My question is about Christians and disagreement...
I followed your dialogue with Chuck Colson and I agree, debate can be so negative and even worthless if done carelessly. I started a forum a while back to discuss things that mattered with my friends and as you can see if you look at it at all, the discussion got quite heated especially concerning politics.
I am anxious to start more dialogue but I don't want either of two things to happen -- I don't want to isolate myself with those of my Christian friends who are deemed "liberal" as I am, and close off from the more "conservative" people I know and love. But also, I don't want to try to engage people and end up in unhealthy conversation/argument.
Any suggestions on how to begin and maintain this type of dialogue while avoiding the "bickering" or other harmful types of discussion? Sorry to bother you with personal websites/issues, but I respect you a great deal more than I can express and I couldn't pass up at least asking. I hope your holiday has been amazing thus far--and I hope to hear from you soon.
Answer: I wish I had a good suggestion on this. Nearly every website I’m aware of struggles with this. My friend Stephen Shields runs an excellent site called “Faithmaps” where they have much more civil dialogue than is common in our culture.
But the strident, screaming journalism that is so “hot” on TV and radio these days seems to be baptized by the religious community too. I don’t believe we’re ever given an exemption from 1 Corinthians 13 or Ephesians 4 … even though I fail in this regard at times, I would rather admit I’m wrong than lower my standards.
You may try posting rules for charitable conversation, but you’ll still have to function as an active moderator – and some people will, no doubt, need to be disallowed if they keep violating the rules.