Pluralism And Religious Life

Recently, E-Tips have been focusing on the power of questions to build relationships and to engage employees in performance conversations. This month we offer a very subtle but powerful trick for expanding the possibilities of your conversations. Here’s the trick: Use plural nouns to open or extend the other person’s perspective.I don’t want to get all “English teacher” on you (that’s my husband Steve’s job). Still, an awareness of the words you choose will allow you to have a greater impact on the conversations you initiate with employees. You use nouns in all of your open-ended questions anyway. That’s how our language works. Now, when you ask for input ask for more than one response. Here are some examples of useful plural nouns:

o Goals rather than goal
o Options rather than option
o Perspectives rather than perspective
o Ideas rather than idea
o Alternatives rather than alternative

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A commonly-held belief is that Ralph Nader siphoned votes in 2000 and cost Vice-President Al Gore the election. The only reason I have trouble with that view is the fact that there were over 2,000,000 people that voted for him. Ralph Nader had, and has, the right to run for President. And anyone who votes had the right to vote for him. Let us not allow politicians, the media, our neighbors, and ourselves to create any more animosity, or perpetuate the brainwashing and conditioning that perpetuates the acceptance a two-party system as the sole form of Democracy. That’s not what our country is based on, and that is not the idea for which people have fought and died.

A new concept was stuck into my head today, again by my more intelligent friend. If we “siphon” enough votes to cause a panic among the two dominating parties, it may be a wake-up call to them. In the past, I’ve held beliefs which match many other people’s feelings about voting “the lesser of two evils.” Basically, voting for a third-party may make a statement, but a third party candidate won’t get elected so it’s a wasted vote. Countering that thought, the new point of view I’m now considering regards the panic I mentioned. Essentially, if a Democrat or Republican loses an election because of a third-party candidate, there’s a possibility and the potential for the introduction of new legislation: instant run-off voting during a general election, and the winner must have the plurality of votes. I’ll attempt to simplify this idea for those who are newbies to politics and representative government.

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