Political Discussions: The Ground Rules

There was a time when all scientific thought centered around the idea that the earth was the center of the universe. As time increased we realized that the earth rotated around the sun, and that our planetary system was part of a galaxy and we were very much not the center of it. We know now that there are 200 to 400 billion stars in our galaxy, and the wonders of the universe continue to humble and astound us. We need to remember that each of our realities have been arranged based on observations that we have made, some of which may be very similar to primitive man thinking the sun rotates around the earth. These observations often come with assumptions and we only grow in our understanding by reaching outside of our comfort zone and taking in more truth into our reality.

As members of the American community we often make assumptions that we are the greatest country in the world, and that we are always right. Our ways of doing things are right even if they are frustratingly difficult to use versus something that makes complete sense (I.E. Metric System). We are therefore often labeled as arrogant and intolerant. That can be difficult to hear, which often makes us turn a deaf ear to anything that they are saying.

I believe that true tolerance comes from having a greater understanding of others, if we are to grow as Americans we must reach outwards to learn more and to try to understand truth to the best of our capabilities. 

This is not just arrogance and intolerance is not solely an American trait, but all of humanity has a tendency to find and stick to our point of view adamantly without consideration for another person's opinion. We need to change in order to grow. Politics can often be difficult and cause conflict, but there are good ground rules that can be used to make sure that we retain civility within discourse. I write this with the assumption that most people when arguing wish to alter another's opinion on an issue rather than just hear their own voice. I recently came across a blog post which referred to some ground rules for civil dialogue when discussing difficult issues which might result in conflict. 

Those rules are: 

"1)    Assume that the person with whom you are speaking is a person of intelligence and good will.

2)    Candidly disclose your motives for engaging in dialogue (both to others and to yourself) and be honest in raising points of sincere disagreement.

3)    Share the time equally."

I would hope as we continue to discuss important issues that we might come to realize the benefit of these common ground rules. Each of these allows for mutually consenting open communication to occur, something that is often lacking in media reporting today. I also would add some specifics to this that may help people to discuss without becoming completely closed off:  Please remember to abstain from using profane language. It is offensive and does not add value to your argument.

We also discourage the use of name calling of individuals on the site or politicians. Name calling reduces the value of your discussion as well, because you have now minimalized the ability of your message to reach the other person and add to their reality. Remember that even if you are using the name correctly, it diminishes the effectiveness of keeping open discourse by closing off the individual.


I can easily admit that I have been found to be argumentative and frustratingly opinionated and at times even closed-minded. My hope is that as we continue to discuss issues that are important to our country and world that we will do so more civilly, and I will do my best to do so as well.

I ask as you continue to read the blog to please feel free to comment, ask questions and we as writers will attempt to answer them and consider them in our own ideology.  This does not mean you have to agree with me at all. In fact we encourage you to contribute to the discussion by leaving your thoughts on our posts that agree or disagree.

Bottom line: feel free to disagree, but please do so civilly.