the Insecurity in "I Believe"

“I believe” is such a common way to express an opinion, but it is also an easy way to tip toe around being assertive. “I believe” has been used to explain a number of things with politics, religion, and even the outcome of sports games. Many times it is also used to state facts that we may question if it will offend someone.

In an argumentative sense, “I believe” becomes a cop out.  It is a way of saying that you are not sure about what you are about to say and question if the audience will agree with you or not. Not only these two, but it also says that you are insecure about what you may believe to be true, and you don’t want to offend anyone in case they disagree with your statement. Why do we even care if we offend people? As a society, we walk delicately on tough topics because we do not want to offend anyone or make someone feel unintelligent.  Then when someone does stand up for what they believe to be true, they are insulted and bashed for stating what they view as truth.  We need to step away from that and allow people to be able to speak their mind instead of backing down and stating their beliefs in insecure terms.  Due to people being insulted when they stand up for their beliefs, they start to back down and use terms like “I believe” and “I think” in hopes of not offending anyone again.

Using “I believe” in an argument is a negative addition because it leaves room for it to be falsified.  This is allowed because other people can just say “Well, I do not believe that… so you are wrong.” When arguing, you want to have control, and you want to be assertive.  Therefore, phrases that are flexible and can be torn apart, such as “I believe,” should not be used because they do not proclaim authority of your topic.

I know I use the phrase “I believe” on a number of occasions because I am scared of offending someone, especially when it comes to my views on faith. However, I do not like that I do that because I know it is true.  Truth can be believed, but truth is fact so it should be treated that way. Whether people agree with me or not should not matter. Each one of us should be able to affirm our truths.