namahatta.org - Congregational Development Ministry

From here, via Madhava Ghosh.

1. Do not overstate the power of your argument. One’s sense of conviction should be in proportion to the level of clear evidence assessable by most. If someone portrays their opponents as being either stupid or dishonest for disagreeing, intellectual dishonesty is probably in play. Intellectual honesty is most often associated with humility, not arrogance.

How to Disagree

by Paul Graham
March 2008

The essay on Paul's website here
Comments on Paul's essay here.

The web is turning writing into a conversation. Twenty years ago, writers wrote and readers read. The web lets readers respond, and increasingly they do—in comment threads, on forums, and in their own blog posts.

Many who respond to something disagree with it. That's to be expected. Agreeing tends to motivate people less than disagreeing. And when you agree there's less to say. You could expand on something the author said, but he has probably already explored the most interesting implications. When you disagree you're entering territory he may not have explored.

Searching for instructions by Srila Prabhupada on how regular home programs should be conducted, I came across this essay from Kripamoya Prabhu, published by ISKCON Communication Journal in January 1994 (article link).

I've read this article before and thought it had been re-published on namahatta.org already, but found that was not the case. Editing it for better online readability, I am surprised how many of our current problems Kripamoya Prabhu recognized and analyzed so much earlier in ISKCON's history. His recommendations not how to avoid, but how to deal with conflict and problems could help devotees deal better with many of today's issues, I think. Here's the essay's 'teaser' from the IC Journal:

"We all want to avoid conflict but life seems to thrust it at us in bucket-loads, so we might as well learn how to deal with it. Kripamoya Prabhu's study of the manifestation of conflict in Nama-hatta groups and the steps he recommends to remedy this, based on his considerable experience and research, is important for all devotees."

This is a collection of posts from atmayogi.com, Sita-pati Prabhu's personal blog, where he analyzes public debates between different opponents, showing which mistakes to avoid, and how to act in difficult situations.