Faith in the Age of Criticism Pt 3

2. We need to be critical of ideas, not people. When we can divorce criticism from personal attacks (I believe the two are very different) we can engage in healthy critical dialogue with others that can help us evaluate and sharpen our own world view. What is more, we can maintain deep and honest friendships with people who do not see the world the same way we do. This is easier said than done. It is difficult to listen to someone like Ann Coulter and not want to be critical of her and her tactics, rather than to simply be critical of the agenda she supports. Yet, if we are able to realize that every person has the right to believe and say what they do, and if that person will realize that we have that same right, we can move past personal attacks, to critique ideas. I have great friends who have very different political views than I do. We disagree on a lot of things, yet, we love to hang out and to be together. I consider them my friends and they consider me a friend. Here is a simple way of telling if you are being critical of an idea or of the person who holds that idea. If you say "You're an idiot for believing that" than you are engaging in a personal attack. If you say "I disagree with what you believe" than you are making the focus of the critique the idea and not the person. What you can't control is how the person responds. Many people believe that if you don't like their idea or their belief, than you obviously don't like them personally. So find ways of validating the person, of letting them know that you love them as a person and that your critique has nothing to do with them as a person and a friend. If we can divorce criticism from personal attack, we will be able to begin dialogues with people and discuss issues critically with people who don't think or believe like we do, without (hopefully) alienating them. This critical dialogue is vital. Only when we engage with ideas that we don't hold are we able to see our own ideas within the crucible of critical thinking. If I never engage with anyone who believes differently than I do, then who will challenge me to think, rethink, defend, and ultimately affirm or change my own ways of thinking? How will I know if my ideas are old and outdated or if they continue to stand the test of time? Critical dialogue with people who think differently than I do helps to expand my worldview and see an idea from different viewpoints. We can always learn something. We never have all the answers. People who think and believe differently than we do can help us see things from a different perspective. And, we may just gain a new friend in the process.