Wednesday; November 4

The other day I saw a headline about someone (a “heckler”) who was escorted out of a political speech.  I have to be honest with you, I didn’t read the story, but I must admit that I had a completely uninformed but emotional reaction.  My gut asked my brain, did they get what they wanted out of the exchange?  Few of us could honestly expect that if we showed up at an adversary’s event and start shouting them down that we would have any chance at having a rational exchange of ideas.  Yelling accusatory things in the midst of a public event is not going to bring change, it’s just going to promote anger and a measured reaction … in other words, being asked to leave.  Sometimes I wonder if that wasn’t the intent all along – the publicity that comes with being “persecuted”.

Now, while this tends to make sense, I got to thinking about this on another level – on a personal level.  Have we ever publicly criticized people or berated them in a group of people?  What was their response?  Did they appreciate the timing and the tone, or were they embarrassed and emotionally inflamed?  I would imagine that, more often than not, when we call someone out in public, it’s not going to end well – for them or for us!  If we really do care about people – and the decisions they make – I think it is important to choose how we say something and, maybe as importantly, when we say it.  If we care enough to reprove someone, we should probably have the wisdom to do it in the right way at the right time.

What is it that we feel compelled to say?  Is here and now the right time to address it?

Think About It!

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