When you sit down to have a conversation with someone, what is the first thing that crosses your mind?

For many, the first thought would be, “What can I say to this person that won’t offend them?” The way our society has been for the past couple years and especially in 2015, everyone has to walk on eggshells with one another.

Some call it being politically correct, but others would disagree and say it is simply taking away our right to freedom of speech. The First Amendment of our rights as Americans clearly says that there shall be no law stating what we can or cannot say. While there is no written law on things that we can or cannot say, there are so many repercussions for speaking your mind, there might as well be a written law. As Americans, we have freedom of speech and that is something that makes us proud to be who we are. That is something that brave men and women lose their lives fighting to keep intact. Though we have to respect one another and cannot make obviously racist or discriminatory comments, we should still be able to speak our minds without being put down and portrayed as “bad people.”

A study done by Debate.org asked individuals, “Has our society become too politically correct?” Ninety percent of the people who participated in the survey said, “Yes, it has.” An anonymous commentator on the poll said, “In order to progress as a society, we need to have these different opinions in order to provide different perspectives and make the best decisions politically, socially, and economically.”

People will not go against the mainstream opinion or view in the fear that they will be threatened, belittled or disrespected. That is not OK. People need to be able to, and need to feel comfortable enough to stand up for what they believe in and speak their minds.

We have people who stand up for gay marriage, the Black Lives Matter campaign, pro-life and pro-choice groups. While all of these issues involve extremely strong emotions, I do not think that it means we should not be able to, as people, put our emotions aside and understand that everyone is going to have their own beliefs and their own opinions.

I can stand true to my beliefs. I am in the minority of individuals my age. I am a Republican, conservative college student. I am pro-life in every situation. I believe religion is a wonderful thing. But me standing strong for what I believe in does not mean I should disrespect opposing views. People in today’s society need to stand up and man up. We have become too sensitive, and too sensitive will never achieve anything. It will only create problem after problem.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer and are not representative of The Slate or its staff as a whole.

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