Being right in the sense I'm using the word isn't a political stance. It's an insistence on the correctness of one's personal opinions. If you had full access to my Facebook account, you'd find that I have friends from all parts of the opinion spectrum. But you'd also find that when any of us posts an opinion, the respondents all "Like" or affirm those opinions. Those who disagree just stay on the sidelines. In all honesty, I must include myself among the sideline sitters. Seldom is there real dialogue aimed at understanding each other.
An exception occurred in my little corner of the Facebook world a few days ago when I had a true discussion - an exchange of ideas - with a former student who generally expresses opinions much more conservative than mine. Frankly, I'd always thought this young man probably belonged to the Tea Party movement, and I'd probably still think so if we'd not stopped expressing our own views and asked questions about and listened to each other's judgments. We discovered that - at least on the issue of gun control - our ideas are much more similar than either of us had thought. We don't fully agree, but we found areas of understanding and respect.
Which leads me to consider a little saying in a tiny frame that sits on my desk: "Listen without defending. Speak without offending." Which leads further to the realization that I can't change how others interact; but I can work on my own attention to remembering this phrase. This may be a baby step - but I think it's a step in the right direction.
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