It doesn’t take a degree in political science or even a keen eye toward the political scene in the United States to figure out that its climate is characterized by heightened partisanship and lack of civility. To add fuel to this ongoing fire, we find ourselves in an election year that has only deepened the divide. This atmosphere certainly does not create the most hospitable conditions to have conversations about the political issues of our day.
To give students tools to have productive and respectful conversations about politics with one another, faculty and staff are hosting five discussion-based sessions on how to talk about politics.
The emphasis of the group discussions is not on political topics, the issues that are the focus of debate, but rather on how to approach discussing politics with others in a way that reflects the character of Christ.
“The goal here of these groups is not to impart ‘political knowledge’ so much as to learn how to navigate our political differences with charity, humility and grace,” said Dr. Clements, Associate Professor of Political Science.
“The heart of Asbury is that we need to participate in a way that is first and foremost Christian. We need to participate in a way that honors God and is about humility and hope,” said Michelle Kratzer, the Associate Dean of the Catalyst Center for Applied Learning. “Whatever we are doing, we want to teach our students to engage with one another and with the world in ways that reflect the Kingdom of God.”
The conversation on how to support students during the contentious election year came up during a student life session. Kratzer enthusiastically shared her support for the group sessions when the discussion of how to have political conversations was brought up.
“I want my name to go on a list of people who care about how we talk about these things,” said Kratzer. “This matters, not just what we believe but how we talk about what we believe matters deeply. If we cannot talk about politics in a way that reflects the person of Christ, then something is wrong.”
The reality is that there will be times when we will have challenging conversations about politics with others that won’t always hold the same beliefs. These sessions will be about learning how to approach those differences in a respectful manner.
“Learning that it is okay if others don’t agree with you and still being able to have a working relationship and/or a friendship with them is an important part of being a virtuous person,” said Eric Walsh, the Assistant Director at the office of Campus Safety, when asked about why he wanted to participate in the sessions.
“I grew up in a family that had, and continues to have, conversations and debates about politics and religion while still loving each other and being able to sit down to dinner together. How awesome would it be for us to be able to do that daily here on campus.”
While there are students who are already engaging in discussions across political differences, the hope is that these group discussions will help foster a renewed commitment to engage with and create relationships with people who believe differently.
The group sessions will revolve around material created by the Christian organization, Redeeming Babel, which seeks to enable college students to have civil conversations about political issues by recentering focus on Jesus.
“Redeeming Babel has prepared a number of short videos to prompt and structure discussion, so most sessions will involve us watching a video and then conversing about what we saw and heard,” said Dr. Clements.
The common material used in the sessions will enable students to have a shared language when discussing their feelings towards politics, thereby creating empathy and understanding. The videos capture the variety of attitudes towards the political atmosphere from a “disciple,” one who is high in humility and hope, and a “cynic,” at the other end of the spectrum, one low in humility and hope.
“It’s like a personality assessment; it’s a tool that we can use to talk about ourselves and understand ourselves. Then we can use that to help understand other people,” said Kratzer. “So that if you come into my office and you say, ‘I really identify with the cynic’ then I can have empathy for you… if we have a shared language then I think that helps us to be more empathetic and challenges us to move towards the model of being a disciple.”
Being able to have conversations about politics is a vital part of living in this world. As Christians, we are encouraged to partake in the things of this world without being consumed by and placing our hope in them. Instead, we should discuss politics in a way that is reflective of our hope in Christ.
“Society and the media are driven by conflict, doubt and fear. We, as Christians, should be driven by love, belief and hope,” said Walsh. “To be in the world, we must be able to talk about worldly things; but to keep from being of the world, we must be able to talk about worldly things with hope, belief and most of all love towards the people we are talking with.”
