Politics. Religion. Money.
I was raised you don't bring up those three topics with people other than your family and close friends.
But not today.
Today politics, religion and money dominate conversation, and are often intertwined.
Perhaps it's because of my upbringing, or maybe it's because I believe in the ideology that journalists should remain unbiased, but other than my family and close friends, I try to keep my political and religious beliefs under wraps.
I don't state which political party or parties I support on my Facebook page and I avoid commenting on friends' political posts online.
But it's becoming more difficult.
With the 24-hour news cycle and people using social media as platforms and a place to vent, it's hard to imagine when religion, politics and money wasn't part of the discussion.
But the topics aren't what bother me. It's the arguments, or in some sense, lack there of.
Faulty logic, misinformation and sometimes just plain stupidity plague the airwaves and Internet.
Both the right and the left are guilty of it, and it grinds my gears.
As someone who looks for the truth, it amazes me the number of people who play off hearsay and surface information as fact.
And sometimes it's the hypocrisy that gets me.
Last summer, women's health rights rocketed to the forefront of social issues after Rep. Mike Pence spearheaded the campaign to eliminate funding to organizations that offer abortions - mainly Planned Parenthood of Indiana.
It may seem odd that I'm not going to sit here and tell you what I think about the battle between pro-lifers and PPIN since this is an opinion piece. But funding, religion and politics isn't necessarily what this column is about.
It's about listening to the other side, but also paying attention to the message you yourself are sending to the world.
Earlier this week, The Indianapolis Star ran a profile of Betty Cockrum, CEO of PPIN. It covered her upbringing, the jobs she held and the battle she's been fighting for the past year.
It was an interesting read, but I found the comments on the story more captivating.
One argument in particular - which I've heard countless of times before - angered me.
A commenter wrote that abortion, no matter what, is murder. This same commenter went on to say that it should be illegal "except in the instances of rape and incest."
This is a common belief, but I see it as double-dipping.
So what if a child is the result of a rape? Is that not still a child?
The same goes with a child from an incestuous relationship. Yes, the child may have medical problems, but just look at Sarah Palin. Although not through incest, she chose to carry out her pregnancy even after she found out her son had Down syndrome.
Yes, those events are traumatic. But they shouldn't be exempt from someone who believes abortion is wrong.
It's arguments like that, along with misinformation, that have often turned politics into meaningless banter and an all around circus.
With campaigns in full swing for November's election, these arguments from both major political parties are just going to get worse.
It's easy to get caught up in "facts" that reinforce beliefs you previously held. But try to resist.
Watch unbiased news (it does exist, but sometimes it is harder to find). Watch Fox News and its liberal counterpart MSNBC to hear both arguments. Do whatever you have to in order to be well rounded.
Do your research, but most importantly, don't try to pass off your opinion as fact.
A thought out argument is more likely to convince someone to believe what you think is right.
Otherwise, it all turns into white noise.
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