to teach or not to teach?!

I have been thinking of a co-worker today. This particular lady is a highly intelligent and equally cynical woman. Today, we were discussing the absurdity of religion and the dangers of assumption. Somehow my thoughts wander to choice and the freedom to decide based on all available information sources. Peculiar, let me assure you! Although my chat with this work friend had noting to do with libraries directly, her resentment of any prescribed religious or political agenda made me think long and hard about the fine line we walk when interacting with patrons. Whatever their information needs, our resources and personal biases, we know only one facet of the question being raised. This one dimensional fact of inquiry necessitates sharing with appropriate amounts of reticence and space for the seeker's own exploration and interpretation. My friend and colleague is now 30 or so, but because of her family's strict code of forbidden and filtered information gathering while she was growing up, this lady is often jaded and distrustful of anyone who speaks or writes with authoritarian airs. Her family's bent toward protection actually created resentment and bias that points toward the opposite liberal extreme. Talking with her, and really listening to her rationale as a adult, makes me painfully aware of the importance of remaining impartial and not "directing" a patron's thinking for them... Every action teaches something; be certain that your actions teach the lessons you wish to convey!