Reclaiming Disagreement: Constructive Conversations in the Culture Wars
ABOUT
Everyone agrees that our nation is more polarized than ever. We claim to want something better, yet we find ourselves in constant skirmishes—on social media, in family gatherings, and in everyday interactions.
John Corvino and Matthew Lee Anderson know that constructive dialogue is possible amidst profound cultural divides. Having met as opponents in the marriage-equality debate, they ostensibly come from opposite sides of the “culture wars”: Corvino is a gay man and religious skeptic, while Anderson is a conservative evangelical Christian. They have since developed a rich and productive friendship—even while maintaining deep, and deeply personal, disagreements.
In this popular program, they make the case for civil yet candid dialogue by modeling it; they also explore the limits of such dialogue. Less a debate than a lively conversation between friends, the program covers a wide range of hot-button issues: from free speech and “cancel culture,” to religious liberty, to personal identity and discrimination. Together, Corvino and Anderson provide concrete guidance for how to disagree constructively and pursue justice despite our differences.
This program includes a substantial Q&A component.
John corvino Bio
John Corvino, Ph.D. is Dean of the Irvin D. Reid Honors College and Professor of Philosophy at Wayne State University. A veteran of the college speaking circuit, he is known for combining logical precision with sensitivity and humor. Corvino is the author or co-author of several books, including Debating Same-Sex Marriage (with Maggie Gallagher; 2012), What’s Wrong with Homosexuality? (2013), and Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination (with Ryan T. Anderson and Sherif Girgis; 2017), all from Oxford University Press. His current research concerns free speech, civility, and the ethics of public discourse. Corvino has appeared on CNN, ABC, FOX, MSNBC, CSPAN, and other TV and radio networks, and has written for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Detroit Free Press, Slate, Commonweal and elsewhere. An award-winning teacher, he has spoken at over 250 college campuses, and his YouTube videos have received nearly three million views.
Matthew Lee Anderson Bio
Matthew Lee Anderson is an Assistant Research Professor of Ethics and Theology at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion and the Associate Director of Baylor in Washington. He is an Associate Fellow at the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Life at Oxford University, where he completed a D.Phil. in Christian Ethics. Anderson has an M.Phil. from the same university, and is a Perpetual Member of Biola University’s Torrey Honors Institute. In 2005 he founded Mere Orthodoxy, a web-based magazine that provides both long- and short-form commentary on matters of religion, politics, and culture from a broadly conservative, evangelical standpoint. He is the author of two books. Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith was one of the first efforts (2008) within evangelicalism to develop a robustly theological account of bodiliness. The End of our Exploring is an attempt to articulate a spirituality and theology of questioning. Anderson writes occasionally for Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, The Washington Post, and elsewhere. He was listed among Christianity Today’s ‘33 under 33’ list of younger evangelical leaders, and co-hosts Mere Fidelity, a podcast on faith, theology, and ethics.