Regarding the difficult but important conversations I have had in the past 36 (ish) hours.
I'm thinking about tactics.
Thoughts are still forming.
I'll circle back later.
There are some specific people I'd like to get involved in the conversation so I'll tag you all when I have something more coherent to say.
Laters! ❤️
I'm getting there.
I'm thinking about "friendship evangelism", a common idea in the church, and how we might apply the approach in other, non-religious contexts.
Put this picture in your mind:
A man stands on a street corner, Bible in hand, sincerely and loudly proclaiming the Gospel.
How are people reacting to him?
Are people stopping to listen?
Is anyone really taking in what he's saying?
Is his sincere and loving work changing any hearts and minds?
How do you think the people are feeling, being preached to by this method?
Are they encouraged? Are they uplifted?
Do they feel judged and condemned?
Does his method make people ask questions, or does it put people in a fight-or-flight frame of mind?
If the latter, what do they do?
Walk away and ignore the message?
Respond aggressively? Defensively?
The only way I have seen online discussion work around contentious topics is in heavily moderated forums specifically for those topics and they still get very heated. And I’ve been on the internet pre www. I’ve had to side step plenty to be respectful of others’ beliefs I don’t share and focus on the topics where our minds do meet.
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@Museek @stueytheround I remember the old SNL "CounterPoint" skits. "Jane, you ignorant slut." Debate devolves quickly.