As we all know, there was a large \Books Not Bombs"" protest Wednesday against the war on Iraq. Many students skipped class to organize a protest letting the government know that there is protest to the war in Iraq. However, I ask, how many of these protesters really know what they're protesting?
Madison is a very liberal university, which is one of the reasons I chose to come here. This is a great school to learn of the many issues in politics and the world. This campus is full of people who have strong views on various issues one way or another. This is also a great campus because there are many opportunities to express your opinions and make a difference. For people who do this, I commend you.
I only ask one thing, and that is that you get both sides of a story before taking a stance. Too many times in today's world, people take views based on the last thing they heard. There are a lot of really good, persuasive speakers today and if you are not careful, you may find yourselves supporting an issue you know nothing about.
I have been pretty neutral in the issues of war and have sought information from both sides and have made my decision. However, when asking opinions, it upset me to find people who had no view. People who say ""War is bad,"" are they saying there should be no civil war? They said yes, no war. Come on! People who say ""Bomb Iraq,"" what's their reason? Many of these people had no reasons. There are many people who say we don't know the harsh reality of having war on our fronts. True, but we also don't know what it's like to have a leader like Hussein.
All I ask is that before you make a decision on anything, seek out and consider information from both sides, and be careful of those strong persuasive speakers. By doing so, you will be more informed on your issue and when people ask why you believe what you do, you can use your knowledge from both sides to persuade the person who asked you.
