Keepin Us Honest

The other day I talked with a friend after class. She and I are the same age, and both of us are married. We actually have quite a bit in common.

In the course of our conversation, we drifted to politics. She has it in for fundamentalists, and I have a feeling she has a good reason. I responded that someone needs to keep them honest. ...and that's true.

We all need people in our lives to keep us honest.

We may not like what others have to say when they criticize or disagree with us, but we need to listen.

And we need to be respectful and openminded.

When we quit listening to other points of view, when we quit associating with people different from us, we tend to become closeminded and inward-focused...and in some cases, condescending and downright mean.

People who disagree with us or ask us questions keep us on our toes.

That's not a negative thing. Instead, it's quite positive. It's good for us.

At times, we'll engage in debate. But there are rules.

• Seek first to understand rather than to be understood, so spend more time listening than talking
• At least consider the possibility you might be wrong
• Be willing to agree to disagree
• Be respectful; no name-calling
• Don't put words in the other person's mouth or assume you know where they stand
• Do your homework before engaging in debate. You lose credibility when you don't know what you're talking about or rely on what someone said someone else said...or wrote

With that said, let the conversations and healthy exhanges begin.