The Need for Dialogue

For those of us who fought tooth-and-nail against the cultural insanity of the Great Awokening, the recent “vibe shift” has been something of a relief. Just a few years ago, stating that “men can't get pregnant” could have landed you in social media jail. Today, it feels like the winds have shifted and a wider variety of views on race, gender, and sexuality are permitted in the public square.

Unfortunately, while I believe we are seeing a small but real turn away from wokeness, we're simultaneously witnessing increased political and cultural polarization. The center may now be more persuadable, but the fringes are not. Indeed, both ends of the spectrum seem to be hardening in their views and are increasingly unwilling to engage in dialogue with the other side.

Some Christians may be tempted to ignore or even lean into this polarization. After all, if people's views on particular issues are true, does it really matter if they're becoming slightly belligerent and tribalistic in holding them? Perhaps the time for reason and debate has passed. Perhaps it's time to let go of restraint, charity, and gentleness and to give the Left a taste of its own medicine.

This line of reasoning may be appealing, but it must be resisted. We should still push for dialogue, reason, and charity in the public square—not in spite of our belief that Christianity is true, but because of it.

Dialogue to understand

One of the main reasons to engage in reasoned dialogue with your ideological opponents is to understand them, not as caricatures or stereotypes, but as real people whose actual views may not fit neatly into ideological categories. For example, I know of gay men who are strongly opposed to trans activism, feminists who loathe critical race theory, and Marxists who hate wokeness. It can be a convenient shortcut to assume that progressives walk in lockstep on every cultural issue, but they don't—nor do conservatives. 

Talking to people and trying to understand their actual views is a simple application of the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Would you want your atheist neighbors to assume the worst about you based on media tropes? Or would you want them to talk to you? Extend to them the same courtesy.

Dialogue to reflect

Dialogue is also crucial to exposing our own blind spots. It’s easy to surround ourselves with like-minded people and to consume only like-minded media content because we don't want to be confronted with alternative perspectives.

But as Christians, we can't be satisfied with this attitude. Truth matters. Where God has spoken, His word is sufficient. But many contentious topics—from criminal justice reform to immigration law to tax policy—are not black-and-white theological issues; they also involve empirical questions and prudential considerations. If we seal ourselves into echo chambers, our assumptions will never be scrutinized, and we'll never be exposed to evidence that may make us reexamine our views.

Dialogue to sharpen

In his famous essay On Liberty, John Stuart Mill wrote: “He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that.”

Mill argued that free speech gives us the opportunity to sharpen our arguments by hearing from those who reject them. Ironically, a person who has only ever been exposed to the truth may be less equipped to defend it than one who has regularly been confronted with error. For example, a Christian living in a majority Muslim country will likely be better equipped to defend the historicity of the crucifixion than a Christian who has always taken it for granted.

In the same way, talking to those with whom you strongly disagree can actually strengthen, not weaken, your arguments. 

Dialogue to persuade

One reason that dialogue has fallen on hard times among some conservatives is that they're tired of progressive cultural hegemony. They long for a powerful, charismatic Christian Prince who will radically transform the status quo. Regardless of whether you think this development is likely (or even desirable), we currently live in a representative democracy, where elections are won or lost one vote at a time. Moreover, while you have very little influence on national or even local elections, you have a great deal of influence among your friends, family, and social circles.

For these reasons, persuasion is non-negotiable. You cannot offload the task of changing people's minds to the government. This is most obviously true at a spiritual level; laws cannot make people repent and believe. But a well-timed conversation, full of grace and truth, is the means God uses to advance His kingdom.

Dialogue to unite

Finally, the culture war can tempt us to see people in terms of Us and Them, the Friend and the Enemy. As we discussed above, actual individuals are rarely so simple. But this strict binary is especially grievous when we apply it to fellow Christians. Yes, there are some cultural issues about which we must draw hard theological lines, the most prominent of which are abortion and sexuality. But the church, following Scripture, has always maintained that we must allow liberty of conscience on disputable matters. Not every issue should become a litmus test for theological orthodoxy, and we must resist the urge to adopt a "package deal" attitude towards the policies of either of the two major political parties in the U.S., especially since their platforms are constantly changing.

Dialogue between Christians can help us to better understand others' views and reaffirm our shared commitment to central elements of Christian theology and ethics. Even when a genuine believer has embraced erroneous views connected to critical theory, the goal isn't to cut them off. Rather, it is to win them back. Dialogue is often the means by which this happens.

If you need any more evidence that this is the case, think about how your own views have changed over the last decade in response to dialogue. Think about how long it took for you to consider new perspectives. Think about how mature believers bore with your errors while gently nudging you in the right direction. Think of God’s patience as He corrected you. Go now, and do likewise.