Hypocrisy When Ideology and Reality Collide

I am a hypocrite; I admit it. It is just that I have trouble when my ideology collides with my reality. It happened several months ago when I admitted in my blog that I support gun control laws until my own loved ones are threatened in some way. I then do a 180 degree reversal. I am doing it again after listening for the past week or so to both sides of the American torture controversy. And again, my position involves putting my family in a hypothetical situation.

On the one hand, I agree with John McCain and others that torture rarely ever leads to any real and viable information. On the other, however, as I watched a television discussion on the subject last week, one of the e-mails that came in asked a rather startling question. It was, "If your child could be freed from possible death at the hands of terrorists, would you support torture?" In my mind, I immediately responded, "Yes!"

I wish I wasn't so wishy-washy and could take political positions and stand by them. I remind myself of a good friend who recently stated, "I believe whatever the last thing I read." One aspect that I do take pride in is that I listen to both sides of an argument. Since I taught argumentative writing at the college level, I know the value of giving some weight to opposing viewpoints. I am afraid, however, that my emotions tend to take precedence over my intellectual side too often.