Let's talk Politics and Religion

I have never been a blogger. Then one year in my Spanish Literature class in college, class members were required to create a blog in order to write about principles that were discussed in class. I named my blog “Emilee’s Musings”, thinking that one day I would use this blog to discuss other things. The class ended, and I stopped blogging.

Four years later, I find myself itching to write about different topics, many of which are controversial religious and political topics. I have lost sleep thinking about such topics.

I once heard a beloved aunt of mine say of our family conversations, “Politics and religion, we don’t talk about that.”

I have wondered why these subjects are taboo for my family, and for many other people. Among my dad’s siblings, there are those of the Catholic, Mormon, Methodist, and Presbyterian faith. Some are more active in practicing their faith than others. Some are Democrat, and some are Republican. I’m proud that despite these differences, mutual respect and love exists in my family. But still, we don’t talk about politics or religion.

Maybe it is because we value this feeling of mutual respect and love in the family that we don’t want to go there, because too often the feelings that come with talking about politics of religion are opposite those of love and mutual respect.

Maybe it is because we are afraid of being wrong, afraid of coming out on the losing end of the discussion.

Maybe it is because we are afraid of being labeled as old-fashioned, conservative, liberal, racist, tree-hugging, or bigoted.

Maybe it is because we assume that we already know and understand another person’s position.

You could say there is too much talk about politics. At times, our social media feeds are flooded with it. Often such talk carries the message, “anyone who disagrees with me is a bad person.”

However, I say, it doesn’t have to be this way, and it shouldn’t be this way.

We need to talk about politics and religion. There are important issues to discuss and to understand from different perspectives. Of course, not all ways of discussing politics and religion are equally effective or beneficial. We need to do it in the right way: humbly and with the goal of understanding each other.

Understanding the views of those who disagree with us is important to solidify our own views. In an address titled “the Dying Art of Disagreement,” the writer Stephen Brett spoke of his education at a university where he studied many different philosophers and many different lines of thought. He writes,

“The University of Chicago showed us something else: that every great idea is really just a spectacular disagreement with some other great idea.

"Socrates quarrels with Homer. Aristotle quarrels with Plato. Locke quarrels with Hobbes and Rousseau quarrels with them both. Nietzsche quarrels with everyone. Wittgenstein quarrels with himself.

"These quarrels are never personal. Nor are they particularly political, at least in the ordinary sense of politics. Sometimes they take place over the distance of decades, even centuries.

Most importantly, they are never based on a misunderstanding. On the contrary, the disagreements arise from perfect comprehension; from having chewed over the ideas of your intellectual opponent so thoroughly that you can properly spit them out.

"In other words, to disagree well you must first understand well. You have to read deeply, listen carefully, watch closely. You need to grant your adversary moral respect; give him the intellectual benefit of doubt; have sympathy for his motives and participate empathically with his line of reasoning. And you need to allow for the possibility that you might yet be persuaded of what he has to say.” You can read Stephen Brett’s entire address, which I highly recommend, here.

So, we can start conversations with individuals with the sole purpose of trying to understand their point of view, especially those with whom we disagree. This is not easy; it requires concentration to actively listen and to ask good questions. It requires open eyes, open ears, open hearts and open minds. But chances are, after you have heard the other person out, he will be interested in what you have to say. You can learn more about how to have productive political discussions by listening to this  podcast titled "Dialogue and Exchange" from NPR Ted Radio Hour.  

There are times in which we feel like we must say something, that we must take a stand. As one of the leaders of my Church, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, said in this talk, “Of course, we must always stand for what is right, and there are times when we must raise our voices for that cause. However, when we do so with anger or hate in our hearts—when we lash out at others to hurt, shame, or silence them—chances are we are not doing so in righteousness.”

Rather, we should speak humbly and respectfully. None of us has all the facts, knows all the circumstances, or knows all the answers (not even Google). We can welcome respectful discussion. It is okay if others disagree with us.

I can’t say that I am good at this, but I want to be. The times that I have had a respectful political or religious discussion with someone with whom I disagree, I have gone away from the conversation feeling a little more sympathetic to someone else’s views. I have gone from thinking, “how could anyone think that?!” to “I can see your point.” I have learned valuable information that I did not know before. I may not be convinced about their standpoint, but I feel less judgmental and condemning. I see this person no longer as a label, but as a person.

I think most people would agree that we could use less judging, condemning, divisiveness, and hate. Who knows – maybe if we talked a little more in the right way, if we listened more, there would be more understanding, empathy and love. Maybe we can come to better solutions. That is my hope.