Methodology

President Trump and Vision for America

Session 1: Getting to know one another and agreeing to engage respectfully.

The moderator has learned from past unsuccessful attempts to orchestrate face-to-face respectful conversations about contentious issues that an initial meeting must be devoted to the conversation partners “getting to know one another” and agreeing to stipulated “guidelines” for how they will listen to and talk to one another in a respectful manner (rather than starting immediately with expressing their differing views on the contentious issue that will eventually be discussed).

Therefore, the agenda for the first session will be devoted to the following two components:

Each conversation partner will be asked to respond, in 4-5 minutes, without interruption, to the following Leading Questions:

  • Who are you? (Briefly introduce yourself to us).
  • Why have you joined this conversation? What do you hope to get out of this conversation? What is at stake? (Wherever possible, draw on aspects of your own “story” that inform your responses).

Given that the primary purpose of this first session is to “get to know one another,” the responses given to these two questions will not be transcribed or otherwise preserved in any fashion.

Guidelines for Respectful Conversation: Before proceeding, in subsequent sessions, with our conversation about “President Trump and Visions for America,” we will agree to abide by the following ideals for conversation:

  • I will listen well, providing each person with a safe and welcoming space to express his/her beliefs.
  • I will seek to empathetically understand the reasons another person has for her beliefs.
  • I will express my beliefs, and my reasons for holding my beliefs, with commitment and conviction, but with a non-coercive style that invites conversation with a person who disagrees with me.
  • In my conversation with a person who disagrees with me, I will explore whether we can find some common ground that can further the conversation. But, if we cannot find common ground, I will conclude that “we can only agree to disagree, at least for now;” yet I will do so in a way that demonstrates respect for the other and concern for her well-being and does not foreclose the possibility of future conversations.
  • In aspiring to these ideals for conversation, I will also aspire to be characterized by humility, courage, patience and love.

The agendas for subsequent sessions, after this first session, will be as follows:

Session 2: Initial Reflections

Each conversation partner will be asked to respond, in 5-7 minutes, without interruption, to the following Leading Questions:

  • What is your vision for the future of America?
  • To what extent do you believe President Trump is facilitating, or not, the accomplishment of your vision for the future of America?

The eight responses to these two questions will transcribed, with copies of the transcriptions sent to all conversation partners within a week after the session.

These transcriptions will also be posted on this website without identifying the speakers to avoid local readers deciding not to read the reflections of any given conversation partner because of perceptions of “who he/she is” (e.g., perceived locally to be a “radical conservative” or a “radical liberal”); thereby hoping that local readers will evaluate the responses of conversation partners on the basis of their “content” rather than their “source.”

The website will also post a podcast (audio recording) for this session (2) that includes all the recorded responses.

SESSIONS 3 – 10: Discussion of Leading Questions that Emerged from Session 2, with a Focus on Identifying Areas of Agreement and Disagreement

The questions that emerged from Session 2, and thereafter, were:

  • A. What is your Christian understanding as to the meaning of “freedom” and to what extent is President Trump fostering, or not, your concept of freedom?
  • B. What is your Christian understanding as to the proper role of government in America, taking into account the “vison of the Founding Fathers,” and to what extent is President Trump facilitating, or not, your understanding?
  • C. What is your Christian understanding of the meaning of “prosperity” and to what extent is President Trump fostering, or not, such prosperity?
  • D. What is your Christian understanding of the scope of the “gospel” and to what extent is President Trump fostering, or not, your understanding of that scope?
  • E. What is your Christian understanding regarding “abortion” and to what extent is President Trump fostering, or not, your understanding?
  • F. FOR GENERAL NON-SUPPORTERS OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: Identify one initiative President Trump has taken for which you disagree with his “goal” (“end”).’ clearly stating your reasons for your disagreement in terms of your Christian beliefs.
  • F. FOR GENERAL SUPPORTERS OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: Identify one initiative President Trump has taken for which you agree with his “goal” (“end”), clearly stating your reasons for your agreement in terms of your Christian beliefs.
  • G. How would you describe the way President Trump is “doing politics” (his “means” for seeking to accomplish his “political goals”)? Are his “means” consistent with your understanding of Christian values? If not, do you believe his “means” are justified because they lead to “ends” that you believe are consistent with Christian values?
  • G2. Given the position taken by one of the conversation partners that Donald Trump does use some “unchristian means” (e.g., “vulgar language, rude behavior, belittling opponents”), to work toward the accomplishment of his desired “ends” and the position of this same conversation partner that “”there is no justification for anyone to utilize un-Christian means to accomplish an end [presumably even an end that fits well with Christian values], is it fair to surmise that this conversation partner voted for Donald Trump because if he had voted for Hillary Clinton, he would have been voting for someone who would act even more un-Christianly than Trump has acted (by, for example, pushing for a strong pro-choice agenda relative to abortion)?
  • G3. If there are “un-Christian” elements in both the “means” used by Donald Trump and the “ends” that Hilary Clinton would have pursued if she had been elected, how do you choose who to vote for? Do you choose to vote for the candidate whose “un-Christian” behavior you judge to be “worse” (and how do you decide what is “worse”?); or do you argue for a very radical proposal that the USA needs to adopt a multi-party system that allows for Christians to form a third party that seeks to avoid both types of “un-Christian” behavior? Are there any other options?
  • H. (FOR GENERAL NON-SUPPORTERS OF PRESDIENT TRUMP): What is your assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the policies that President Trump has facilitated (e.g., on taxes, trade, etc; ending with immigration – the subject of the next question)?
  • I. What is your assessment of Harold’s attempt (in chapter 7 of his book Reforming American Politics to uncover a “both/and” approach to comprehensive immigration reform as an example of a “conversational model” for doing politics (in contrast to either the “domination” or “withdrawal” options); as well as the similar “five principles” (not specific policy proposals) enumerated in the previously distributed “Evangelical Call for Restitution-Based Immigration Reform?”

The structure for discussing the first two leading questions (A&B) in Sessions 3&4 will be as (with this structure then repeated for questions C&D in Sessions 5&6 ; Questions E,F,G,G2,G3 in Sessions 7,8 & 9; and question in session 10).

  • The first half of session 3 will be devoted to all conversation partners having the opportunity to respond to leading question A and the second half of the session will be devoted to everyone having the opportunity to respond to leading question B.
  • In Session 4 (scheduled two weeks after Session 3), everyone will have the opportunity to respond to the positions on questions A&B taken by others in the first session, with a focus on identifying areas of agreement and remaining areas of disagreement.

At the end of session 9, each conversation partner will receive a complimentary copy of the book Reforming American Politics: A Christian Perspective on Moving Past Conflict to Conversation, authored by the Moderator (Harold Heie); with the assignment to read the Preface, chapter 11 and chapter 7, as preparation for session 10.

Transcriptions of sessions 3, 5 and 7 will be posted on this website.

DISCUSSION OF ENG-GAME QUESTIONS

After session 10, each conversation partner will be asked to respond electronically to the following “end-game questions.”

  1. What areas of agreement, if any, emerged from our conversations?
  2. What major areas of disagreement still remain?
  3. What changes, if any, emerged in your beliefs about “President Trump and Visions for America” as a result of our conversations?
  4. What changes, if any, emerged in your perceptions, of those conversation partners who generally disagreed with you about how well President Trump is facilitating, or not, your vision for America?
  5. What, if anything, did you find to be profitable, from your participation in our conversations?
  6. What, if anything, did you find to be unprofitable, from your participation in our conversations?
  7. If you decided to facilitate a similar conversation among a new set of conversation partners, how would you structure such a conversation (drawing on your responses to the above questions)?

Transcriptions of responses to these end-game questions will be posted on this website.

POST-CONVERSATION NEWSPAPER INTERVIEWS AND FINAL REPORT

Shortly after the completion of session 11, the conversation partners will be interviewed by a reporter from the Sioux County Capital Democrat, individually and/or collectively, focusing on their responses to the above end-game questions, after which the reporter will write a feature newspaper article reporting on this Trump conversation project.

The final element in this project will be a report from the Moderator that will be distributed to all the conversation partners and will be posted on this website.