The fourth Frequently Voiced Objection to getting involved in civil discussion is, like the previous one, rooted in the assumption that politics isn’t worth talking about to begin with—not because politics is “rigged” but rather because when it comes to politics, everything’s a matter of subjective opinion. How often have you thought—or heard—something like the following?
I’m not against politics, but I’ve never seen the attraction, either. I’ve never felt really committed to a particular party or side of an issue. If you look closely enough, the flowery words and nice speeches are all pretty much the same. I mean, no one can really prove that one policy is better than another. I don’t see how they could. Doesn’t it all just come down to individual opinion? If so, what difference does it make if my opinion is basically that I don’t really care if I have an opinion in the first place?
We doubt many people would maintain this point of view if their neighbor’s “opinions” led them to start doing really nasty things. Still, we’d be the first to admit that public policy poses plenty of problems. But isn’t the very lack of “proof” that any one policy is better than another all the more reason to keep asking questions and exploring alternative answers? Perhaps the best we can do in most cases is to explore the answers that are available and ask which seems “most” true. We may not discover “the” truth this way, but aren’t we likelier to find a “better” truth or at least “our” truth?
Civil discussion isn’t designed to produce truth or even a set of truths (or answers or recommendations). Instead, it’s intended to provide a means for participants to deepen and sharpen their own truths by exploring a range of questions and answers and their consequences. This last bit is important. Exploring the consequences of alternative paths will help you appreciate what might be at stake in following each. That process will not only clarify the choices, but it will also make them more real.
*Adapted from Adolf G. Gundersen and Suzanne Goodney Lea, Let’s Talk Politics: Restoring Civility Through Exploratory Discussion, Chapter 3.
