. And quite loudly.
One man took such offense to Mr. Black's views on the recent "loud music" trial and shooting in Jacksonville, that he got up, yelled loudly that Mr. Black was an idiot (with some obscenities thrown in, I think), and stormed out. Mr. Black admitted he was "stunned" by this. "Why did he come to see me then?" he asked the audience. I heard other patrons murmuring similar disapproval of the political views Lewis Black expounded in his performance when leaving the theatre at the show's end.
So what does this have to do with me and the books I write? It's simple. My books are being written as novels that I hope will reach the general population and open their minds to new ideas. I could play it safe and only write them as non-fiction and label them "new thought" and "new age." That way just the folks who are into "Woo-Woo" would read them and we would all be happy. It would be like Lewis Black only doing his act in New York City. That way I could prevent literature readers ("season ticket holders") without a clue about me from inadvertently picking up my books and reading them--and being either offended, confused, angry or skeptical about the ideas presented in them when they don't line up with their own religious, scientific or political beliefs. But that's not how humanity moves forward. That's not how mankind betters itself. And that's not why people write books. And least not me.
I was at a Lewis Black comedy event on Saturday, at a venue in what most people would describe as a very affluent, white, conservative, Republican area of Florida. If you know what Lewis Black is all about (he regularly appears on "The Daily Show"), you know what to expect at his performances. Apparently, however, there were folks who didn't know. My guess is that they bought season tickets to all performances at this place and didn't do any homework on Lewis Black. As a result, opposing opinions clashed. And quite loudly.
One man took such offense to Mr. Black's views on the recent "loud music" trial and shooting in Jacksonville, that he got up, yelled loudly that Mr. Black was an idiot (with some obscenities thrown in, I think), and stormed out. Mr. Black admitted he was "stunned" by this. "Why did he come to see me then?" he asked the audience. I heard other patrons murmuring similar disapproval of the political views Lewis Black expounded in his performance when leaving the theatre at the show's end.
So what does this have to do with me and the books I write? It's simple. My books are being written as novels that I hope will reach the general population and open their minds to new ideas. I could play it safe and only write them as non-fiction and label them "new thought" and "new age." That way just the folks who are into "Woo-Woo" would read them and we would all be happy. It would be like Lewis Black only doing his act in New York City. That way I could prevent literature readers ("season ticket holders") without a clue about me from inadvertently picking up my books and reading them--and being either offended, confused, angry or skeptical about the ideas presented in them when they don't line up with their own religious, scientific or political beliefs. But that's not how humanity moves forward. That's not how mankind betters itself. And that's not why people write books. And least not me.