According to Terry D. Cooper’s book, Making Judgments Without Being Judgmental, There is a big difference between people who speak with authority and authoritarians. Authorities have knowledge and expertise, while authoritarians feel they should be agreed with merely on the basis of their position or power. They insist on loyalty even when they don’t make sense. Authorities, by contrast, speak with rationality and wisdom.
Cooper maintains that authoritarians can turn simple conversations and discussions into power struggles. Their rigid mental thinking won’t allow them to consider a different viewpoint, and they believe that anyone who disagrees with them is persecuting them.
Authoritarianism is everywhere, says Cooper, so don’t waste your time being shocked by it. First of all, realize that something in this person’s past made him or her this way. Authoritarianism usually springs from insecurity and fear. Knowing this may help us be more compassionate. To put them in a box with an Authoritarian label makes us just as judgmental as they are.
Instead, help an authoritarian person to grow by continuing to present alternative perspectives and encouraging them to try to step into someone else’s shoes to see how they may have arrived at their point of view.
Cooper encourages us to focus on the true goal of conversation. Argument may grow out of a conversation, but it shouldn’t occur simply for its own sake. There needs to be a commitment to truth and mutual respect that overshadows the desire to win a debate.
It’s very easy to slide into authoritarian thinking. It happens to us all at one time or another, but having an understanding of it will help us recognize when we are on that slippery slope. According to Cooper, our goal should be “to invite greater humanness in a dialogue enveloped by care. We can affirm the person while disagreeing with the viewpoint. Uncaring argument does not help in the pursuit of truth.”
No comments:
Post a Comment