Back in the 60’s when I was teaching in a high school, a group of students came to me and asked if I would be their debate coach. The school had had a debate team but their coach had moved on and they decided I should replace him. I knew absolutely nothing about debate and told them that. They said, “no problem” there are books and it and we’ll teach you. And so I became a debate coach.
They already knew about what the debate subjects for the intercollegiate debate where and were already at work researching and organizing the 3 x 5 index cards of data and off we went to various schools to debate. I do not remember any of the debate subjects, nor do I recall the schools where we went to debate but I do remember most of the students who were a part of the debate team.
Most of the debate team were active in other extracurricular activities and were very bright and enjoyed the debate competition and just seeing new places and meeting other debate team members and stacking up the skills against others.
I liked the process as well, however, it also made me uncomfortable and somehow seemed off. The goal of this type of debate endeavor was to win; to get the skills and techniques that would allow you and your team to win, to beat the opposition at least in the minds of the judges of those debates.
Now I have always loved to debate stuff. In conversation I loved talking about things and argue various points of view. But for me the overriding point of debate was to find truth, or the best solution to an issue. That was supposedly what debate teams were being taught to do, but in our competitive society what they were really being taught was how to win.
And then comes modern political debate. That competitive spirit dominates modern political debate. At least Mitch McConnell was upfront when Obama was elected and said, he sole interest during the Obama administration was to stop that administration from getting anything done. There was no to attempt to justify or support the superiority of the Republican positions over Democratic positions, they just wanted to win. It did and does sicken me.
That style of debate, where skewed rhetoric and rude overbearing words and tossed about so popular today in political debate does very little good for anyone. While I like watching George Stepanopoulos’ program “This Week” and other news shows and do learn a lot about various views folk have on issues, I don’t like the process and the means most folk use to get their points across.
Now here is a process I do like. I love committee work. I know that probably most folk regard committee work as a pain in the butt, I have always liked it. A committee is a group of people generally given a specific task or overall goal to do something. Yeah, I know often those committee discussions often go on too long and some folk seek to dominate the discussion but that is just process issues that can be resolved. A good chair of a committee can pretty well make it a good process, if they see that all are contributing to a discussion and thus getting the values of a variety of points of view and setting time limits on the gathering so people just don’t wear out. I developed a pretty good reputation while in my ministry of being a good small group worker. I truly believe that small group work come up with the best solutions to issues and develop processes to solve problems. Again, as it debate, the point of debate or discussion is to discern truth as best we can. And groups that have good small group discipline find those solutions better than individuals or large groups.
Members of congress are elected by their constituents to work for their common good. That is there job. Congressional work is usually divided up into various committees. There are a whole slew of them; 36 standing committees (i.e. budget, judiciary, rule, veterans affairs); 9 Special, Select and Other Committees (i.e. Climate crisis, aging, ethics,); 4 joint committees (i.e. on printing, on taxation, economic,) and 5 Commissions and Caucuses (i.e. Human Right, Congregation Oversight, Senate Commission on Art…). Each committee has a job to do. Unfortunately party politics often getting the way of getting their work done. These committees often line up like debate teams who see their job for their side to win and the other side to lose. The function of the committee is to get the work done and gains insights from every member’s positions so the wisest and most helpful decisions are reached. Wouldn’t it be nice if they worked that way?
Ideologies can help or can hinder that process. In churches where I worked with committees I would often remind them who we worked for, the church we served and ultimately God. And to do God’s work we should be guided by the teachings and guidance of Jesus, not just personal druthers. When it was clear that we really were about God’s work, committees did good work but when personal agendas and outside pressures got in the way, the committees did not function well.
We need to remind our politicians who they work for, the common good of the nation. When special interest groups bring pressures to bear and funding for elections into the process our congressional committees can easily lose sight of whom they work for. That is why I keep arguing that we need to get campaign funding laws enacted the limit these special interest groups, especially those that represent the few, the wealthy at the expense of the majority.
We, as citizens need to elect folk who will get these campaigns under control so that committees of congress can do the work they were elected to do. And they do that work best when rather than regarding each other as combatants see each other as members of the same team working for a common goal. Let it be.
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