I have been noticing disagreement a lot more these days.
Each of us is a unique individual with a unique perspective. The fact that we can agree at all sometimes seems a miracle. I remember a conversation I had with one of my children on the subject of religion. Their view of it was nowhere close to mine, but we conversed civilly and listened to each other with respect. This is how I would expect most adults to communicate, and in general over the ages we have learned to come together on matters of common interest and have been able to reach agreements. But lately I worry if we have lost that ability, or discarded it willingly, in both religious settings and in political ones.
The very political Kavanaugh hearings have been in the news lately and on several levels they have been discouraging. There is so much contention in them and in the public’s reaction to them. I have seen videos, which if they are to be believed, portray people who cannot have a dispassionate, respectful discussion regarding topics raised at the hearings and also are somehow able to continue speaking for minutes on end with hardly a pause for taking a breath. I have also read of a comedian on the Texas Christian University (TCU) campus, who posted a controversial (to some) sign and seated himself to engage with passerbys. Apparently this was such a polarizing event, that the administration felt the need to distance themselves from him and, I believe, offered counseling for TCU community members who were negatively affected.
I am involved in a religious community, which has been striving to decide upon a statement of principles and it has been a time of much bickering and infighting. I thought that these words pointed out the problem and the solution as well: “For you to unite I must admonish and instruct you, for my will is to have you love one another. As people, you lack the ability to respectfully disagree among one another. You are as Paul and Peter, whose disagreements resulted in jarring and sharp contentions. Nevertheless they both loved me and I loved them. You must do better.”
Do we have the ability to respectfully disagree? Do those with whom we converse know that we love them even when we do disagree with them?
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