What happened to the fine art of the civilized conversation? When did eloquence, reason, and logic take a backseat to emotion?
Most people today seem content to stand at the fringe of their ideological extreme, with only the sole intention of either crushing or converting their opposition; No middle ground will be sought. Both sides will declare victory, though nothing will be accomplished. When an event takes place and a “national dialogue” is started, the same rhetoric is heard over and over.
How can anyone listen when everybody is screaming at each other? To quote an old movie line, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” I believe that we have allowed others to control the conversations and we keep having these same conversations again and again. Rarely do we go beyond the headline, the social media post, or what gets repeated and eventually accepted as truth.
How much longer can we afford to be shamelessly pandered to and patronized by political propaganda? How many times have you heard these same generalized promises with no results? If we continue to allow the same institutions and politicians to stir up the same old prejudices and reopen closing wounds, then how can we truly make progress as men, women, and as society?
If we seek to change society, then we must first change ourselves. We must enlighten and educate ourselves, as we cannot rely on others to do it. If we allow others to be our sole source of education, then we will fall victim to their agenda. Do not simply accept what you hear, search out the truth. Do not allow negative emotions to dictate your position nor go for the low hanging fruit that is being dangled in front of you. Nothing will change the past- it’s over, that’s why it’s called the past. Make the most of the present time you have and make today the best it could be. Be wise and discerning of everything you hear and see. Search out the truth will all of your heart, mind, and soul. God bless you.
Triumphant In Christ 
I agree with you wholeheartedly here. I’ve written about this a few times. Last night, actually, I was kind of ranting about the dying art of conversation as it applies to dating. We seem to all be so focused on identifying ourselves as sound bites instead of trying to converse and understand. To your point, it seems there is more importance placed on what you label yourself as theologically/idealogically/etc. as opposed to actually adhering to what it is you’re fighting for. My favorite quote of Buddha’s is basically that you cannot trust anything that doesn’t align with your own sense and truth – not even if he said it. I know from my own path, without getting inside myself, I was another person arguing over words and not listening to others. Great post!
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Thank you for reading my post and your kind words. I like the sound bites analogy. That’s spot on.
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