You're Not as Crazy as I Thought (But You're Still Wrong): Conversations between a Die-Hard Liberal and a Devoted Conservative
Language: English
Pages: 230
ISBN: 1612344615
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Phil Neisser, a self-described “left-wing atheist,” first met Jacob Hess, a social conservative, at the 2008 proceedings of the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation. After discovering a shared commitment to cross-party dialogue, they embarked together on a yearlong attempt to practice what they preached. In this book they share the result by exploring the boundaries of core disagreements about morality, power, gender roles, sexuality, race, big government, big business, and big media.
Each chapter revolves around an issue explored in depth through back-and-forth, lively question and response. This nuanced, iterative process was transformative for both authors, and could likewise serve as a valuable resource for anyone—liberal or conservative—who feels disillusioned by today’s often shallow, demagogic public discourse.
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conservatives who insist on a salvation conditioned by specific truths and laws set in place). Phil: Your half-joking remark at the end is actually a good point. Too often tolerance and inclusion are offered “to all” in ways that don’t in fact include everyone and that are insulting to some people. If you believe that salvation is real and conditioned, then that’s your belief, not your “intolerance.” Let me ask this: is there a place for atheists in a liberal-conservative dialogue about
the line, someone on the other side could pull you across. The fun was flirting with the line . . . tempting others to pull you over. This seems to be how others tend to see open conversation and dialogue—as if it’s a decoy meant to distract you long enough so someone can drag you over to the dark side! Granted, there might be legitimate reasons to fear dialogue in certain situations, for example when the participants include impressionable youth or the conversation includes ultra-destructive
only loved ourselves!”). But if the world (however we label it) impinges upon us in the ways we’ve discussed, then something more than self-acceptance seems in order. Like most of my brothers and sisters of the various Abrahamic faiths, I believe that one core need of any human being is to undergo some kind of repentance or change process in response to the residual effects of living in this society. Like a kind of spiritual detox program, this involves turning away from corrosive actions and
as they are. Phil: The truth I hope to possess is of a provisional, merely human variety. Let me give you an example: Thousands and thousands of fossils have been found in the earth, and every single one of them confirms the theory of evolution (by virtue of which layer of the earth’s crust it was found in, the kind of rock it was found in, how it dates using carbon dating, etc.). Likewise, every measured feature of every plant and animal ever studied fits with that same theory. Thus I am
Association, http://www.apa.org/pi/wpo/sexualization.html (accessed January 9, 2011). 7. University of Michigan Health System, “Television and Children,” Your Child: Development and Behavior Resources; A Guide to Information and Support to Parents, http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/tv.htm (accessed February 26, 2011). 8. “Religion,” Dictionary.com, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/religion (accessed January 30, 2011). 9. William McKenzie, “Ready for Some Football but it Feels
