BYU’s Wheatley Institute featured John Inazu at its Constitution Day lecture on Sept. 18.
Inazu’s message was entitled “Learning to Disagree in a Pluralistic Society.” He shared how the Constitution can help Americans debate respectfully.
Inazu is a Christian law and religion professor, author and founder of two organizations: The Carver Project and the Legal Vocation Fellowship.
Inazu’s friend, Thomas Griffith, a former US court of appeals judge and current fellow of the BYU Wheatley Institute, introduced Inazu and later joined him for a Q&A.
Before teaching lecture attendees on how to respectfully disagree, Inazu commented on why that skill is a unique responsibility of BYU students.
“This is a campus … where you are blessed with more resources to pursue disagreement and understanding than almost any other time and place in history,” Inazu said. “If you can’t figure out how to do it here, then I’m not sure where else we’re going to find these places in this country.”
He also said there is a growing mindset among Americans that if someone has a different opinion from us, we no longer view them as wrong, but evil. He said that labeling people as evil eliminates the power of persuasion and promotes the practice of silencing others.
Inazu explained that a remedy for this disagreement crisis in our communities lies within the First Amendment’s right of assembly.
“[The right of assembly] is the only right in the First Amendment that requires more than one person,” Inazu said. “You cannot assemble alone, so the right of assembly points to the relational dimensions of our civic life.”
Inazu gave several examples of ways that students can assemble, such as Bible study, writing for the student newspaper or debating with friends in class. He said that the ways students practice respectful disagreement at BYU will shape their habits and help them for the rest of their lives.
He gave a list of five verbs that make up the acronym GRACE to help them on their peaceful disagreement quest: ground yourself in your beliefs, respect others with different opinions, assume complexity, cultivate curiosity over certainty and engage with empathy.
Before entering the Q&A segment with Griffith, he concluded his speech by saying that we are responsible for the change in our communities.
“It’s not going to happen without individual change,” Inazu said.
A variety of questions were answered during the next segment, with one of the most prominent being whether they thought Americans were in a constitutional crisis.
Inazu responded by saying that an indicator for a constitutional crisis is that Americans are no longer grieving together. He shared that the problem only exacerbates online and that Americans need to get back to the basics if they want to fix it.
They talked more about Inazu's book, “Confident Pluralism," the LDS mission to be peacemakers and the importance of empathy and listening.
When asked how he believes BYU students can become peacemakers, Robbie Edwards, a dietetics major and attendee, shared how we can be respectful, especially when talking to people who are no longer active in the Church.
“Listening is so important,” said Edwards. “When I think of the Savior and trying to be like the Savior, He listens to other people … instead of just always preaching and teaching.”
When asked about his thoughts on Inazu's lecture, John Knuppe, a political science professor at Utah State University, shared how he appreciated the way Inazu talked about the contentious state of the nation, while also having a hopeful disposition.
Knuppe also said that there are many ways we can become peacemakers, including having a healthy appetite for the news around us.
As the event came to a close, the participants greeted each other and went downstairs to enjoy refreshments.