# What has been your biggest change of opinion/position in your life? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 20, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021 "2011-02-20T17:09:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021/61 "2011-02-22T21:20:38Z")
I used to think that the day would never come, that my life would depend on the morning sun. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021/62 "2011-02-22T22:06:24Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > I used to think that the day would never come, that my life would depend on the morning sun. And then you found true faith. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021/63 "2011-02-22T22:13:55Z")
I used to be a pretty hard-core Democrat. I’m still a liberal, and I usually vote for Democrats, but I now loathe the party itself and identify as an independent, and register to vote as one when it comes up. (Here in California, that means locking myself out of voting in primary elections, but I’d rather do that than register as a Democrat.) ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021/64 "2011-02-22T22:56:30Z")
I used to think my body was an ugly inconvenience I wanted to think about as little as possible. Now, for the most part, I enjoy taking care of my physical self and feel more ease with that part of me. It sounds kind of small, but it was a radical change to my self-image at the time. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021/65 "2011-02-22T23:02:05Z")
I used to be a hopeless romantic who wrote poems, sent flowers and planned surprises for my girlfriends on birthdays, holidays and anniversaries. After several broken hearts and bouts of depression over lost love I decided that it just isn’t worth the effort. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021/66 "2011-02-23T09:08:01Z")
Liberal catholic to atheist. ☹ @ **blondebear**. Hope love starts treatin’ ya better soon. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021/67 "2011-02-23T14:43:21Z")
Grew up as a devote Mormon, never missing a meetings, true believer to agnostic to atheist. Went from being a hard core conservative (voted Reagan!) to liberal. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021/68 "2011-02-23T14:51:25Z")
Anti-abortion to pro-choice. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021/69 "2011-02-23T15:07:05Z")
It is a bit of a toss. I was a young Republican that campaigned for Reagan in 84 but I left the Republican party right after the last Republican Primary and campaigned for Obama though I am now independent. The other one is I was admittedly homophobic and even as late as around 2005 anti-gay marriage. I have gotten over my phobia and support gay marriage now. The Republican to Independent is probably the lesser change but I never identified as anti-gay, I just was, I identified strongly with the Republican party even though by 1992 Newt the party had moved much further to the right then I ever was. I was still living the dream that the Rockefeller Republicans or better the Roosevelt Republicans would win back my Party. ---
**Author:** ![Rhodes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhodes/32/273_2.png) [@Rhodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhodes)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021/70 "2011-02-23T15:28:29Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > Grew up as a devote Mormon, never missing a meetings, true believer to agnostic to atheist. > > Went from being a hard core conservative (voted Reagan!) to liberal. Ditto, except I was to young to vote for Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021/71 "2011-02-23T15:38:45Z")
Another from pro to anti death penalty. I’ve heard too many stories of the innocent getting killed. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021/72 "2011-02-23T16:05:51Z")
I used to think that Jack Daniels was good liquor. Now I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021/73 "2011-02-25T05:16:40Z")
like many others I’ve shifted from moderate Republican to liberal or progressive Democrat. )Yeah, I know its supposed to go the other way when you get old…) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021/74 "2011-02-25T05:42:30Z")
When I was younger and in the military, I had a few years of sort of reflexive, non-thinking political conservatism. I wasn’t passionate or hardcore, but just sort of went along with the pro-Reagan, anti-femist, homophobic status quo. Not the Jesus stuff, though, I could never take that seriously, but I voted for Reagan and thought Mondale was a wuss. That kind of thing. It took getting out of the military (where you’re not exactly exposed to a diversity of viewpoints), and actually starting to inform myself (Iran-Contra soured me on Reagan), meet people and get some life experience before I did a 180 politically. Simply meeting a few gay people, for instance (not that I hadn’t before, but the 80’s still weren’t all that safe to be open, especially in the south) was kind of an eye-opener and made me realize how stupid homophobia was. My wife had a lot to do with changing my views too, especially on feminist issues, and an experience I once had taking a friend to an abortion clinic (a girl who had been raped and impregnated by her stepfather), and seeing the treatment she got from protesters changed me from being basically indifferent on abortion to radically pro-choice. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021/75 "2011-02-25T08:55:11Z")
The fact that I am a Recovering Objectivist. Yeah, it’s a work in progress. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-been-your-biggest-change-of-opinion-position-in-your-life/572021.md?page=3)