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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 fact- or 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 chest — and surrounding everything and everybody, filling the nothing we call “space,” and pervading all the something we call “matter.” I think of it as the life force, that it is sometimes helpful, and at worst, benign. But I can’t prove Something exists. Nor do I feel compelled to do so.

Don’t ask me what Something looks like, what it wants of us or how we can best appease it or appeal to it, because I have no clue. And, in my opinion, nobody else does either, as much as they might think they do.

Appeal as I might — and I confess that I have and will again — I am still unsure of what the results might be. Sometimes, I think I get answers, but Something only knows what the real answers are, or if there really are any. My opinion is that Something is fine with not being appeased or appealed to.

It is my further opinion that believing Something wants specific things of us personally is one of the greatest sources of not-so-great stuff in history. In the name of Krishna, God, Christ, Allah, Yahweh, Jehovah, Jove, Jupiter, the Great Spirit, Gitchi Manitou, Quetzalcoatl and many other names for Something, a huge amount of inhuman acts have been carried out. Arguments about which Something is best, right, real, most powerful and most sacred; and the proper methods by which Something is to be honored, worshiped, sacrificed to or even thought of has killed millions, approaching billions, not to mention tearing families, communities, countries and entire continents apart.

One example is the Salem witch trials, the 331st anniversary of which was recently not celebrated. This is ironic because the founders of Salem fled England to avoid religious persecution. A larger example is the forced replacement of indigenous belief with Judeo-Christian, Hindu and Islam dogma. This is ironic because all three faiths profess the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

The Holy Roman Empire was by no means holy, but mostly interested in how much real estate they could control. The Roman Catholic Inquisition is famous for torturing suspected non-believers and burning them at the stake whether they confessed or not (Not-so-fun fact: the Spanish Inquisition operated until 1834, 58 years after the American Revolution). Efforts are made by governments to quash religious belief of the “wrong” kind — or any kind — by similar means, and modern terrorism is often rooted in fanatical belief in unprovable deities.

What can we do about the human’s tendency to believe in something they can’t prove strongly enough to treat other humans in inhuman ways? I don’t know. But, if we are ever going to live peaceably on this planet, we need to figure that out.

If we stop fighting about religion, about what Something is and wants of us, that might be a first step to figuring out how to agree on many other issues. That’s my opinion.

Sandy Compton’s opinions are his own, but he’s not afraid to share them. Read more of his thoughts, beliefs and convictions at bluecreekpress.com/write-on.