Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.02.2015, Page 4

4 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • February 15 2015
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One of my early surprises during my days as a parish minister was
how bent out of shape some
congregants became when they
discovered we didn’t agree about
some thing or another. It didn’t
even need to be very important.
There are obviously times when
it’s essential to agree, even if it’s
only the proverbial agreement
to disagree. But the insistence
upon being in agreement all the
time is a thinly-veiled demand
for conformity – and the society
in which we live is simply too
complex to settle for that.
I won’t deny that I like it
when I find myself in agreement
with someone else, especially if
it’s someone I admire or wish
to have as a friend. But I also
happen to like many people with
whom I frequently disagree. In
some cases, I don’t just like
them; I love them. “Though we
cannot think alike,” observed
John Wesley, “may we not
love alike?” My experience has
taught me that the answer is yes.
Still, I’ve had people
approach me over the years
– some reluctantly, some
awkwardly; some boldly, some
angrily – saying, “I can’t agree
with you on that.” When I’ve
shown myself to be unperturbed
by the disagreement, some have
been relieved while others have
become even angrier than they
were when they first approached
me. I’m almost always happy
to engage in a real conversation
about ideas and values, unless
the conversation doesn’t
seem to be going anywhere,
but I’ve never felt obliged to
take responsibility for anyone
else’s emotions, except when I
have concluded that I’ve been
unnecessarily provocative.
Truth be told, sometimes I
don’t even agree with myself.
I’m sure you know how
this goes: a thought enters
your head, sometimes with a
passionate intensity, and then,
seemingly out of nowhere, a
contrary thought enters your
consciousness to challenge
the original one. Sometimes
my brain moves involuntarily
towards ideas or feelings that I
don’t really like, or words pop
into my head that would make
me blush if I said them out loud.
In other words, sometimes I
even offend myself.
So I have a question for
L ö g b e rg - H e i m s k r i n g l a ’s
readers: may I offend you? I’m
not asking you to allow me to be
willfully insulting, or vulgar, or
intemperate, or rude. I’m simply
asking whether or not the
readers of this paper are open to
seeing a diversity of viewpoints
and opinions expressed on its
pages, some of which may
make us a little uncomfortable
from time to time. Or have we
Icelandic descendants become
so thin-skinned that we can’t
talk openly about some subjects
anymore – like politics or
religion? Is Icelandic culture so
fragile that it can’t withstand the
light of scrutiny? Are the actions
of Icelanders on both sides of the
sea so perfect that they are never
worthy of even the slightest hint
of criticism?
Another way to ask
my question is this: should
Lögberg-Heimskringla be
a vehicle for open, honest,
and friendly communication
and commentary, or should
it restrict itself to only
communicating things that are
likely to generate universal
applause? I’m not looking
to encourage controversy
for controversy’s sake. I see
Lögberg-Heimskringla as
mostly a vehicle for showing
our community’s essential
unity, sharing news and feaures
about our ancestral homeland,
and informing readers about
the activities of Icelandic
groups and individuals in North
America. But in doing so, can
we not also produce a paper
that is engaging and balanced,
provocative and civil, lively
and comprehensive? Silence
should not be confused with
balance; silence generally
indicates acceptance or betrays
avoidance.
I am temperamentally
conflict avoidant, but I’ve
learned in life that conflict
cannot always be avoided. I
rarely seek to be gratuitously
offensive – it would be a lie to
say that I never do – yet I have
been startlingly successful at
offending people at times. When
that does happen, I like to think
I’ve been sincerely offensive,
rather than gratuitously so.
That’s because I have opinions
and I don’t generally hesitate
to express them, although I do
strive to be nuanced and precise
when doing so, instead of
polemic and blunt.
What I do know from my
lived experience is that it’s
virtually impossible to avoid
giving offense. The perfectly
inoffensive person is also the
perfect wallflower: they avoid
offense by avoiding relevance,
candor, and controversy. It is
dull to be inoffensive all the
time, so I hope you’ll bear
with me on those occasions
when something I’ve written
or allowed to appear on the
pages of this paper offend you,
even as I hope you will find the
paper’s contents to be mostly
entertaining, informative, and
even inspiring.
May I offend you?
Lögberg-
Heimskringla
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Heimskringla stofnað 9. september 1886
Lögberg stofnað 14. janúar 1888
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Worship with us
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May 14th, 2015 - Departs from Winnipeg, MB at 6:00 am to
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SHARED WISDOM • SHARED COMMITMENT • SHARED VALUES
Do you have a travel story?
The annual travel issue is coming
on March 1.
If you have a travel story about
Iceland or an Icelandic community
in North America, this is your
chance to share it, along with a
photo or two.
What impressed you? Who did you
meet? Where did you visit? What
led you there? Did a funny thing
happen along the way?
Send your stories and photos (by
February 16) to stefan@lh-inc.ca