veiled4allah: dialogue

I've noticed I haven't been getting as many comments to the blog lately. This may be because I'm not posting up anything that's particularly worthy of comment

But I would like to encourage my readers to share their own thoughts and feelings. Towards that end, I'm starting a new feature called "Imagine the America you want to live in". Non-Americans are welcome to join in as well, of course, but the focus will be on how we feel about the current state of America and how we can improve it to make it a better place to live, for everybody.

There are a few ground rules that I'm asking people to follow. Imagine that instead of being on the web, I had invited you into my home so that we could talk in person. Use the kind of manners that you would if you were a guest in someone's house.

The rules I'm asking all participants to agree on are:

1) Listen with curiousity and respect.
2) Seek to understand others rather than to persuade them.
3) Offer what you can and ask if you need anything.
4) Speak honestly, but briefly so that others feel free to contribute and be heard.

The basic principles behind this dialogue are:

1) We need to get to know each other if we are to make America a better place.
2) We can disagree on issues and still share common values.
3) Diverse experiences, opinions, and ideas create stronger dialogues.
4) Our lives and our future depend on human goodness.

The way this will work is the following, inshallah.

Each week, I will post a question or statement as a conversation starter under the title "Imagine the America you want to live in". The rules and principles will be posted in the extended entry section each time so that new people can join in and ongoing participants can refresh their memories. I will start the dialogue off by posting my own answer to the question or my thoughts on the issue as the first comment on the entry. After that, I'm turning it over to you.

The new conversation topic for the week will be linked at near the top of the right sidebar on the veiled4allah page. I'll also be creating a page that serves as an archive of past conversations so that people can add their thoughts to any of them at any time.

Inshallah, I hope that people will join in and take part in this dialogue!