Anger and Persuasion in Political Discourse

While my husband and I traveled for Christmas break, we listened to a novel on CD. I didn't like the book itself much, but one of the themes of the story was the way the two primary political parties in this country seem determined to misunderstand each other and perhaps even to think of each other as enemies (or at least idiots). It reminded me of an interview I heard on NPR a few months ago with a journalist named Leonard Pitts. A caller phoned in and said "Political discourse in this country seems at this point to need a real anger-management course. There is so much anger. . .where it becomes a personal attack. . . on everyone, and everyone thinks from being in a grocery store to being on television that you get to yell at people and to get very angry and to interrupt people. And it makes it very difficult for anybody to follow what the real, core issue of things are because there's so much noise in the conversation."

The journalist agreed and said "I think it's [become] more about winning the argument than persuading people. . .You see that mindset across all. . .subject matters, all political orientations, whatever. You see that sort of mindset where people say this is what we believe, don't bother us with fact. . . As a nation as regards political discourse . . . it's about . . . winning the argument, which means shouting you down or shutting you up, as opposed to persuading you, which is a wholly different thing and which a lot of people seem unable to do."

I've been wondering if there's anything we can do to help overcome this problem. Maybe the only thing we can do is avoid getting sucked into the anger of argument when we're personally talking about social and moral issues with someone who loves to argue. C Terry Warner, a man I really admire, suggests one way of avoiding it: trying to understand why the other person thinks the way he or she does. Terry Warner wrote a book called Bonds that Make Us Free that says "to the extent that others are not real to us, we are guarded, alienated, and hardened. . . we cannot spare ourselves to care very much about others' hopes and fears and feelings because of our intense preoccupation with our own." Maybe when we show we're willing to listen to other people, they'll be more willing to listen to us, more persuadable. I think that's something we mostly know, but is really easy to forget when we start talking about the definition of marriage or the role of government with someone who tells us our ideas are silly.

What do you think? How should we tread the line between standing up and disagreeing with the policies of our elected leaders or the opinions of our neighbors and accusing our political "opponents" of being ridiculous, when so many of our values seem to be under attack? What have you done that has worked well?

Religious Freedom - LDS Newsroom

Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave this address to the students of BYU-Idaho this morning.

How incredible it was to read about the Constitution and religious freedom from Elder Oaks' perspective. Especially since he was a Utah Supreme Court Justice, and is currently a member of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles!

I loved this section of the address, it made me feel very empowered:

"One of the great fundamentals of our inspired constitution, relied on by Oyun of Mongolia and countless others struggling for freedom in many countries in the world, is the principle that the people are the source of government power."

Pay attention to his comments on Prop 8 - good stuff.

Also, read his suggestions on what we can do as Latter-Day Saints to "enhance religious freedom."

Read it!

Religious Freedom - LDS Newsroom

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A million mom's

Dr. Frank Luntz, in preparing to write his book, "What Americans Really Want, Really" (which I have not read yet so I cannot give an opinion on it) did research to find out what occupation is the most trusted in our society. What they found was moms are the most trusted- more than doctors, teachers, social workers, people trust moms. Why? Because a mom's main motivation is their children- they don't care about pleasing special interest groups, they care about their children's well being and their future. I know as a mother it is my greatest motivation in getting involved in defending our freedoms. Their research also showed that, for the first time, mothers do not believe that the future will offer their children a better world than the one they experience. But, I think most moms would be willing to sacrifice whatever is necessary if it meant they could offer their kids a better future full of freedom and opportunity. I know I would. So, it has been suggested that if we could get a million moms to join together in doing what it takes to let our voices be heard in the defense of our children's freedom, we can have a powerful effect on this nation's future because it is difficult to attack the motives of a mother. Feministas have tried their hardest to discredit the important role of mothering in our society, but the truth remains that a woman who is a CEO of the most powerful corporation in the country would still never do as much to affect the world for good as a mother who loves her children and raises them to be good, honest, moral, and contributing members of our society. In the grand scheme of things nothing we can do with our lives will ever compare to our work as mothers. In an effort to unite mothers on a large scale who share a desire to preserve our freedom and our constitution, a new website has been set up. It is asamom.org . I think it will be a great resource check regularly along with this blog. I guarantee their are more than a million moms out their who share our concerns and desires, and together it is our opportunity to do something great.

National Constitution Day

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Did you know that September 17th is National Constitution Day? This year I learned the importance of this day for this first time in my life. This past September 17th marked the 222nd year since the signing of the U.S. Constitution of the United States in 1787. It is a day that should be as important to Americans as the Fourth of July, especially in today's world, but sadly, it's a forgotten holiday. Well, I won't be forgetting it from now on.

Lindsay asked me if I would share the amazing experience my husband and I had of celebrating this year's Constitution Day. I am very excited to do so because it really was an incredible experience. I also want to say kudos! to Lindsay and Melinda for starting this blog. What a great and useful idea!

My husband and I really didn't know what to expect when we entered the auditorium at Northridge High School, but we left there feeling uplifted, edified, empowered, motivated, and profoundly grateful for our Founding Fathers.

The program opened, of course, with the presentation of the colors, followed by the audience reciting and singing the Pledge of Allegiance and "The Star Spangled Banner." This was absolutely wonderful. I've seen this done a hundred times and heard those words just as much, but because we were celebrating such a special day in our country's history, I let my mind wrap itself around every single word. As I did that, images came to me of men fighting for their freedom- for my freedom- and giving their life for that cause. It was very emotional, and I could hardly sing at all. The Spirit was so strong in the room, you could almost reach out and grab it.

Something they did with the Pledge of Allegiance was they had a woman read it first, putting the pauses in the correct places- not the ones we're used to doing. The audience listened to her first, then we repeated it just as she said it, and it totally shed new light on what those words are really saying. Try it sometime.

To summarize the rest of the program, it included patriotic music intermixed with narrations about the days when our country was founded. The music was performed by the local schools, which we were very impressed with by the way- they did a fabulous job. One of the musical numbers included the "Armed Forces Salute" where all the veterans in the room would stand when their particular song was played. It sent chills through your whole body to see them stand. Most of the narrations told about George Washington, and I left the meeting wanting to learn a lot more about that amazing man.

The highlight of the night was the keynote speaker Andrew Allison. Allison is the author of the books "The Real Thomas Jefferson," "The Real George Washington," and "The Real Benjamin Franklin." His whole speech was wonderful. He said lots of things we loved, but one thing he said really stuck out to me because it answered my question of "what can I do to help my country?" I know we all have that question- that's why you're reading this blog.

In answer to that question, he read a quote from John Adams:

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.

Then he asked us this: "Did you know that the way you live affects this country?" Then he paused. Then asked, "Are you kind? Are you honest?" He continued asking similar questions to encourage us to look deep within ourselves and find any room for improvement because "Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other."

Wow! Isn't that powerful? And isn't that encouraging to know that we don't have to march on Washington to make a difference? As wonderful an opportunity as that would have been, it's not realistic for everyone to do that. But we can make huge impacts everyday, wherever we live, by being good people. By being kind to people at the grocery store. By helping out a friend. By being honest in our deeds. By attending church, whatever your religion. By being hard working. By being good parents. By trying our best to be good people.

I'm sitting here writing this with a smile on my face because I'm reminded what an overwhelmingly positive experience this was. There was no trash talk, there was no "doom and gloom" attitude. The room was filled with hope and peace. I also need to say how there was an open declaration and acknowledgement of the profound truth that God's hand was in the founding of our country, and I would liked to have seen anyone try to deny it. There was and is no denying it.

After the meeting, we were all given an opportunity to join a Constitution Study group, which Joel and I did. I don't have any information on it, otherwise I'd pass it on. I would recommend that you get a copy of the Constitution if you don't already have one. One of the points made often during the meeting was "how can you defend something you do not know and understand?"

You can get a copy by going to the site for the National Center for Constitutional Studies. There you'll also find links to purchase all of Andrew Allison's books (I can't wait to read them!), and W. Cleon Skousen's book "The 5000 Year Leap." Andrew Allison talked about that book in his address. It's a study of the principles the Founding Fathers used in structuring a sound government and how a return to those principles can solve our problems of today. We got a copy for ourselves, and I highly recommend you get one too.

I hope that reading about my experience has inspired you the way it did me. If I could say one last thing that I got from this, it's that everything's going to be okay. Things will work out. We just have to stay positive, know and live the principles by which our country was founded, and be grateful for what God has given us and what countless men and women have died fighting for.

P.S.- The reason I found about about this event was by joining the Weber 9/12 Project meetup group. Click here for the Weber 9/12 Project main page or here for Davis County.

Pro-Life Amendments VOTE on Tuesday

Sen. Orrin Hatch has filed three pro-life amendments to Sen. Baucus’s health care bill. These amendments would prevent government funding for abortion and would protect current conscience laws for health workers. The U.S. Senate Finance Committee will vote on these amendments Tuesday, Sept. 29.


For more information on how you can MOVE to help protect life, go to the Americans United for Life (AUL) Action website. There you'll find several "alerts" -- links to easily contact the senate/congress and make your voice heard.

Health Care Follow-up

Check out this interesting takes on Obama's health care plan

ABC's John Stossel on Obama's Health care plan

Associated Press article: "FACT CHECK: Obama uses iffy math on deficit pledge"

NPR article: "Obama's Plea: 'Deliver on Health Care'"


One extra shifty idea mentioned in Obama's speech: (from NPR article)

"I would remind you," he said, "that for decades, the driving idea behind reform has been to end insurance company abuses and make coverage affordable for those without it."

"The public option is only a means to that end — and we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal."

What are these "other ideas?" Is this health care plan simply a foot in the door for a complete government takeover of health care?

World Congress of Families

Last month the fifth World Congress of Families was held in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Elder Russell M. Nelson, Wendy Watson Nelson, and Sheri Dew were featured speakers at this worldwide conference. Their talks are amazing, and have been at the top of the "Church News Most Popular" list for the last few weeks. Check them out:

• Elder Russell M. Nelson: The Family: The Hope for the Future of Nations If there is any hope for the future of nations, that hope resides in the family. Our children are our wealth; our children are our strength; our children are indeed our future!


• Wendy Watson Nelson: Not Even Once! I believe it is time to counter the insidious and relentless attack on our families and nations by dramatically increasing their spiritual strength!


• Sheri L. Dew: The Power of Virtue We tend to focus on policies, legislation, and court opinions related to family. But today I invite you to consider that the single most pervasive threat to the stability and future of the family is sexual immorality in all its forms.