by: Customer Centered Design » Preaching Outside the Choir

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:03:39 +0000

[…] I wrote a post a while back about the right way to build web sites called What Would Jesus Build. In it I explored some of what I consider the right and wrong ways to build things. It’s been trendy the last few years to ask what Jesus would do in a given modern situation. Since he is widely regarded as one of the most ethical people to have lived, and I live in a majority Christian country, asking people to reflect on how he would have behaved can be a useful exercise. Barack Obama did this recently when speaking to an unreceptive audience about gay rights in Texas. At first they were cool to his message until he took a different approach and described homophobic behavior and attitudes as un-Christian. There are often many reasons why something that is right is right. Sometimes people will be indifferent to one line of reasoning and highly accepting of another based on their framework for judging ideas. If one argument is falling on deaf ears, it is okay to try another, more convincing, one to help people reach a correct decision. I believe that Obama is correct in trying different approaches to reaching people. This demonstrates that he is flexible in his thinking and able to find ways to reach out and connect with those who disagree with him. Note that he did not put them down as individuals, but merely described homophobic behavior as un-Christian and let people think over that behavior in light of their own moral framework. […]

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by: Customer Centered Design » Preaching Outside the Choir