Public Discourse in America

(How we talk with one another)

Books

Out of Weakness: Healing the Wounds that Drive Us to War, for some relevant background on this issue, see Part IV: God's Truth, for an exploration of the psychological roots of the need for certainty and the impulse to make war upon those who follow a different version of the truth.

Op-Ed Articles

"Why Didn't We Hear More of His Voice?" published, Baltimore Sun, and San Francisco Chronicle, 12/96.

Commentary, in the wake of the death of Cardinal Bernardin, on who it is that the American media culture pays attention to. Godly people are not high on the list of those given air time.

"Universal Language," published, Christian Science Monitor, spring 1996.

Does the violence of American movies say anything important, and disturbing, about us and our society? The argument that in the newly global market for films, violence is naturally favored because it speaks in a "universal language" needing no translation would be comforting to accept, but it is not ultimately persuasive.

"The Dance of Polarization (and the Next Step Beyond)," published, San Francisco Chronicle, 9/28/95, and Baltimore Sun, 4/30/96.

An interpretation of the 'culture war' in America and of the challenge it poses to us: not for 'our side' to win, but for both sides to seek together a higher wisdom that integrates the parts of the truth that are now polarized in opposition.

"No Shortage of Inconsistencies," published, Baltimore Sun, 1995; also San Francisco Chronicle.

Too often we use principles merely as a club to beat our opponents over the head with, rather than as a standard by which we hold ourselves accountable as well.

"Gladiators," unpublished

On how too much of our public discourse is like the combat of gladiators, and how we would be better served by a different kind of conversation, one conducted in a spirit of genuine inquiry.

"You're Wrong, Too!" published, Baltimore Sun, 6/27/94; also San Francisco Chronicle and St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Too often, we are more interested in being told that our half-truth is right than in being challenged to find the other half of the truth. Often, what we want to hear and what we need to hear are not the same.

"When Fantasy Trumps Reason," unpublished.

Expresses concern about what it means to live in a society where people are more readily persuaded by a good story, a plausible drama, than mere evidence considered rationally.

"Open Letter to Rush Limbaugh," unpublished, 1993.

A challenge to Limbaugh on the way he presents his views and deals with those who disagree with him.

"The Big Picture Doesn't Fit on Our Screens," published, Baltimore Sun, approx. 1991.

Our attention is so readily riveted on small human dramas --like a little girl trapped in a well-- but we attend so little to much more important human dramas that take place on a scale less easily grasped by our small-scale minds.

Radio Shows

"Triumph Over Reality," broadcast, Morning Edition (WAMU-FM, Washington) 1994.

It is disturbing when people allow their prejudices to govern, even when the prejudice does not stand up to empirical scrutiny. An example is the decision of the Virginia Supreme Court to take a child away from its mother, declaring her unfit solely on the basis of her being a lesbian.

"Just How Wishy-Washy is Andy Schmookler?" began broadcast call-in conversation on WSVA Radio, 1996.

Responding to the notion --which I regard as mistaken-- that my lack of certainty about the answers to big questions, my keeping those questions open in my mind, is a sign of wishy-washiness. The astounding progress of scientific knowledge, I suggest, is the result of just such a willingness to regard one's present ideas as working hypotheses and not as Ultimate Truth."

"Rules of Engagement," began broadcast, call-in conversation on WSVA Radio, 1994.

Framing discussion of the question of how we should talk with each other --with people with whom we disagree-- when discussing the controversial issues we face as a society. I articulate my disagreement with the approach that uses put-downs, scorn, the imputation of bad motives, and such devices for making one's interlocutors out to be lesser people because of what they believe.

See Also

"Time for us to Listen," under "Contemporary Moral Culture"

"God Said it," under "Spiritual Perspectives"

"Family Leave: Give Us a Break," under "American Politics"