The opinion that we express on different subjects is often used by others to illustrate who we are. That’s where the social pressure of taking a stance comes in. We are asked what we think, which will mean a lot in terms of how others will perceive us. And this question is never about a light or unserious subject.

Below are my tips on how to deal with this issue.

Admit that you don’t know

First of all, it’s OK to not take a stance on a topic, and it does not mean we disregard it. As mentioned above, taking a stance is hard and demands a great deal of knowledge. If we do not have that knowledge, why not say so? I think we should accept and use “I don’t know” as a valid response.

For example, Pakistan and India made the headlines last summer because of a conflict that threatened to escalate to war. People felt concerned and shared social media posts defending one or the other side of the conflict based on current news.

I saw multiple Indians and Pakistanis feel offended by the stances people took. They were not meant to be offensive, but people did not understand the implications of taking a stance. They would have been better off not posting and saying they don’t know when asked.

If you want to have an opinion

When creating an opinion, make sure you get informed on the topic. Political debates are grounded in cultural practices and habits. We therefore need to familiarise ourselves with these practices to understand what influence they have on events. It can be a hard task to tackle cultures we do not belong to. But our stands need to be educated, and aligned with our values.

For example, in November 2024 a video of a member of the New Zealand parliament, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, went viral on social media, showing her shouting during a session. Many users in the comments called out her uncivility and lack of manners.

I dug a little into it, and found out that the shouting was in fact a haka, a traditional Māori ceremonial group dance. It was performed in protest at a bill that proposed to change the country’s founding treaty with Māori people.

The storyline of this MP’s actions changes drastically based on this piece of information. It is a perfect example of how cultural knowledge can affect our judgement, and why we should be aware of that before making a judgement.

Dealing with a complicated subject

The second parameter to take into account when building an opinion is the history of the topic under debate. Most actions in the political world are based on a huge amount of history and context, which explains certain actions and statements.

Caveat: Do not ignore values

Not having an opinion is mostly OK, but not always. Situations such as violations of human rights and ethics require another kind of attention from us as the public. In these cases, not having an opinion is a lack of humanity and basic morals.

Everyone can, and should, agree that the deaths of Israeli civilians on 7 October 2023 and of Palestinian civilians since then is terrible. And we have a duty to defend the human rights of these people.

That does not mean that having an opinion on the entire conflict is acceptable. The conflict itself is deep, the human rights violations that have resulted from it are not.