What Aids Theatre Can Teach Us in Critiquing Others

Timothy Muehlhoff — April 23, 2021

Tim Muehlhoff’s post in Christian Scholar's Review provides insight on how to winsomely and compassionately address another person's deepest convictions.

Race. Gender. Sexuality. Politics. Theology. Parenting. Vaccines. Mask wearing.

All potential conversational landmines.

What happens when you not only disagree with a person, but feel at odds with their deepest values? In today’s combative communication climate, is it possible to critique that which is sacred to another person with gentleness and humility? The sacred, notes sociologist James Davidson Hunter, “expresses that which is non-negotiable and defines the limits” of what a person or community will tolerate.¹ Violating a sacred core typically evokes defensiveness and a harsh response. How might we critique the non-negotiable beliefs of another without it devolving into an argument?

Read the full article in Christian Scholar’s Review:

Footnotes

James Davidson Hunter, Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America (New York: Basic Books, 1993), 322.

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Timothy Muehlhoff

Tim Muehlhoff (Ph.D.) is a professor of communication at ��ʷ in La Mirada, California. He is the co-director of Biola’s and co-host of the Winsome Conviction podcast where people with differing views come to engage in perspective-taking. His latest book is, (with Sean McDowell). In addition to teaching and writing, Tim teaches de-escalation skills and self-defense to corporations, universities, and domestic violence shelters in Orange County, CA.

Episode 126: Reports from the Front: Braver Angels

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