Communicating Across Worldviews

Communicating across worldviews is hard work. This week I came across a familiar worldview that challenged my point of view and it took me about a half hour to read it. I wondered if I could have a civil conversation with the author, Rabbi Aryeh Spero about his article entitled, The Need for a National Identity. Or rather, would we end up in a shouting match. Of course, given my predisposition to give myself higher grades on tolerance than I probably deserve, I decided I could have a civil conversation with Rabbi Aryeh Spero. Here’s an excerpt from his article. You can read the full article here.

“Some say it lies in our Constitution and Bill of Rights, which grant us the liberties that enshrine our peoplehood and, on a functional level, make possible a daily life open to achievement, aspirations, and human potential. Our way of life and the blessings that have come to us depend on everyone living within this Constitutional framework and by precluding its replacement or abridgment with another set of laws claiming to be a “higher morality” or temporarily more important, or by enacting waivers or special accommodation in the name of multiculturalism.”

If we honestly strive for an inclusive and civil society, one that can tolerate competing worldviews without tearing the nation apart then we’ve got to get better at communicating across worldviews, remembering, that communicating across worldviews is hard work.

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