Help me out please. When did opinions become so popular? I know we all have them. I know we all believe our own. I even know that opinions often differ, but who gave the green light on using what you think to terrorize others.

The recent event in Boston may be one of the more devastating and far-reaching, but it is just the latest act fueled by someone who decided that what he/she felt, believed, thought or wanted was worth someone else’s pain.

Opinions-run-amuck have been the culprit behind bullying ultimately leading to the suicide of targeted victims, school and community shootings, hate campaigns, and global terrorists attacks. Opinions-on-overload have led this country from the times where the worse you would see was someone’s name on a restroom wall to now people feeling free to launch full-blown, derogatory social media “beefs” (when did the word beef become popular again?). At the root of them all are persons who felt the need to use their opinions to cause social, emotional or bodily harm.

Opinions are a part of life. Based on our experiences we each have formed them. But opinions laced in, or invoking pain, hate, hurt, or violence need to do like a child in time out and sit down somewhere.

-Angela Moore