NES: Debate and Rhetoric

Welcome to the next installment of our New Evangelization Series!  This series is designed to give practical ideas and tools for Catholics to use as they reach out to our fellow Catholic brothers and sisters as well as non-Catholics.  

If you've ever been on an internet forum or social networking site, you may have seen how people debate nowadays.  It usually results in name calling, character attacks, and generally does nothing to address the issue at hand.  We have become so emotionally attached to a difference in opinion with another that we are unable to have an honest, intellectual discussion. 

Our guest for today's show, Dr Glenn Ricketts, will discuss the decline in the art of debate and rhetoric, which used to be a part of a classical liberal arts education.  He will also discuss ways in which we can approach a debate about a hot topic with logical reasoning, personal detachment, and intellectual honesty.  It is important for us to articulate the Faith through our gifts of intelligence and reason.  

Dr Ricketts is a professor at Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey and is also the Public Affairs Director at the National Association of Scholars.  The National Association of Scholars is an independent membership association of academics and others working to foster intellectual freedom and to sustain the tradition of reasoned scholarship and civil debate in America’s colleges and universities.

If you missed any previous shows in the New Evangelization Series, check out our archive page!

Check out our Facebook page and click like to get information on upcoming shows, news, and more!