Yes, We Really Do Need to Talk About Race
It’s not just folks on the political left who we’d love to go deeper in exploring meaningful questions. These are some of our questions for brothers and sisters on the political right as well.
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Author: Jacob Z. Hess
Jacob Hess served on the board of the National Coalition of Dialogue and Deliberation and is Executive Director of the Council for Sustainable Healing. He has a Ph.D. in clinical-community psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on the implications of competing health and sociopolitical narratives.
Honest Questions about Race for Fellow Disciples
An open letter to Pro-CRT Latter-day Saints at BYU and beyond—inviting a good-faith dialogue that honestly engages some of our meaningful disagreements.
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Why should I believe you? Why should you believe me?
Behind our beliefs, there looms the figure of Authority. Can we effectively evaluate the truth of a claim without dealing with what authority we trust?
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There’s One More Atheist in Heaven
Gary Wilson provided research clarity to the ill effects of pornography on the brain, for this he was harassed and hounded in life. His death gives us an opportunity to praise his work.
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The Most Reviled Minority in America?
It’s understandable that many would have questions and concerns with the percentage of people declining the COVID-19 vaccine. But rather than make space for a human exchange about serious fears on both sides, incendiary rhetoric makes such conversation impossible, by insisting the only reason for dissent is selfishness or blatant ignorance.
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Excommunication as a Protection Against Spiritual Violence
When someone is harming others’ faith, is it “spiritual violence” to excommunicate them? Or not to?
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Is Vaccine Dialogue Even Possible?
Honest conversation about vaccination might be more challenging than any other issue. Why? And is it even worth trying?
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Struggle Doesn’t Make You Special
Those who wrestle are not a separate category of humans. That describes all of us. If so, the key question is not whether we are “willing to wrestle,” but rather, where that wrestle ultimately takes each of us.
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Now’s Not the Time to Downplay Sexual Addiction
Even after the killer in Atlanta’s heinous shooting recently spoke of his sexual addiction as a contributing influence. Some have taken this as an opportunity to minimize and even ridicule the idea of such a problem. The millions of men and women grappling with the same deserve better.
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Are We Pursuing Impossible Conversations?
How discussions are pre-loaded for failure.
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A Short History of Social Media Bans
Conservatives are feeling singled out and targeted on social media. But the history of bans across major platforms confirms a more complicated picture.
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Is it Okay to Disagree about THAT?!
While most Americans love to talk about the high value of “pluralism” and “free speech” when push comes to shove they usually have a red line—an issue on which it’s NOT okay to disagree openly. At least not publicly. What’s yours?
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What Does It Mean to Be “Effective”?
With public health messaging now emphasizing how remarkably effective COVID-19 vaccines are, it’s reasonable to ask what exactly that means? Based on the published studies of the leading three vaccine candidates, I dove in to better understand that for myself.
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Why Bother Engaging with Stupid, Duped, or Evil People?
This is the sixth in a series by Arthur Peña, Charles Randall Paul, and Jacob Hess called “Inevitable Influencers: Why (deep down) we all want—and need—to persuade each other of what we see as good, beautiful, and true.” Previous pieces include “Why Persuasion Should be a Sweet (Not a Dirty) Word”; “The Threat of Persuasion,” and “My Truth? Your Truth? No Truth?”; “The Virtues of Strong Disagreement,” and “Our Judgment Against Judgment.”
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Seven Ways Latter-day Saint Teaching about Sexuality Have Been Misrepresented
Much has been written in recent years about what “Latter-day Saints believe” about LGBT issues – only a fraction of which accurately represents our true convictions. Tragically, even today, many are only familiar with these widespread distortions.
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The Problem with Demanding Trust
If we want to cultivate public confidence in the election, condemning or dismissing entirely those with concerns about the vote won’t help us get there. And making space for a little suspicion and caution shouldn’t hurt either.
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When Does the Poison of Our National Suspicion Become Lethal?
Early this morning, President Trump stood before the American people on the verge of another astounding upset and accused his opponents of fraud. When will the mounting levels of mutual suspicion and accusation take us past our breaking point as a country?
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Competing Narratives of American Redemption
We don’t agree on the problems facing America, which is why our views of the solutions and answers to the mess we’re in diverge so widely as well.
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Would the Left Accept Four More Years?
President Trump’s comments have been rightly scrutinized for their potential impact on America’s post-election environment. Far less attention has gone to certain themes of progressive commentary, which in combination arguably heightens the volatility of our post-election atmosphere.
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Competing Narratives of Danger in America
Most everyone agrees that the United States is in trouble. Like everything else, however, we don’t agree on what that danger entails.
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