BACK OF THE BOOK

By Sandy Compton Reader Columnist

I’ve cleaned this old joke up for “family viewing”: Opinions are like ears. Everyone has a couple. The New Oxford American Dictionary defines opinion as: “a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.” That is not to say that some opinions aren’t based in fact or knowledge, but that not all opinions are.

I was once accused of having opinions, as if it was reprehensible. If that’s how the accuser felt, that’s their opinion, right? To their credit, their opinion was based on fact and knowledge. I do have opinions and they had knowledge of them. I believe their real point was that my opinions didn’t agree with theirs, which in our crazy world, is hardly uncommon.

I admit that my opinions are not all factor knowledge-based. Some are based on emotion, instinct or — worse yet — other people’s opinions. Humans believe what we want to believe, whether it matches the facts or not, and belief is a synonym of opinion So are judgment, thought, viewpoint and conviction. There are more, but, in my opinion, these illustrate the point.

I also admit that in the bewildering universe we live in, determining what are real facts — as opposed to myriad fake “facts” rolling around — can be daunting, time consuming and even impossible. For instance, it’s my opinion that no matter how many people might be convicted that they know what God looks like, who God favors, whose God is the best or the real God, where God is going to send them when they die, and what actions God deems worthy or unworthy, not one of those people can defend those opinions with real facts.

I can’t defend my opinion about God with real facts, either, but I have the thought that there is Something out there. I think it is also in here — imagine me pointing at my