When I first heard that sites like Wikipedia and Reddit were going to be blacking out for the day on Wednesday, I thought, good for them. And then I worried if Google would also be doing the same thing. My life runs on Google and I would not be able to get through the school day without having access to Gmail or their products to get my work done. It's interesting to think differently about an issue until it starts to effect you personally. But that's besides the point.
The point here is the SOPA and PIPA and what these bills would do to our world as we know it. Before Hebrew school yesterday, the chapel was buzzing with kids chatting and running around. I overheard one girl asking people is they were for or against SOPA. I was impressed that she was talking about legislation, knew what they were focused on and had formed her own opinion on the matter. What I found amusing was that she only gave two possible answers: for or against.
This is what got me thinking about PLA. We learn that there are always more than two possible answers in a decision. Ask any two rabbis and you're sure to get three, four or five opinions on the matter. But as a fifth grader, the world seems so black and white, yes and no, for or against.
I asked her what she meant by for and against. She looked taken aback, but as I went on to explain my opinion, it got her thinking a bit more. I said something along the lines that this bill was created to help alleviate the problem of infringement on intellectual property (I used the word copyright) and that not all possible outcomes were taken into consideration when this bill was drafted. I told her I thought the concept was in the right place but that the bill needed to be edited to more specifically deal with the problem at hand.
Issues are so much more complex than they seem in a 30 second news bite. It is our responsibility as information consumers to learn more about the topic and to not blindly sign a petition or give an opinion without knowing more about the issues at hand. We should stand up for what we believe in, but we must know what we are believing before we can defend it.
The point here is the SOPA and PIPA and what these bills would do to our world as we know it. Before Hebrew school yesterday, the chapel was buzzing with kids chatting and running around. I overheard one girl asking people is they were for or against SOPA. I was impressed that she was talking about legislation, knew what they were focused on and had formed her own opinion on the matter. What I found amusing was that she only gave two possible answers: for or against.
This is what got me thinking about PLA. We learn that there are always more than two possible answers in a decision. Ask any two rabbis and you're sure to get three, four or five opinions on the matter. But as a fifth grader, the world seems so black and white, yes and no, for or against.
I asked her what she meant by for and against. She looked taken aback, but as I went on to explain my opinion, it got her thinking a bit more. I said something along the lines that this bill was created to help alleviate the problem of infringement on intellectual property (I used the word copyright) and that not all possible outcomes were taken into consideration when this bill was drafted. I told her I thought the concept was in the right place but that the bill needed to be edited to more specifically deal with the problem at hand.
Issues are so much more complex than they seem in a 30 second news bite. It is our responsibility as information consumers to learn more about the topic and to not blindly sign a petition or give an opinion without knowing more about the issues at hand. We should stand up for what we believe in, but we must know what we are believing before we can defend it.
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