Friday, March 13, 2009
Finding The Middle
Kruse Kronicle recently discussed terms like "centrist." I have to agree with this
It seems like style often overcomes substance. I agree with Rush Limbaugh most of the time, but I find his style such that I listen only occasionally, in fact infrequently. He is just a little too much bombast and not enough reason for me. But he has the largest audience in radio. People obviously like his bombast. This is increasingly true in the media age.
Much of the liberalization that has occurred in politics, religion, whatever, has occurred because liberalism managed to make itself look attractive, regardless of the actual ideas they were presenting. I recently attended a symposium on habeas corpus law in a terrorist situation. The conservative lawyers had fantastic legal arguments - case law, writing, research - undeniably good work. The liberal lawyers went straight to the "feels right" scenario. They talked about how the rest of the world views Guantanamo, they talked about the "appearance" of being a Gulag - they cited not a fact, only impressions and "concern."
Clearly, in the results of the last election, we see that most Americans agree with them, even though there was little in the way of reason to agree with.
And yet, when we see conservatives try to adapt "communication strategies" to deal with this, they almost invariably end up less conservative. Mega-churches would be a great example. (Oh they are politically conservative, but theologically - I don't think so.)
I think we need to continue to work on communication strategies, but somewhere in this we also need to raise the bar educationally. Until people learn to distinguish style and substance, we are always going to have a problem.
I relate to the general concerns of many who use these terms. Like many, I too grow weary of the harsh rhetoric and “gotcha” style of public debate. While I suspect many would classify me politically and religiously right of center (at least in my PCUSA world) there is enough about me that would keep me at arms length in many “conservative” Christian circles. I agree that dogmatic identification with ideologies of “left and right” or “conservative and liberal” probably isn’t healthy. Yet, the language of “centrist,” “middle,” “moderate,” or “third way” is not attractive to me.He goes on to point out the moderation terms are often used to force actual position moves rather than simply make debate more reasonable. I want to expand on that just a bit.
It seems like style often overcomes substance. I agree with Rush Limbaugh most of the time, but I find his style such that I listen only occasionally, in fact infrequently. He is just a little too much bombast and not enough reason for me. But he has the largest audience in radio. People obviously like his bombast. This is increasingly true in the media age.
Much of the liberalization that has occurred in politics, religion, whatever, has occurred because liberalism managed to make itself look attractive, regardless of the actual ideas they were presenting. I recently attended a symposium on habeas corpus law in a terrorist situation. The conservative lawyers had fantastic legal arguments - case law, writing, research - undeniably good work. The liberal lawyers went straight to the "feels right" scenario. They talked about how the rest of the world views Guantanamo, they talked about the "appearance" of being a Gulag - they cited not a fact, only impressions and "concern."
Clearly, in the results of the last election, we see that most Americans agree with them, even though there was little in the way of reason to agree with.
And yet, when we see conservatives try to adapt "communication strategies" to deal with this, they almost invariably end up less conservative. Mega-churches would be a great example. (Oh they are politically conservative, but theologically - I don't think so.)
I think we need to continue to work on communication strategies, but somewhere in this we also need to raise the bar educationally. Until people learn to distinguish style and substance, we are always going to have a problem.
Technorati Tags:moderate, communications
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator
