Find Mediators Near You:

A Universal Language

From Colin Rule’s blog.

Jeff Goldfien in the ADRNC Newsletter: “I was struck by a statement by Senator Obama, reported in the press yesterday, responding to an accusation by conservative Christian leader James Dobson that Obama was distorting the message of the both the bible and the constitution in his discussions and entreaties to various religious groups and leaders…

Sara Kugler of the Associated Press reported that, “Speaking to reporters on his campaign plane before landing in Los Angeles, Obama said the speech made the argument that people of faith, like himself, ‘try to translate some of our concerns in a universal language so that we can have an open and vigorous debate rather than having religion divide us.'” And, according to Larry Rohter of the New York Times, “Mr. Obama on Tuesday accused Mr. Dobson of reducing a complex subject to sound bites. ‘I do make the argument that it’s important for those like me who think that faith is important, that we try to translate that into a universal language,’ he said.”

What strikes me about Obama’s statement is its pithy summary of both a sophisticated theory of the First Amendment, and a compelling argument for the use of dispute resolution principles in political debate and the resolution of public issues.”
 
It seems like the world is already treating him like the next President. The only question is whether the US electorate is going to go along.

                        author

Colin Rule

Since 2020, Colin Rule is CEO of ODR.com, Inc. and Resourceful Internet Solutions, Inc., home of Mediate.com, MediateUniversity.com, Arbitrate.com and CaseloadManager.com.  From 2017 to 2020, Colin was Vice President for Online Dispute Resolution at Tyler Technologies. Tyler acquired Modria.com, an ODR provider that Colin co-founded, in 2017.  Previously, from 2003… MORE >

Featured Members

ad
View all

Read these next

Category

Family Business Succession: The Joys and Challenges

Dispute Settlement Counselby Michael Zeytoonian. Family business succession can be joyous when there is a succession plan. But when there’s no plan in place, it can be anything but joyous....

By Michael A. Zeytoonian
Category

The Future of Mediation: Twenty Predictions for Mediation in 2030

  "Never Make Predictions, Especially About the Future"                                                 Casey Stengel, Baseball Hall of Fame Manager Futurists have already begun violate Casey Stengel's admonition and...

By Forrest (Woody) Mosten
Category

The Need For Collaborative Capacity

From John Folk-Williams's blog Cross Collaborate Increasingly, leaders and managers are looking to collaborative methods for dealing with contentious policy issues. When making a first attempt, they may well recognize...

By John Folk-Williams
×