In response to the ongoing debate over the acceptability of aggressive public speech at Northwestern, whether it be anti-sweatshop protests or panhandling: The opinions that others force to your attention are infinitely more valuable than those you come to on your own.

Whether you like it or not, by coming into this world you accepted a great struggle. And by choosing to broaden your life by studying at a university, you chose to increase the difficulty of this struggle. This struggle is the struggle to become fully self-aware, to sincerely understand yourself.

The pro-Christian or anti-abortion protester, the friend whose views piss you off and the self-doubt of a sleepless night all represent challenges in this struggle.

When these challenges come, be brave. Face them and don’t ignore, delay, drink or quietly will them away. Use them as indicators of your own beliefs.

If you can come to sincerely understand what you believe, no amount of travail in life, from the minor (like pictures of aborted fetuses along Sheridan Road) to the massive (like being burned at the stake), will ever bother you.

I will freely admit that becoming completely, morally self-aware is practically impossible. This struggle is the struggle that Arjuna fights with himself in the Bhagavad-Gita and that moved Jesus to tears at Gethsemane.

You will sometimes hate yourself, and others will sometimes hate you when you come to discover what you believe. However, to quote Socrates (who died as a result of his struggle), “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Only as the result of this struggle can we come to learn the Veritas.

So next time you see something that disturbs you, infuriates you, or otherwise causes moral distress, be thankful. You have been gifted with the opportunity to learn the truth.