Leading by example
I’ve been thinking about stereotypes lately. There are stereotypical images: “The Angry Atheist”, “The Ignorant Christian”, etc. There are stereotypical arguments, mostly involving God’s existence, or Creationism vs. Evolution, etc. And there are stereotypical approaches — namely butting heads.
The thing is, if Monty Python has shown us anything, it’s that an argument isn’t the automatic gainsaying of the other’s position, it’s “a series of statements intending to establish a compromising position.” (slightly paraphrased) I think that’s what we need more of. We need more AFFIRMATIVE interaction, and less NEGATIVE interaction. We should be emphasizing what we have in common rather than what divides us.
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