Het publieke debat

Een gouden regel voor wie zich geroepen voelt deel te nemen aan het publieke debat:

"I’ve found that the most important guideline regarding speech is never to indulge in public discussion of an issue about which one’s emotions still roil to the surface. It is entirely possible that one has worked through emotionalism and stridency regarding most issues but still has a corner in which one is still highly reactive. Mindful that unskillful speech is damaging to discourse on difficult topics, it is wise to keep silent in such circumstances. For many years I observed this guideline about one particular topic, until finally I could feel that my body no longer registered angry, clouded energy whenever those with whom I disagreed brought it up. Then and only then did I begin to speak publically and publish my thoughts about that issue."

Rita Gross, Buddhism and Religious Diversity, Tricycle, Fall 2011.

Het prentje: 1948, presidentskandidaat Henry A. Wallace spreekt de massa's toe in Charlotte, North Carolina.