On the nineteenth of August, I was honored to be seated as a panelist for the "Diversity of Thought" forum sponsored by the Social Justice Task Force (SJTF).

In retrospect this discussion has turned out to be one of the most educational two-hour periods of my life. I learned the extreme "right" is as paranoid about the "thought police" as the extreme "left" and that having no opinion on a subject is still an opinion.

The latter was a novel idea for me being the type of person who, as many of my detractors would probably agree, feels he needs to have an opinion on everything, even if I know nothing about it.

However, if everyone followed this rule requiring those that had nothing constructive to add say nothing at all, more could be accomplished with greater expediency.

I discovered that even people to whom I had a prejudged bias had relevant thoughts on issues but unfortunately sometimes these ideas were hidden from the listeners by an angry or threatening presentation.

I will admit I was perplexed by the amount of hostility exhibited in what I had thought would be a good natured debate until it was explained to me that for some the threat of change is overwhelming. Although I'm sure there are times even for me when I just wish things would remain the same, I've come to the realization that change is inevitable and you only have two choices when confronted with it; either "go with the flow" or get out of the way because it's coming anyhow.

Although I found the evening quite valuable and would love to see more events like this, to me one of the best questions raised was whether or not Auburn needed a "Social Justice Task Force" at all.

Reflecting back on my opening speech, I began to worry I might have offended someone with my lack of appropriate politically correct terminology. If I did I apologize.

I will truly rejoice when we are free from the shackles of labels; when there is no longer the need to be politically correct in order to counteract hurtful derogatory comments; when we can refer to one another as brother and sister, neighbor and friend, people, human beings or any other generic term for two legged, flesh bearing, consciousness carrying souls that inhabit the planet earth.

But until the dream of equality raised by Dr. Martin Luther King and other great leaders comes to fruition, we will always need groups like the "SJTF" to address community-wide social concerns. And the more diverse opinions involved, the better the chance for a final solution which appeases everyone.