Differences of opinion have always been part of life. Spouses, family members, co-workers, neighbors, and church members have had spirited conversations about politics, theology, social issues, and even sports. This is especially true of students in our classes. In one study, college students were asked to keep a journal of how many disagreements with friends they had in a week; the average was seven.1 Yet, today, there seems to be a shift in our communication. Consider the following:
- Since the 2016 presidential election, nearly a third of people report they have stopped talking to a friend or family member due to political disagreements.2
- Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they stay quiet about their political beliefs due to the fear of offending co-workers or managers, resulting in losing their jobs.3
- In a comprehensive survey of college students, an alarmingly large number of students believe it is acceptable to act—including resorting to violence—to shut down the expression of opinions they consider offensive.4
For many students in America, communication has become risky and, in some cases, even dangerous. The result is that our students tend to avoid having disagreements with roommates, professors, or fellow classmates. Avoided conflict doesn’t go away; it goes underground, resulting in what psychologists call latent conflict. It rests below the surface and often derails productive conversations.
What can Christian educators do to help students gain confidence that even in today’s “argument culture”—a term coined by Georgetown linguist Deborah Tanne—we can have civil and productive conversations? We agree with Timothy Taylor’s excellent Christ Animated blog post stating that the “religious university has the potential to foster trust amongst its student body to encourage courageous conversations in an era of risk aversion and polarization.”5 But, why just limit our conversations to those within the Christian community, or campus? Can we not equally prepare students to have productive conversations with fellow classmates while also preparing them for engagement with people outside the walls of a Christian university?
For the past few years, I (Tim) have taught a senior-level seminar entitled “Engaging Diverse Perspectives.” During the semester, we embrace God’s call for us to serve as Christ’s ambassadors and engage diverse views that may run counter to our Christian values (2 Cor. 5:20). In fact, the mission statement of my university is not only posted on our website but on a banner that prominently hangs from one of our tallest buildings. “The mission of Biola University is biblically centered education, scholarship, and service — equipping men and women in mind and character to impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ.” To “impact” the world for Christ, students need to learn not only how to structure potentially difficult conversations but also have the opportunity to engage.
As a communication professor, I equip students by introducing them to key concepts such as perspective-taking, active listening, empathy, and a strategy for organizing conversations gleaned from the Book of Proverbs. The most difficult part of the class comes when seeking to apply course principles with people outside the university. One student commented that the “Biola bubble” students often joke about is, sadly, often true. My students want to engage others but lack both confidence and opportunity. “I’ve always been too scared to form and articulate my beliefs,” commented one graduating senior. As a professor, how can I provide my students with a safe environment where they can engage people from diverse and often opposing beliefs? My answer came through the introduction to Unify America, a nonpartisan nonprofit on a mission to replace political fighting with collaborative problem-solving through higher education and community offerings.
I (Abby) have been part of Unify America for the past four years. We produce, host, and support higher education programs designed to build and strengthen civic skills across campuses throughout America. In the Fall of 2021, Unify America launched its inaugural Unify Challenge College Bowl. This program involves guided conversations between two student participants—with opposing views and/or backgrounds—centered around goal statements on difficult American issues like abortion, gun violence, police reform, and climate change. The conversations focus on sharing personal experiences and perspectives, fostering respectful questioning, active listening, and critical thinking.
The Unify Challenge allows students to build bridges, share perspectives, and build their civic muscles. They engage in hour-long conversations, one-on-one, with peers from different states and political ideologies. Feedback surveys reveal that 73% of students saw new perspectives, and 68% wished for more opportunities to discuss these topics on campus.
Unify America has been able to foster diverse ideological representation among participants. In Spring of 2024, the ideological breakdown was: 29% conservative, 35% liberal, 25% moderate, 4% libertarian, and 6% socialist. Institutions involved include community colleges, public liberal arts colleges, private universities, technical schools, tribal colleges, and military academies.
Faculty have found that including the challenge in their courses heightens the learning experience. I (Tim) can attest to the impact the Unify Challenge College Bowl has on the classroom. I broke the Unify Challenge into two parts. First, before my students engaged in the Unify Challenge, they participated in a prayer project designed to bring any anxiousness or feelings of inadequacy before the Lord. We also took time to pray in class as the week approached when the calls would take place. Leading up to the Unify Challenge, students even asked if they could do role plays with each other in class where I could offer input. I could tell students were a little anxious as the date approached. One student sent me a short, but heartfelt email: “My [Unify] call is tomorrow. I’m nervous.” I responded that I would pray for her. Once the Challenge was over, students were asked to keep a journal detailing how the conversation went and what communication principles covered in class proved to be beneficial. Students shared how excited they were to engage people with different perspectives. Once the conversations were over, the girl who sent me the short email sharing her angst wrote in her journal, “The call proved better than I anticipated and very interesting. I’m happy to join the club of students who enjoyed the process!”
Another Christian student participant shared, “Before taking the challenge, I was nervous about discussing politics. I felt more confident after talking with my partner and hearing his perspectives, which differed significantly from mine. It’s easy to divide America into two parties, but I appreciated hearing his views and found the experience very positive because he was thoughtful and not aggressive.”
What is perplexing is that not all Christian professors or administrators are equally thrilled about adopting the challenge. According to U.S. News and World Report, 21% of degree-granting institutions in America are religiously affiliated. About 7% of the Unify Challenge schools have a religious affiliation, and I believe this represents an important opportunity for Christian higher education. Our goal is to create a safe, respectful, and nonpartisan space where everyone, including Christian students, has a chance to make their voices heard and find courage through their convictions.
We close with our favorite comment from a Biola student in Tim’s class on diverse perspectives, proving that students can be greatly encouraged by dialoguing with people in a learning environment:
My spiritual life has been transformed for the better. I’ve always been too scared to form and articulate my convictions. I remember learning during the first few days of class that we would be engaging in a lot of conviction-building, which made me both scared and excited. The Unify Challenge has provided me with that experience in a safe environment. It has given me the courage to stand my ground respectfully, even in less secure situations. I believe the Unify Challenge has equipped me to be courageous in such circumstances. I now view the world as a place to obey God and live thoughtfully according to my convictions.
Footnotes
- R. M. Rezinik & M. Roloff, “Getting off to a Bad Start: The Relationship between Communication during an Initial Episode of a Serial Argument and Argument frequency.” Communication Studies, 62, 2011, 291-306.
- Jeremy Peters, “In a Divided Era, One Thing Seems to Unite: Political Anger.” New York Times, August 17, 2018. www.nytimes.com/2018/08/17/us/political-fights.html
- Poll: 62 Percent of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share,” Cato Institute, July 22, 2020, www.cato.org/survey-reports/poll-62-americans-say-they-have-political-views-theyre-afraid-share.
- https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2017/09/18/views-among-college-students-regarding-the-first-amendment-results-from-a-new-survey/
- https://christianscholars.com/courageous-conversations-the-flourishing-of-disagreement-at-christian-universities/
I’m from Canada. We ought to have the Unify Challenge here as well.
But I think there is a great need for active and prayerful spiritual warfare as well, because Satan is at war with us, working both within and without with respect to this issue, and lies are, as they always have been, his favourite tool. Without (i.e., in the wider society), he has used the philosophy of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” to create the impression that a good society is one whose members accept everyone’s lifestyle without question. There is no need for different perspectives!! The goal, however, is to promote, and trap people, in sexually deviant lifestyles and relationships in order to destroy them (“the thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy”) both in this life and for eternity. His chief tool in this, through academic atheists/agnostics, has been to turn gender from a biological term (truth) into a psychological term where there are no numeric or moral boundaries and where he can, and all too often does, destroy the emotions, minds and lives of children and teens, by inspiring feelings of doubt about their actual gender (“How can I be a boy/girl when I don’t feel like one? Maybe if I use puberty blockers and transition to the opposite gender, my confusion will be gone”.) Tragically, school psychologists and those in the healthcare system have jumped aboard Satan’s “transition express”, and the results, as we hear so often, have been very tragic.)
But in order to prevent Christians from stopping him, Satan must also attack from within. He intimidates us by making us fear becoming outcasts if we speak out against the lies, and he has used social media and political activists in government and academia to publically attack those who try/wish to promote a Biblical perspective. And so many of us become silent, particularly as social media has become not a platform for healthy debate but for emotional venting of hate-filled comments. So we must prayerfully engage in battle to “bind the strong man” in order to be heard. And yes, we must learn to communicate with courage, empathy, and respect with those who disagree with us, in our neighborhoods, schools, and other physical and virtual spaces where we have those encounters.