SessId017

Turning Conflict into Constructive Debate: A Demonstration
JamesBach, JohannaRothman

In this session, Johanna and I are going to debate something. It will be something about which we truly believe that we disagree. In the debate, I may convince her of my viewpoint. She may convince me of hers, or perhaps our disagreement will deepen.

Debating is a scary idea. Personally, I love debating... well, I love a good debate. For me, a good debate is when the parties engage each other in a stuggle to reconcile conflicting ideas. A good debate is one where all parties are striving to make progress in their grasp of the ideas AND in their ability to live and work together. A good debate maximizes the possibility that subject will be explored in full, and minimizes the possibility that the exploration will be warped or curbed by hurt feelings. A good debate is a path to learning.

An interesting factor in debates is the role of observers. Often a debate is motivated more by the goal of winning supporters from the lurking masses rather than reconciling with the other side of the issue. In that kind of debate, each side may have no interest in engaging the other side. In the infamous abortion debate, that's the current state of things. The very names of each side, pro-life and pro-choice, exemplify non-engagement. Logically, isn't it possible to be pro life and choice? Of course it is. I could be in favor of life, yet sometime choose abortion, or I could believe in choice, yet believe that the choice of abortion is wrong. But the false distinction presented by the labels of choice and life serves to help each side of the issue push the other side out of the debate. In other words, there isn't really an abortion debate going on. It's a war for possession of territory. The territory is people.

I think people are often justifiably nervous about debates, because they don't know how to tell the difference between a debate and a war. Johanna and I will demonstrate that there is, in fact, a vast difference. Thus another title for this session could be "peaceful debating". --- JamesBach

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Updated: Monday, September 4, 2000