believe what you want - as long as it conforms

I am having trouble these days with what I see.  There is so much talk of free speech but it seems the loudest voice is the one heard.
There are things I believe that I will not share because so many do not want to hear they just want to speak.  I think there is a reason we have two ears and one mouth.  Someone said “many people listen to speak and not to hear.”
Certainly not everything I say or believe is right, but I think we all need to be heard.  I will not change my thinking just because I am spoken at rather than to.  I will never like it, but I am prepared to have edges knocked off me when the message is delivered to me in a palatable way.  The first response is not always where it ends.  I remember someone objecting vehemently to what I said.  Three days later when I went to talk to them about it they did not even bring it up.
I have attended meetings where everyone spoke at once.  That to me is a waste of time.  Fortunately nothing of long term consequence was being discussed.  Some things matter, many do not.
There was a program in North Queensland that, in seeing what was being done, seemed like a great idea. Unfortunately voices from thousands of kilometres away prevailed and the program was abandoned.  The consequence to me was worse than the solution that was in place.  Regrettably to me, it is hard to combat agenda’s.
Someone said to me they thought there was an agenda on display in something.  I disagreed with them.  It was only when I spent time examining what they were talking about that I saw the agenda being pushed.  It is unfair to me that one side of any story gets more time than the alternative view.
Thankfully people seem to be smarter than “political correctness.”  What concerns me though is that apathy will prevail, or that we believe something unquestioned.
If apathy prevails we will get what we allow and the cost could be huge.