People brawl, bite, punch and assault each other over opinions fervently held on every subject. Expressing those opinions can be dangerous. Last Thursday, Destinie Mogg-Barkalow, junior at Bridgewater State University, found that out the hard way.

Mogg-Barkalow was assaulted for expressing her views in the school’s newspaper concerning California’s controversial Proposition 8. On a campus of only 7,900 full-time undergraduates, a man and a woman hunted her down and assailed her. All for nothing more than sharing her opinion.

Opinions are precious. Your identity comes from the opinions you hold. The world you see comes from your opinions on events. Next to your beliefs, it’s your opinions that are the most tightly held. They compose who you are, and often reveal personal information about your character. It takes great courage to share them with the public.

Sharing your opinion is necessary and can lead to extraordinary change. It was Mogg-Barkalow’s opinion that same-sex marriages should be made legal. She argued for an idea, which in her opinion, would make the world better. Perhaps Mogg-Barkalow was right; maybe she understood something about the issue even we ourselves overlook. The only way to know for sure is to share our opinions with her and see which argument proves stronger.

Mogg-Barkalow’s assailants disagreed, but they didn’t bother to discuss it with her. Instead they resorted to violence, and violence is not an opinion. Violence is not a form of expression. Violence is a crime. We protect the opinions of individuals. We prosecute assault. The woman who punched Mogg-Barkalow had no argument; she had nothing to contribute and no evidence to argue with. Instead of taking the time to form her opinion and rationally debate with another individual, she tried to tyrannize Mogg-Barkalow. Without an intelligent opinion she resorted to pure physical force.

Such acts of violence against informed opinions are a petty attempt to tyrannize Mogg-Barkalow as well as the rest of us. Dissent through information, consideration and expression should be encouraged. It’s how we distinguish ourselves and improve our world.

Opinions, particularly when they’re never examined, are often wrong. We need interaction with others to correct our positions. History is filled with stories where the public prosecuted an opinionated minority who was courageous enough to correct them. As individuals we often find ourselves ignorant of important issues.

Without rational discussion we can’t determine what is right without the risk of losing perspective on the world. It’s easier to resort to violence than take the time to discuss an issue. Mogg-Barkalow took the time to address an issue. Her opinion was the dissent, and just maybe we could learn from it.