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 moves from the “Open Heart”, with a strong emphasis on empathy and an exploration of the spiritual underpinnings of Christian civility, to the “red flag” of and important daily realities of pluralism. Pluralism is an important topic which we have explored a number of times. I particularly appreciated Mouw’s brief exploration of What’s good about pluralism? (Ch 7):
- God and diversity
- Pluralistic consciousness
- Pluralism and idolatry
- Cultural diversity.
After a consideration of the framework offered in the first seven chapters of Uncommon Decency, I can imagine a campus context in which a weekly discussion group/dialogue delves into: [Read more…] about “Uncommon Decency” in the context of Pluralism