although it will discuss one candidate briefly.
I teach government. And beginning in March I will be participating in the Political Leaders Program of the Thomas Sorensen Institute at UVa. One goal of that program is
The Political Leaders Program provides an opportunity for leaders to develop meaningful relationships with Virginians from differing backgrounds across the Commonwealth.
One reason I was selected is because of what I try to teach my government students, as they explore their own differing political perspectives. And it is one phrase from that approach that I heard coming from my TV set on Monday evening. Let me explain.
I am fully committed to a liberal approach, and while I have voted for a Republican I personally knew for school board, my political endeavors have only been on behalf of Democratic candidates, so don't kick me off this website.
I tell the parents and the students a key part of what I hope they will learn. I repeated this as part of my application process to Sorensen.
I want my students to be better able to express their own points of view clearly, to be able to deconstruct the arguments of their opponents, and to learn to argue policy and not personality. In the process I may create my own worst nightmare - a persuasive and effective advocate of a position I abhor, in which case as a teacher I am satisfied.
That is almost all of what I say and what I shared. So far, nothing earthshaking. Here's the rest.
I hope that they will learn what too many in our political system seem not to have learned, how to disagree without being disagreeble.
It was a form of those words I heard coming from my tv set as I watched a live rally coming from the Opera House in Rochester NH. I heard Barack Obama saying that we can disagree without being disagreeable.
My wife immediately reacted, noting the connection with what I advocate. Of course, leaves on the current is a strong Obama supporter and wishes she could persuade me to think similarly. I remain truly uncommitted.
But it is amazing to hear one's own words being spoken in a public context by a national political figure.
To be certain, the idea is hardly original, and I am not the first to phrase it as I do. Nevertheless, it gave me a strong sense of affirmation for the approach I take.
And this helped me further understand part of the appeal that Obama has for many people, that there is a hunger to find some common ground, or as Rodney King put it, can't we all get along? I understand the desire for revenge, for wanting to punish those who have been so abusive. At least for me, my concern is to salvage this nation, indeed, to save the planet. And for that we have to find how we can work together, to accept that there will be occasions where we cannot agree and must vigorously oppose, but that it is on policy and principle, not personality.
Perhaps my approach is too "soft" for some, but I think it may be our only hope for the human race. Perhaps it is why I am drawn to a faith tradition (Quakers) which operates on a principle of answering "that of God" in each person, which by definition precludes considering that person to be the spawn of Satan or any other horrific with which one might wish to label him.
It is nice to hear words in which one strongly believes being spoken by a person one respects. It is even more pleasing to see and hear the response those words receive.
And the reason I am writing this diary, as poorly as I am writing it, is because I believe those words are also applicable here. We have to learn how to disagree without being disagreeable.
Peace. And have a nice evening.