PAPER # 1: THE ISSUE
Worldly Assumptions and Attacks on the Family
The first thing that we asked the students to do was to look at the problem or issue that they were assigned through the perspective of the world, views which are not necessarily tied to religion.
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There were several reasons for this, including a desire to help the students understand that there are many differing views and opinions that people have, many of them based in their life experiences and if we treat those views with contempt or in a sarcastic manner, we can push people away.
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Many of the students (this first semester) found this paper challenging, but as they continued to learn and study they found it very beneficial to understand others, where they are coming from, and how to have respectful and faith-based discussions.
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Below you will find the instructions that we gave to the students when writing this paper.
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PAPER INSTRUCTIONS
The first thing that we would like you to do, when working on the issue that your team has been given this semester is to look at it through a worldly lens.
Write a paper (approx. 2 pages in length) that will show people who come across your website that we understand the point of view of the world. This is not to be written in a sarcastic, "holier-than-thou", or contentious attitude (thus allowing Satan to have a field-day with the emotions of the readers). Remember, many people have had life experiences that make them think a certain way and if they feel like those experiences are being belittled or maligned, then they will build up walls of resistance. This paper is to be written in terms that show the reader that there is understanding of the way that they think. Then, later and in the future, our writing (through the power of the Holy Ghost) will be able (if their hearts are open) to lead them to a holier and higher way of thinking (see Isaiah 55: 8-9)
Instructions
Write a well researched paper
Give worldly arguments, assumptions, etc. for your team's topic
Give an accounting of how those assumptions impact families and individuals lives.
2-3 pages in length (approx. 500 words)
Use 4-5 credible sources (not gospel related)
Each person on the team will write their own and then (next week) you will review each other's work
Example
If I were to write about abortion, I may present this -
Many choose abortion as a form of birth control, in fact, "(n)early half (45%) of all pregnancies among U.S. women in 2011 were unintended, and about four in 10 of these were terminated by abortion (Finer, 2016). One main argument among women is that it is a woman's moral right to decide what to do with her body (BBC, 2014).
References (NOTE: Make sure to find credible references, use the McKay Library. to find well-researched work).
Ethics - Abortion: Arguments in favour of abortion. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion/mother/for_1.shtml
Finer LB and Zolna MR, Declines in unintended pregnancy in the United States, 2008–2011, New England Journal of Medicine, 2016, 374(9):843–852, doi:10.1056/NEJMsa1506575.
Later, in this paper, I can discuss the issue and how it effects families and how our decisions effect one another here. For example, I could use the testimony of Gianna Jessen, a woman who survived a saline abortion and lives with cerebral palsy as a result, who testified to congress in 2015 asking them, "If abortion is about women's rights, then where were mine?" (see https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4550280/abortion-survivor-delivers-opening-statement-planned-parenthood-hearing.)
So, at the beginning of this paper you would give their argument in a way that they would agree and then in the end you would state your case as to how the issue from a world point of view is impacting families and individuals. This is a very simple argument technique (in the style of a Rogerian Argument ). and can be effective in helping people understand each other's point of view.
In future papers, you will talk about the issue (in this case, abortion) within the framework of other spiritual insights and points of view.