I recently touched base with my high school debate coach. In case you haven’t figured out by now, debate was one of the more influential subjects in my education.
During my days as a high school debater, I wrote a poem about debate. “Roses are red…” it isn’t. But this really reminded me about what discourse–whether in a debate, a blog or in our daily lives–is all about.
Debate isn’t about arguing,
but thinking, listening, learning
and speaking,
appreciating when it’s done well.
It’s about words,
how to say them and what
they mean,
knowing how to understand
as well as teach others.
Debate is about respect,
not malice but understanding,
knowledge and confidence
with character.
Not bad if I do say so myself. My debate coach hung on to this, and I’m sure glad he did. Reading our own words is haunting. When the things we’ve broadcasted out of our brains confront us years later, it’s like talking to yourself in the mirror. Better yet, it’s like the twist at the end of a Terminator movie where you are John Conner’s father! You’ve traveled to the present from another time to deliver an important message.
Here’s a word that you birthed, and it’s grown up, walking around on its own and comes knocking on your door one day asking, “are you my daddy?”
Debate is about respect,
not malice but understanding,
This means that debating is really a learning activity. It’s paying homage to ideas with weight. So let’s debate! (…which I think rhymes)
