Thursday night’s 18th annual Eugene J. McCarthy Lecture was part of the kickoff of Disagreeing Better – a campus-wide initiative at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University meant to help students, faculty and staff discover ways to reduce the intensity of our disagreements and find common ground as people.
That isn’t always easy – especially in the lead-up to a presidential campaign as bitter and divisive as this year’s.
But John Inazu – a professor of law and religion at Washington University in St. Louis and author of the book “Learning to Disagree: The Surprising Path to Navigating Differences With Empathy and Respect” – offered some helpful tips.
“The ‘don’t be a jerk principle’ can go a long way in the world,” Inazu told the crowd gathered inside SJU’s Stephen B. Humphrey Theater for the event, which was sponsored by the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Policy and Civic Engagement.
“If you want to persuade someone of the better argument that you have, insulting them or being vitriolic is seldom going to win the day. And the other thing is …. there’s no need to be arguing all the time. And everybody should have places that they can go to just be normal and relax.”
Thursday’s program consisted of an on-stage discussion between Inazu and Tane Danger, leader of the Theater of Public Policy, an improvisational comedy show produced by the Twin Cities-based theater and events company Danger Boat Productions.
After Inazu and Danger’s question-and-answer session, the troupe members took the stage to act out some of the themes and ideas they discussed – including what a political debate might look like if the two candidates allowed themselves to show they liked each other, and a student inappropriately picking Thanksgiving as a time to show up at a professor’s home to confront them about something they disagreed with in class – with the professor nonetheless being willing to admit they might have been wrong.
Inazu and Danger then returned to the stage to take questions submitted by students, including navigating disagreements in an age of partisan echo chambers.
“Part of this is – especially on social media – if 20 people like your post, it doesn’t mean America is agreeing with you,” said Inazu, who went on to advise diversifying news feeds and seeking out people and sources with perspectives different than your own, while still largely avoiding the outright toxic rhetoric on all sides.
He also spoke of the critical difference between performative empathy and the real thing.
“Often if you want to respond to something with empathy, it’s going to cost you something,” he said. “So rather than just doing performative empathy, figure out what it’s going to cost you and what you’re going to do long-term.”
The evening then concluded with a second performance by the Theater of Public Policy.
The proceedings came one night after the first Bennie/Johnnie-Tommie Debate, held at CSB’s Gorecki Center.
The debate – which tackled the topic “Is Cancel Culture Limiting Free Speech in America?” – was conducted in Braver Angels style: the goal being to “teach students to honor ideological diversity, foster civil discourse on college campuses, express their views, listen deeply and engage respectfully around the most challenging political and social issues dividing our nation today.”
“You might expect that this would start some heated arguments,” CSB and SJU President Brian Bruess told the crowd Thursday night. “But what happened was something quite different. Instead of the usual back-and-forth, our students from Saint Ben’s, Saint John’s and St. Thomas really took the time to listen to each other.
“The aim was not to win, but to understand through deep listening, asking good questions and respectfully challenging assumptions.”
A second debate is scheduled to take place at St. Thomas on Oct. 7. Disagreeing Better workshops will continue at CSB and SJU in October and November. All are free and open to the public.
For more on Disagreeing Better, click here.