{"id":138,"date":"2024-01-10T16:17:31","date_gmt":"2024-01-10T21:17:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/compassionateengagement\/?p=138"},"modified":"2024-01-10T16:18:31","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T21:18:31","slug":"recapturing-civil-discourse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/compassionateengagement\/2024\/01\/recapturing-civil-discourse\/","title":{"rendered":"Recapturing Civil Discourse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Four days ago marked the third anniversary of an ugly scene that unfolded in Washington DC.\u00a0 January 6th<\/sup>, will always be a day that I remember.\u00a0 A day where I didn\u2019t get much work done as I sat in my office and watched in horror as a massive crowd marched to the Capital Building.\u00a0 Amongst the crowd one could see MAGA banners, Christian Flags, gallows, and even a Jesus saves sign.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I clicked on the facebook app and found myself a bit surprised at the silence.\u00a0 To me, this was a horrible day.\u00a0 No matter which side of the aisle you associate with, I do believe that we should be able to agree that January 6, 2021 was not a good day for our country.\u00a0 With that in mind, I quickly typed the following words,<\/p>\n

My post said..<\/h4>\n \u201cToday will forever be an ugly stain on our nation but will also serve<\/p>\n as a great reminder to be thankful that God is the one on the throne.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I refrained from taking shots at anyone and I refrained from taking sides.\u00a0 Rather I acknowledged the ugliness of the day and I acknowledged the supremacy of our God.\u00a0 I genuinely thought I was safe.\u00a0 Perhaps I am na\u00efve to think that this would be received well but I purposely did not say, \u201cPatriots tried to save the stolen election\u201d or \u201cthugs stormed the capital\u201d.\u00a0 I did not say decry the evil nature of either party or even point out their redeeming qualities.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n It quickly blew up.\u00a0 In fact, while I did not take down the post, I did delete a couple comments and hide another.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t ok with my Facebook wall become a warzone and still am a bit befuddled at why it did.\u00a0 For this reason I hesitated to mention this here and call attention to my page, but I do so because I have a very public life.\u00a0 I am on nearly every social media platform that exists, and they are all set to public.\u00a0 The world can quickly see what was written on my wall.\u00a0 Want to know who I am and what I am about, feel free to spy or give me a follow.\u00a0 Here is the link if it helps https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jon.goodwin.9\/<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n My seemingly innocuous post quickly was redirected towards, \u201cBLM riots\u201d (Black Lives Matter can\u2019t seem to be said or typed by those opposed), the southern border crisis, Jeffrey Epstein, and sex trafficking.\u00a0 None of which had any application to what I had written or was addressing.<\/p>\n

2016<\/h4>\n \ In 2016 I recall on more than one occasion telling people about my concern over Trump\u2019s character and his ability to lead our nation.\u00a0 In fact, long before Trump was even nominated as the Republican candidate, I stated from my pulpit that I would not vote for a man who publicly spoke of abusing women.\u00a0 Years before my wife and I chose to no longer watch \u201cThe Apprentice\u201d because the man in charge (Trump) was such an unkind bully with major character flaws.\u00a0 When I told people of my concern over Trump they would often reply with, \u201cWhat, you\u2019d rather have Hilary be president?\u00a0 And, you are ok with killing babies?\u201d\u00a0 Pretty sure I never said either one of those things.<\/p>\n \ \u00a0<\/p>\n \ As a society we find that many live with the idea \u201cif you aren\u2019t for us, you are against us.\u201d\u00a0 This is incredibly dangerous and divisive.\u00a0 We also live in a society that assumes that speaking on one issue means we don\u2019t care about other issues.\u00a0 This is plain foolishness.<\/p>\n \ Some examples\u2026<\/h4>\n \ There are days when I will find myself having a conversation about my daughter who is in college.\u00a0 At times my other two children don\u2019t even come up in the conversation.\u00a0 This does not mean that I don\u2019t care about my two boys.\u00a0 It simply means I am having a conversation about my daughter.<\/p>\n \ \u00a0<\/p>\n \ On my wife\u2019s birthday I will often write something up and put in on my Facebook wall.\u00a0 Thus, allowing the world to see that I love my wife, appreciate her, and am celebrating her birthday.\u00a0 On that day it would be wildly inappropriate for you to say, what about your parents\u2019 birthdays?\u00a0 Don\u2019t you care about them?\u00a0 It would be irrational and foolish.<\/p>\n \ \u00a0<\/p>\n \ If your best friend suffered from colon cancer and you made regular posts about colon cancer awareness, it would be wildly inappropriate if I challenged you on not caring about those who have brain cancer, premature children, and who are suffering from herpes.\u00a0 I mean, come one.<\/p>\n \ \u00a0<\/p>\n \ If our first response is offense because we heard a trigger word, we must stop blaming the trigger word and must acknowledge that perhaps we are the problem.\u00a0 A large portion of society has lost its ability to engage in civil discourse.\u00a0 In large part because they are angry and offended before a conversation even begins.\u00a0 They carry with them everywhere they go a suitcase and a backpack full of their offenses.<\/p>\n

What would Jesus do?<\/h4>\n What if we were loving and committed to making a connection before the conversation begins?\u00a0 In the Gospels, Jesus can be seen routinely engaging in conversation with those who were at odds with Him.\u00a0 Nicodemus was a pharisee and Jesus met with Him under the cover of darkness.\u00a0 Possibly because Nicodemus did not want His religious comrades to know He met with Jesus.\u00a0 From this conversation we find one of the most beautiful passages of Scripture in John 3 https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John+3&version=NIV<\/a>.\u00a0 Jesus did not approach this meeting with the thought, now is my chance to put a Pharisee in his place.\u00a0 He approached the conversation with, now is my chance to show this man unconditional love.\u00a0 It is my chance to say, \u201cFor God so loved the world, and that means you Nicodemus.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Until we commit to love first and to truly understand others, civil discourse will not exist.\u00a0 If it is to exist, who better to model it than those who claim to be Jesus followers.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I have never won an opponent by pointing out their flaws, but I have won them over by pointing out their value.\u00a0 Until I affirm them, I rarely am granted permission to share my perspective and my story.\u00a0 So next time you are tempted to hijack a conversation, don\u2019t.\u00a0 Ask questions, have meaningful dialogue, seek to add value, dignity and respect into the life of the one you are engaging with.\u00a0 Arguments won\u2019t change the world for good, but love and respect will.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n After all, Jesus did say the second greatest commandment after loving God was to love your neighbor and your neighbor will feel more loved when we learn to stop telling them they are wrong and start asking them what led them to hold the position that they hold.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n It would appear that the real reason many Christians are not effective in sharing their faith is because they are more passionate about sharing their opinions than they are showing off Jesus.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Four days ago marked the third anniversary of an ugly scene that unfolded in Washington DC.\u00a0 January 6th, will always be a day that I remember.\u00a0 A day where I didn\u2019t get much work done as I sat in my office and watched in horror as a massive crowd marched to the Capital Building.\u00a0 Amongst […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5136,"featured_media":159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,39,20,16,42],"tags":[14,54,51,10,48,45],"class_list":["post-138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-civil-discourse","category-john-3","category-love","category-love-god-love-people","category-trump","tag-compassion","tag-discourse","tag-jesus","tag-love","tag-maga","tag-trump"],"yoast_head":"\nRecapturing Civil Discourse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Four days ago marked the third anniversary of an ugly scene that unfolded in Washington DC.\u00a0 January 6th, will always be a day that I remember.\u00a0 A day Until we commit to love first and to truly understand others, civil discourse will not exist\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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