I do not speak with authority and I have never claimed to, rather I simply present the facts and let them speak for themselves. Only fools say that they speak with authority for in reality there is no such thing only opinion. Below are three examples of those that "speak with authority".
1. It was the "authority" of the Roman Catholic Church that had the Inquisition arrest and put on trial Galileo for demonstrating that the world was round.
2. It was the authority of the State of Tennessee that put John T. Scopes on trial for teaching the science of evolution in the classroom. William Jennings Bryan went out of his way in making harsh accusations at Clarence Darrow to drive home his point that the Bible was correct and in errant on the subject of creation in favor of Adam and Eve against Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution, which in the end proved futile.
3. Finally, it was authority on a mass scale when President George W. Bush, Congress, The CIA, and legions of politicians stated the case that Saddam Hussein had "Weapons of Mass Destruction" only to be proved wrong after an extensive and horrific war that proved otherwise.
For the most part people do not grasp the difference between facts and opinions. People become attached to certain ideas and process them in such a way as to interpret them as facts. For example the beauty of a woman, the taste of a fine wine, and the quality of a fine book, though all of these things on first appearance seem to be the subject of opinion and interpretation people will categorize these "tastes" and label them accordingly and follow through by accommodating them with actions and thoughts in terms of facts. Therefore, they come up with the terms "beautiful woman" "excellent wine", and "great book" so as to qualify them as facts: She is a beautiful woman, The wine is excellent, and the book is great.
In many cases people confuse facts with opinions and often take emotion stances to points that do not warrant them. For example; one may say that it was good that the United States and its Allies won WWII, however, that would not be the same opinion of the Germans and their Allies.
Each of us comes to this world with a unique vision and we at best can only offer our views, perspectives, and opinions which never must be confused with facts. It is wise to work together through our different views rather than play the part of the bully and force people into a corner. So in light of all those that boast and lay claim to speaking with authority I say please keep silent and let the facts speak.
Stephen F. Condren ~ Artist
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