Yes, we can.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Originally Posted by Alex

I'm still waiting for an example of it. I'm sure there must be some but I don't think it is the standard path to significant change.

To date, I think that gay rights is a perfect example of it. Most people who have changed their mind, from not thinking gay people deserve rights to those that do, have done so based on a personal experience in their life, whether it is having a family member come out and re-thinking their position, to meeting a gay person they respected and taking a some time to get to know them. Much easier to hate the abstract, than it it is to hate a good person staring you in the face.

I know plenty of people who have changed their mind over the years, and it was never as a result of force or ridicule. It was a result of realizing they were wrong because the issue was finally personalized for them, for lack of a better word.

Sure, you can force people to comply through the force of law, and often that is necessary, but those people won't do so willingly and, in fact, it is unlikely to change their underlying prejudice. There are still plenty of racists out there who still detest people of color because that is what they have been taught at an early age. They might not be able to discriminate against them in the workplace, but that doesn't stop them from occassionally dragging them from the back of a pickup truck when nobody is watching.

My opinion is that it is better in the long run to try and change minds through dialog, rather than force because only the former results in true change.

Edited to add: And even using force to change things requires every vote we can muster. And the ones that already agree with the cause simply don't have the numbers yet. Changing people one at a time becomes even more vital when it comes to the bigger fight. There is simply no way to get this legislation passed unless a significant amount of people on the opposing side can be convinced to change their vote. Calling them names, yelling at them and boycotting their weddings simply isn't going to accomplish that. Anger rarely changes anyone's mind, which was my original point.