Real Dialouge

This is a post that has been rolling around my head in one form or another for quite a while.  And while part of me isn't sure my thoughts are translating well in writing, I'm going to put it out there anyway, just be kind as I attempt to stumble my way through expressing myself:

Brad Paisley and LL Cool J recently released a song entitled “Accidental Racist”.  Its social issue commentary has certainly garnered reactions from critics and fans for a number of different reasons, but I have to say that I found it a refreshing example of the real dialogue ideal I believe in.  You can see how the artists explain their intentions here, here and here.  What is refreshing to me in the song and in the artists’ explanations of their intentions is the attempt not to say “I’m right” or “you’re right”, but in essence to say “I have my reasons and they probably aren’t what you think they are” and “I can look past what I think you are, think, like, etc. to try and engage in a real dialogue with you about things that we likely have very different perspectives on, and while that dialogue likely won’t drastically change my world view or yours, perhaps the success is in leaving our judgments behind to have the conversation” 

Now I realize this action and perspective doesn’t really solve any of our current society’s political, social or moral conflicts.  Differing views about marriage, gun control, immigration, government spending, etc. will always remain, but it seems to me that it’s a least a step in the right direction to, as LL cool J puts it:  leaving some of the baggage behind to walk up the hill. 

A while back I read an article about politics (that unfortunately I can’t find again to cite), but one of the sentiments expressed was thus:

Should a people with a common heritage and mono-culture be permitted the right to take actions to protect those things they hold dear, or should people outside those closed communities be permitted the right to coerce the mono-culture into opening their houses and yielding to multiculturalism?

Now I think we can all agree that depending on what the issue dividing us is, we could see ourselves on both sides of that question.  Values and core beliefs dear to us will certainly shape how important or unimportant we feel it is to protect our beliefs and/or coerce those who don’t share them with us to embrace our point of view, and maybe that’s okay.  Maybe the real challenge upon us that we’re failing at miserably is creating a society that allows that real dialogue and true respect for individual agency to be had.  Maybe finding that balance between standing firm for what we know to be true and right while letting go of our judgments is the true test of humanity.