Fruit Chews, Ramadan and Respectful Dialogue

Fruit Chews, Ramadan and Respectful Dialogue

I grew up in East Texas where most people were Baptists and Methodists, so the most religious diversity I experienced was playing football with my Catholic neighbors. This all changed when I went to college at The University of Texas at Austin. I met famed atheist...
Red Hot Revenge

Red Hot Revenge

Come with me back to Thanksgiving Day at our house, where we weren’t expecting a crowd – just two of our sons – but Susan had the stove working overtime for much of the day. We were roasting a turkey for the sake of the boys, so it had been in the oven for more than...
Is Disagreeing Agreeably on Facebook Possible?

Is Disagreeing Agreeably on Facebook Possible?

I created a private Facebook group nearly two years ago that focused on constructive dialogue. The dream for the group – Disagreeing Agreeably Is an Art – was to create a platform on Facebook that would encourage people from the entire spectrum of philosophical...
Recapturing the Lost Art of Civil Discourse

Recapturing the Lost Art of Civil Discourse

It seems as if everyone is mourning the death of civil discourse these days. Last spring, distressed by a cultural inability to have productive and meaningful conversations, four friends and I pitched an idea for a new student organization at Baylor University, which...