Picking Up Rhetorical Trash, Part 1

Following the riot in the Capitol on January 6th, a photo of Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) went viral - he was cleaning up trash strewn across the floor of the Capitol's Rotunda. "It's a room I love so much - it's the heart of the Capitol, literally the heart of this country. It pained me so much to see it in this kind of condition," Kim said. It's a beautiful image, and Kim's action provides a moving metaphor for redressing the country's divisions and deep polarization: picking up the rhetorical trash in our public discourse. Today on the podcast Tim and Rick discuss the idea of "rhetorical trash" and the dangers of not addressing it. In part 1 of a 2-part discussion they highlight two practices for picking up the trash: truth-telling and not treating our rhetoric like New Year's resolutions.

Show notes and a full transcript are available at: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/winsome-conviction/2021/episode-11-picking-up-rhetorical-trash-part-1