The election is over. Now what? In this series, I will use Romans 12 to frame reflections of this presidential campaign and hopefully encourage us to live faithfully as we return to the “ordinary time” of the American political calendar. See Part 1 here. Editor's note: For previous statistical analysis and nonpartisan political reflection from Josh's expertise, see this link. … [Read more...] about After the Election Part 2: Diversity and Unity this Thanksgiving Holiday
Civility
“Uncommon Decency” in the context of Pluralism
Christian hearts must be open to other people. God wants that of us. That is what I have just been arguing. But just how open are we supposed to be? We live today in the midst of many lifestyles, many systems of thought--don't we run the risk of having our hearts pulled in so many different directions that we finally have no center of our own?" -- Richard J. Mouw, Uncommon Decency: Christian Civility in an Uncivil World (Revised and Expanded, InterVarsity Press, 2010), 80. It's not surprising that Richard J. Mouw … [Read more...] about “Uncommon Decency” in the context of Pluralism
Cultivating empathic sensitivies vital to “Uncommon Decency”
Civility requires that we reduce the psychological distance between ourselves and others. We need to develop a sense of commonality with people who initially strike us as very different from ourselves. One important means of doing this is by cultivating empathy. "Empathy" literally means "in-feeling" -- it is to project myself into another person's feelings so that I begin to understand what it is like to have his experiences. If I want to gain empathy for a neighbor who is consistently defensive and insulting, I can … [Read more...] about Cultivating empathic sensitivies vital to “Uncommon Decency”
The Day for “Uncommon Decency” has come. Let’s embrace it!
As Martin Marty has observed, one of the real problems in modern life is that the people who are good at being civil often lack strong convictions and people who have strong convictions often lack civility. I like that way of stating the issue. We need to find a way of combining a civil outlook with a “passionate intensity” about our convictions. The real challenge is to come up with a convicted civility. Civility is public politeness. It means that we display tact, moderation, refinement and good manners toward … [Read more...] about The Day for “Uncommon Decency” has come. Let’s embrace it!
Is God Relevant in the Public Square?
A special thank-you to the Emerging Scholar from Johns Hopkins University who passed along notes from Is God Relevant in the Public Square? Living with our deepest differences in a world of exploding pluralism -- Os Guinness (March 26, Veritas Forum).* Anyone have testimonies regarding or reflections upon the creation, cultivation, encouragement, and/or maintenance of a “Civil” Public Square on their campus, in their discipline? ------------------- Os Guinness, an author and social critic, began by asking us to take … [Read more...] about Is God Relevant in the Public Square?