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Social change only when implications are accepted

We should indeed try to note the perspectives of all parties when faced with difficult issues. When wider views are taken in, the decisions made can garner more public trust and support. (“Diversity should be embraced, not ignored”; July 23)

We should indeed try to note the perspectives of all parties when faced with difficult issues. When wider views are taken in, the decisions made can garner more public trust and support. (“Diversity should be embraced, not ignored”; July 23)

Deriving our own opinion, rather than depending on that of others, is also important.

In the case of the National Library Board book dispute, we can read the books as well as the positive and negative reviews of them, and see which other countries have found them contentious.

For instance, why was And Tango Makes Three the most controversial book in the United States for some years? We could find out how other countries resolved the issue.

Not all views are of equal significance, though. More weight must be given to parents’ views, as their children’s interests matter most in the case in point.

When an issue of the day runs into existing social norms or values, some would put forward higher, futuristic goals, such as that of becoming a truly inclusive and just society, to remind us that the current situation is not ideal.

But the masses must fully accept the implications of living with these goals.

For example, if a law is passed to give same-sex couples equal benefits and priority in public housing, it may imply that everyone must, without demur, accept same-sex couples living possibly as our close or immediate neighbours.

There is a timeline for every social progression and change.

People have to be convinced of the need for a change, and ready to accept its implications, before we decide whether to let change take its own pace or speed it up via intervention.

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