In my opinion we are living in an extraordinarily difficult time for social interaction. We have an abundance of social media and ways to connect with other people, but we have not learned how to make connections which recognize the value of other people, even those who have different opinions than ours. Instead, my observations of society lead me to believe many have replaced civil discourse with social conflict that condemns anyone who disagrees with us.
It appears to me (and I want it to be clear that this is my opinion based on what I observe from my point of view) that religion was once the main area where there wasn’t room for negotiations. It was an eternal matter of heaven or hell if anyone had a different religious viewpoint. Growing up that was true of other religious faiths and practices and even true of other Christians who had different ways of worshiping. There was the common admonition that I shouldn’t discuss religion or politics, it only led to arguments.
I thought the admonition was more about religion than politics. Unless one was a communist or fascist, the political part didn’t make a lot of difference. People could be Republican or Democrat and still be civil to one another, even on topics that they strongly disagreed with. Civility in any area of disagreement was the mark of being a civilized human being.
Currently, things look different to me. Verbal arguments based on mutual respect have been replaced with physical arguments. If someone disagrees with another person, instead of arguing it out, one or the other or both of the disputants will turn to violence, not to convince their opponent they’re wrong, but to kill them and remove them from the dispute. The remaining individual thinks they’re right because they’re the only one left.
One way to move beyond this state affairs is being in dialogue with each other. In some circles I move in, open discourse is feared because people don’t believe a resolution is possible. They fear an increase in discord between the parties and would rather push the disagreement under the rug and pretend that everything is okay.
I want to be a part of the dialogue, but I didn’t see how I could do that in a meaningful way. Then someone suggested writing a blog that was available to many different people. Yet, I always found one way or another to avoid doing it. Beyond the technical skills needed, the main roadblock was my fear of what people might think of me or say to or about me. Now, at my age, what others say about me makes little difference. One of my favorite quotes in recent years is: “What other people think of me is none of my business.” I heard it first attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt.
When I found that I could have a webpage that included a place for a blog, I realized I might be able to have the interaction I wanted. My intent is that this blog will be a place for personal exploration and discovery. Ideally, both you, my reader, and I myself will discover things about ourselves.
Every other week I intend to post a short piece for people to respond to. We can dialogue about the topic and do so in a civil matter. If comments don’t remain civil, I will remove them from the blog as soon as I discover them. Things which I consider “lacking in civility” include the following:
- Comments which are demeaning of anyone.
- Name calling or making aspersions on someone’s character.
- Personal attacks against anyone.
- Politically motivated comments.
- Attacks on someone based on their way of connecting with God.
- Advertisements for specific programs or books that I haven’t been able to carefully research for myself.
There may be other things that I will add to the list.
My hope is for frank discussion on a variety of topics. I’m not looking for people to agree with me on everything, although agreement on some things helps me keep going. This is a place for examining one’s beliefs and practices in hopes of making the world a better place. One’s politics, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or country of origin is not important to me. Obviously, I’m writing in American English and something in another language will not be understood.
I want it to be clear, the pieces I write are my opinion. People who comment are expressing their opinions. The opinion is welcome as long as it is expressed in a civil and polite way.
A new topic will be added every other week.
I look forward to a journey of life exploration.
Ross T Lucas 