Disagree or Dissent?
Audio / Produced by The High CallingTranscript
In the late 1960s, when national headlines were full of reaction and dissent, historian Daniel Boorstin drew a line between the words dissent and disagreement.
“Disagreement prompts debate,” Mr. Boorstin said. “Dissent means to pull apart from the others. People who disagree can still stand together. Dissenters walk away. Disagreement is democracy's lifeblood. Dissension is its cancer.” Disagreers ask, "Is this right?" Dissenters say, "Is this what I want?"
This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. We should ask ourselves whether our words prompt healthy debate or fuel painful division. Differences need not divide us—in the high calling of our daily work.
Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Originally aired in 2003.
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Contributors: Howard E. Butt, Jr.
Published by The High Calling, April 27, 2014. Image by
Kristina Alexanderson
.
Used with Permission.
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© 2014 by The High Calling and the Theology of Work Project, Inc.All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™