Mature?

Well, I had hoped to be more active while beginning this blog but unfortunately I have been dealing with an attack on my facebook page after a post in which I stated that it was not only morally devoid but unconstitutional to even consider not letting the Mosque in the news as of late to be built near ground zero. This altercation has brought a lot of things to my mind that needed dealing with. While I refuse to go back on my "liberal beliefs" or apologize for who I am I do have to question at times, what makes me right and them wrong. I suppose to each of us in that which we call reality we are both right, and that is all that matters. Everyone has to do what is right by them, whether others agree or not. While I hold that both of us have the right to our opinion I simply don't find it appropriate for me to have been personally verbally attacked for speaking my mind on my own facebook stream.

However, in the abuse I had received came the comment that I am too young and immature to hold a valid opinion on the subject. This brought a major question to the forefront of my mind. At what point do we as individuals receive the honor of our opinions being accepted as valid? Not only am I going to be 30 this year but I am also a mother of two, an avid follower of what is going on in the world, and I often take it upon myself to look further into things that interest me, studying on my own while I simply don't have the time or resources to return to college and finish the last few years of my degree. On top of that I have experienced many things in my life that have made me grow as a person including the loss of  child through miscarriage, the death of many friends at a young age, dealing with life as a sometimes single parent and military wife and the experiences of many different regions and cultures through my travels of a military wife just to name a few. It is said that the mind reaches full maturity at the age of 25, and that social maturity soon follows suit. So I pose the question, when is it socially acceptable to consider yourself a mature, functioning member of society with opinions to be accepted and valued as someone who indeed knows what they are talking about? I suppose that the answer depends on to whom the question is being posed and so there will never be a definitive answer... and so I suppose all one can do is to "keep on keepin' on." I make no claims to be an expert, but my words and reality work for me and if one can't trust themselves then what else is there?