How can we communicate the need of regulation to people who are gung-ho about freedom and rights?

Transcript

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How do we sensitively communicate the idea of regulation to people who’s, I think the best way to communicate is not communicate. At least in the initial stages. In the initial stages, see what happens is, everybody comes from a person.
And it is just like if a patient, if a doctor is treating a patient, then if the patient has a particular case history, one particular medicine may be very good for curing the patient. But if that medicine is going to have side effects because of the previous case history of the patient, then that medicine, even if it is good, cannot be administered. And knowing the case history is extreme for the patient, for the doctor.
It is the doctor’s responsibility, especially the doctor is going to treat. So similarly, this whole subject is very touchy. So initially, when people come from ethos of rights and justice, then at that time you tell anyone you should do this and you should not do this.
That just doesn’t work. So basically, I’ve observed that there are three broad ways in which we can share the bhakti message. I call them as descriptive, normative and prescriptive.
Prescriptive means you should do this. That just doesn’t work. You tell people you have to do this, don’t do this.
That doesn’t work. Normative means this is the truth. This is right and everything else is wrong.
Who decides it is right? What is the basis for saying it is right? Because you know, people don’t accept scripture. They have not taken the leap of faith which we have taken. Descriptive means this is what I do and this is why I do it.
That comes off as very non-threatening and very accommodative. And that is the way things work. So, there is, say for example, if you apply this to a postmodern context, say if a couple is addressing, if a middle aged couple is addressing a group of young couples, say we have been happily married for the last 30 years.
And then the young couple says, how did you make it work? Please tell us. This is what we did. So, if they tell, this is what we did, this is what we did, this is what we did, that is perfectly fine.
People are interested. But if they say, this is what you should do, no matter what happens, you never divorce. If you tell us never to do this, you get lost.
Somebody says, divorce is a sin against God, those who divorce will go to hell. That is normative. You go to hell.
They will not care for you. So, the prescriptive or the normative. This is what you should do or this is the right thing.
Neither of these work. But the descriptive, this is what I do. That works very well.
One of the most prominent Christian preachers in the western world is Billy Graham. And Billy Graham, he calls it a Billy Graham room. He says, he is a married person, but he says, he has been doing Christian pastoring for almost 60-70 years.
He says, throughout my life, I have never been alone in any room, in a room with any woman other than my wife. Even if a woman wants counseling, he says, I will make sure that my wife is there or some other woman is there. So, now he doesn’t say this is coming from the Bible and everybody has to follow it.
This is the room which I follow. And many people get inspired, they also follow it. So, in fact, this rule is known as the Billy Graham rule.
And because I follow the Billy Graham rule. So, what happens is that if we make something as didactic, this is what you should do. It just doesn’t work.
The whole appeal of I would say the journey home is because it is descriptive. It is not prescriptive, it is not normative. So, memoirs are very very powerful because they are all descriptive.
So, there is a group of Christians called Mormons. They were, they are heterodox Christians and many Christians actually rejected them as deviants because they accept a later prophet, Joseph Smith. So, but there is a Christian, there is a Mormon girl who wrote her a memoir of how she grew up in a Mormon family.
And that book became a New York Times bestseller. And that was the biggest, it is considered one of the biggest factors in changing the perception of mainstream America towards Mormonism. So, if we present in a descriptive way, this is what we do and this is why we do it.
People, people are interested in things that work. Yeah, this works. So, we have to, we can present our message, but we have to present it in a descriptive way, not in a prescriptive normative way.
So, once we say this is what I do, this is why I do it. That works quite well. And as people start seeing that this works, you know, this is actually making me more peaceful, making me more happy, whatever.
So, that’s my small experience.