Political columnist should "sheath his tongue"
Debbie Scranton
Issue date: 11/18/05 Section: Editorials
Dear Editor,
Finally Brian Shreve says something I can answer with, "Amen, brother!" In volume 82, issue number 7, Shreve writes about "tiresome political labels."
Organizations like the Gay-Straight Alliance and special events like As One are working to unite people with differences, sexual orientation and religious affiliation respectively.
Brian's column is always passionate and energetic ,but I fear he uses his tongue as a weapon far more than as a healing device. I recognize the popular trend among political activists to launch belittling attacks on their opponents, but in an already fractured country, we need another hostile commentator like we need the proverbial hole in the head.
Like Brian, I am tired of the popular labels we use so casually to define others with whom we disagree. Those in our country with political agendas have created a special language of division. This language is a tool of convenience that offers us up in neat little packages to each other so we never have to really consider opposing ideas. It is "dichotomic" and it defines us in terms of our differences. We are poor, or we are wealthy. We are liberal, or we are conservative. We are black, or we are white. We are gay, or we are straight. We are pro-life, or we are pro-choice.
This campus is our community. These students and
professors with whom we often disagree are our neighbors. I would like to see us destroy the dichotomies that keep us separated and create a community of thinkers who are willing to be beasts of burden in a bridge building project. We begin this project by opening cross-dichotomy dialogue that does not gloss our differences but respectfully explores them.
I'll close by making a personal appeal to Brian.
Sheath your tongue. Continue to use it. But use it to prod our conscience and stimulate our intellect, not behead us. Do not let your stake in our community be a stake through the community you serve.
Thank you for sharing your opinions, and thank you for considering mine.
Debbie Scranton
Concerned Reader
Finally Brian Shreve says something I can answer with, "Amen, brother!" In volume 82, issue number 7, Shreve writes about "tiresome political labels."
Organizations like the Gay-Straight Alliance and special events like As One are working to unite people with differences, sexual orientation and religious affiliation respectively.
Brian's column is always passionate and energetic ,but I fear he uses his tongue as a weapon far more than as a healing device. I recognize the popular trend among political activists to launch belittling attacks on their opponents, but in an already fractured country, we need another hostile commentator like we need the proverbial hole in the head.
Like Brian, I am tired of the popular labels we use so casually to define others with whom we disagree. Those in our country with political agendas have created a special language of division. This language is a tool of convenience that offers us up in neat little packages to each other so we never have to really consider opposing ideas. It is "dichotomic" and it defines us in terms of our differences. We are poor, or we are wealthy. We are liberal, or we are conservative. We are black, or we are white. We are gay, or we are straight. We are pro-life, or we are pro-choice.
This campus is our community. These students and
professors with whom we often disagree are our neighbors. I would like to see us destroy the dichotomies that keep us separated and create a community of thinkers who are willing to be beasts of burden in a bridge building project. We begin this project by opening cross-dichotomy dialogue that does not gloss our differences but respectfully explores them.
I'll close by making a personal appeal to Brian.
Sheath your tongue. Continue to use it. But use it to prod our conscience and stimulate our intellect, not behead us. Do not let your stake in our community be a stake through the community you serve.
Thank you for sharing your opinions, and thank you for considering mine.
Debbie Scranton
Concerned Reader
