Showing posts with label insult vs. argument. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insult vs. argument. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Gracious responses in difficult circumstances

The September 6/13 edition of World magazine includes a great interview of Professor J. Budziszewski [Boojee-SHEF-skee] of the University of Texas. I mentioned one of his books, True Tolerance: Liberalism and the Necessity of Judgment several years ago. I probably should have mentioned his How to Stay Christian in College and Ask Me Anything: Provocative Answers for College Students. --Problem is, I haven't read either of them. I have few doubts they are good. But I haven't actually read them.

So now comes Ask Me Anything 2: More Provocative Answers for College Students. I found his answers--shared in the World magazine article--insightful, gracious, and compelling.

A couple of examples:
Budziszewski: [A professor in a public policy class said,] "All of you students are too intelligent to be pro-life, right?" The implied threat was plain: "If any of you are pro-life, I'll grade you down." Guess whether anyone spoke up....

World: What's the right way for Christians to talk back to such professors?

Budziszewski: A rule one is "Speak up." Even the most bigoted professors often change their tune when challenged. Other rules are "The logical," "Be respectful," "Keep it reef," "Limit yourself to a single point," and, "Remember that you don't have to 'win.'" It's not difficult to ask, "Sir, I understand the insult, but what is the argument?" Nor does it require genius to say this to a professor blathering about "intolerance": "If we had to tolerate everything, wouldn't we even have to tolerate intolerance? Don't we have to use standards to describe what is tolerable and what isn't? What are yours?" [Emphasis added. --JAH]

Sounds like a worthy mentor to me!

Besides reading his books, you can also find Budziszewski serving as the wise and gracious Professor Theophilus at TrueU.org.