Archive for category: Musings

The following Musing is an edited version of one section of chapter 6 of my “Let’s Talk” book that is titled “Lessons Learned and Questions for Conversation.”

You will have noticed by now that I place great importance on posing questions about values (what philosophers call “axiological questions”). This is based on my belief that if you dig beneath the surface of any decision, you will uncover one or more value commitments.

This suggests that when a Christian is contemplating any decision, including choosing a position on an issue, he or she should dig deep down to identify the Christian values that are at stake. My experience suggests that all too often we Christians base our decisions, including taking positions on contentious issues, on values we have absorbed from our broader culture, which may be antithetical to fundamental Christian values. I will offer one concrete example.

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OOPS! I apologize for a mistake in the title for my February 15 posting. It should have been “A Soft Answer Turns Away Wrath,” not “A Soft Answer Turns Away Truth.”

Harold Heie

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This Musing draws on sections of chapter 7 in my book “Let’s Talk,” titled “Planting Tiny Seeds of Redemption” and a second addendum in my book titled “America After Donald Trump.”

Since I often have more nerve than brains, I decided to orchestrate a small-group local conversation on the topic “President Trump and Visions for America.” Sparing you an account of the difficulties I had in recruiting conversation partners (CPs), which you can read about on pp. 76-77 of my Let’s Talk book, I eventually managed to recruit a balanced cohort of 8 CPs, 4 of whom self-designated as “General Supporters of Donald Trump” and 4 of whom were “General Non-Supporters of Donald Trump.”

To say that this conversation was interesting is gross understatement (for all the details, I refer you to the “Trump Conversation” item under the “Previous Conversation” icon at the top of the Home Page on my website www.respectfulconversation.net.)

 

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This Musing is the conclusion presented in chapter 6 of my “Let’s Talk” book, titled “Lessons Learned and Questions for Conversation.”

As I have already proposed, elements of my personal biography deeply inform my beliefs, as do other elements of my social location, such as my gender, my race, my sexual orientation and my socio-economic status. The beliefs of someone who disagrees with me about a given issue may be deeply informed by her differing set of particularities that may enable her to see things that I miss, just as my unique particularities may enable me to see things that she misses. And since we are both finite and fallible human beings, we cannot claim that either of our partial glimpses captures the full truth on the matter, as only fully understood by God. In addition, I can be blinded when I succumb to the temptation to sin by thinking it’s all about me and those who agree with me. As Scripture teaches, we all “see through a glass darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Read more

This Musing is abstracted out from a longer narrative, titled “Major Obstacles to Inclusive and Respectful Conversations, With the Essential First Step,” presented in chapter 1 of my book  “Let’s Talk.”

I believe that God knows the truth about all things. And, as one who aspires to be a follower of Jesus, I embrace with deep conviction his teaching that he came into the world to “bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37).

But the fact that I am not God presents a considerable challenge. My own quest for the truth and my aspiration to live out that truth are insatiable (sometimes I feel like my commitment to the Christian value of truth will consume me). But as a finite, fallible human being, I have only a partial glimpse of the truth that God fully understands. I “see through a glass darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

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I look back with horror at the prevalence of slavery in the history of America. Someone once asked me to conjecture as to what Americans may look back at with horror a hundred years from now. My answer was and still is the disparity in wealth and well-being between the rich and the poor.

This conjecture is my starting point for reflecting on the current heated debate regarding affirmative action relative to college admissions. Read more