Absolutely loved this piece, because it's an updated confirmation that dialogue works, but you have to prepare and be present. Congratulations. This is what we all need to learn.
As a workplace trainer and management consultant, I worked in the largest cities in the United States as well as in small rural communities. I learned that there were towns I visited where few of the people had ever met a Jew. So, regardless of the topic of my class, I would find a way to weave a family story into my introduction. (I thank my colorful immigrant relatives for giving me lots of material.) Then, I would tell my audience that, by the way, I would not take offense at any question or consider it anti-Semitic.
The very first time, during a meal at a retreat for a group of college-educated teachers and social workers in rural Minnesota, I was asked when Jews stopped using Christian babies in human sacrifice. Although I am not an observant Jew,I had done my homework and did an okay job of explaining the early history of the "blood libel." That satisfied the group. But the shock came was when they learned that I didn't accept Jesus as my savior. For some, that was not forgivable.
And there was the Kansas library director who wept over dinner because I was going to hell.
Ironically, those experiences also prepared me to work and live among left- and right-leaning neighbors and colleagues as a libertarian. While I was working, going back over 40 years, I rarely discussed politics with my clients except to find points of agreement where I could commiserate with them without trying to change anyone's mind. I would sometimes offer a "what if" or an "on the other hand", but I mostly listened, even when my beliefs were denigrated and even booed from a podium or audience. The few times I came out were mostly not pleasant.
Now retired, or, as I like to call it "reset", I still tell outrageous family stories–my uncle Charlie's taking bets for the Chicago mobs or my grandfather coming to America, hidden in a burlap bag in steerage marked "sausages." And I find a way, when discussing the political circus playing out on a hundred stages, to add a note regarding my views as a classical liberal, committed to entrepreneurship, voluntary solutions, and choice. And we talk.
I have lost some friends, but made new ones. And one of my neighbors told me a few days ago that her opinionated teenage son, who identifies as a Socialist, spoke well of me to his friends as someone he could talk to. High praise indeed.
Clicking on a heart icon was insufficient. I needed to drop a comment to say that I loved the heck out of the piece.
Absolutely loved this piece, because it's an updated confirmation that dialogue works, but you have to prepare and be present. Congratulations. This is what we all need to learn.
Yes, confirms my experiences.
As a workplace trainer and management consultant, I worked in the largest cities in the United States as well as in small rural communities. I learned that there were towns I visited where few of the people had ever met a Jew. So, regardless of the topic of my class, I would find a way to weave a family story into my introduction. (I thank my colorful immigrant relatives for giving me lots of material.) Then, I would tell my audience that, by the way, I would not take offense at any question or consider it anti-Semitic.
The very first time, during a meal at a retreat for a group of college-educated teachers and social workers in rural Minnesota, I was asked when Jews stopped using Christian babies in human sacrifice. Although I am not an observant Jew,I had done my homework and did an okay job of explaining the early history of the "blood libel." That satisfied the group. But the shock came was when they learned that I didn't accept Jesus as my savior. For some, that was not forgivable.
And there was the Kansas library director who wept over dinner because I was going to hell.
Ironically, those experiences also prepared me to work and live among left- and right-leaning neighbors and colleagues as a libertarian. While I was working, going back over 40 years, I rarely discussed politics with my clients except to find points of agreement where I could commiserate with them without trying to change anyone's mind. I would sometimes offer a "what if" or an "on the other hand", but I mostly listened, even when my beliefs were denigrated and even booed from a podium or audience. The few times I came out were mostly not pleasant.
Now retired, or, as I like to call it "reset", I still tell outrageous family stories–my uncle Charlie's taking bets for the Chicago mobs or my grandfather coming to America, hidden in a burlap bag in steerage marked "sausages." And I find a way, when discussing the political circus playing out on a hundred stages, to add a note regarding my views as a classical liberal, committed to entrepreneurship, voluntary solutions, and choice. And we talk.
I have lost some friends, but made new ones. And one of my neighbors told me a few days ago that her opinionated teenage son, who identifies as a Socialist, spoke well of me to his friends as someone he could talk to. High praise indeed.