Why Civil Discourse Matters

…And Why the Salon Matters

This is a tough moment for those who value human rights, cross-cultural communication, global partnership and progressive political movement. Like many, I was devastated to learn of Trump’s election. There are many reasons for rejection of Trump for any public office—but the foremost and defining feature of Trump’s rhetoric is divisiveness and bigotry. It represents the least generous and most dangerous qualities of the human psyche.

The Salon has always offered a space for a diversity of opinions and experiences. Discussions about various forms of belief, values, heritages and political persuasions have flourished—and I am so deeply appreciative of that. The works we study often present outdated attitudes—about men and women, people of color, Jewish people, Muslim people, gay and transgender people. The Salon gives us a place to consider these representations, their origins, the possibility that well-meaning people could cling to them, the distance between then and now.

It is so tempting, especially in this moment of chaos and public uncertainty—to cling fiercely to one’s own views, to live in our self-made bubble. But I know that growth comes when my ideas are challenged, when, through respectful discussions, I am forced to truly attend to new perspectives—and I learn again that I may be wrong. That learning expands my mind.

I look back on many recent Salon discussions—from Proust to Dante, Eliot to Rushdie and Joyce, Woolf, Rhys—and embrace anew the opportunity offered in communal consideration of great art to embrace difference and deepen compassion. I truly celebrate the experience in the Salon of divergent ideas that respectfully encounter each other—all of us learning from each other.

—Toby

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