Personal Revelations

Topic of the Day: Revelations are live and always happen for the first time. When was the last time you had one?

Probably because of my religious upbringing, I have developed a conservative mentality about most things. I sometimes tell people I am just to the right of Ronald Reagan in my political beliefs. I like to think I review situations and then decide what I think is right. I do not want to think I’m ever uninformed about something. 

My first revelation had to do with the death penalty. I have always been in favor of the death penalty when someone has killed someone else. Then DNA testing came along. When DNA testing started exonerating people in prison on life sentences or death sentences, I began to rethink my position. Too many prisoners were found to be innocent. I changed my opinion. Now, I still believe in the death penalty but only when there has been a witnessed killing by at least two people. I would not sentence someone to death without two eyewitnesses. Because of the way many people are today, I am not going to make such a dramatic decision based on the word of simply one person. Who knows what all may be involved in one person's opinion. The revelation for me was I knew I could change my opinion with good information. 

Another change in opinion is about gun control. I previously did not want any gun control based on the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Things have changed. People in the U.S. have proven themselves to be too irresponsible with very powerful weapons. I now believe no one outside of the military or law enforcement should have military style automatic weapons. These weapons were made to kill people and one too many people have used automatic weapons to kill other innocent people. 

I know my opinion will not impact anyone, but I know I have the intellect to make personal changes if I have good information to base my opinions. Knowing this helps me to feel good about myself and I know I am still growing as a person.