Why blog?  Good Question.
A favorite former student posted today and asked me who my target audience is for my blog.  At first I dashed off that I think of my target like I think of my students, though I do not share the blog itself with students until after a class is done.  This is a type of analysis very close to what I do in class.  Beyond that, I never really thought of a market segment to target…other than myself…since I really enjoy writing a blog!

Then I started thinking more, as often happens in response to the most common questions from students.  Maybe I should have a target market?  Am I writing without considering any particular audience?  That hardly seems smart. 

When I teach, or write, about political conflict I work hard to find ways to frame questions that moves us toward ways of talking & thinking that are based on the best available data.  I try to select issues and frames that are less about drama and more about being reasonable.  I tend to get interested in conflicts that challenge empty platitudes or sound-bites that distract by design.  I guess I hope there is an audience of thoughtful people on all sides of any conflict who might read this blog without recoiling from what feels like a stacked deck or just another rant. 

Julie calls this kind of writing, when I do it well, my ‘conflict management voice’ and I like that label, though I am sure I do not always live up to that standard.  I have my own views, of course.  These drive what I write in the blog a lot more than they drive what I bring to class.  But in both cases I want to express myself in a way that invites engaged and thoughtful conversation with those who also care about the conflict, particularly if they disagree with me. 

My new book project involves interviewing area clergy to use their analysis as primary source data for a book tentatively called Engage with Love: Christian Approaches to Conflict. I guess that is what I try to do myself when I write and speak about politics and power, conflict and struggle, disagreements and controversies…engage in a loving way and engage with the heartbeat of the universe.  As St. Francis is said to have said, ‘preach the gospel at all times; when necessary use words.’

 

Part of me wants to write a blog that informs, gently nudging all of us to reconsider our own sacred cows, and that invites a response, a silent pause, a nod or hmm, which says the text and tone and image touched something, it is a form of writing & speaking that includes a heavy does of listening and engaging.  If you read this blog, let me know what you think about it sometime.