As condensed statements of belief, bumper stickers serve as regular reminders that some people share our ideas and other people don’t. Baxter offers a brief discussion of bumper stickers as a metaphor for contemporary reflexes we often bring to understanding and engaging belief-conflicts: our range of responses to bumper stickers illustrates how sound-bite attitudes and expectations shape our perceptions of others and hinder our practices in public dialogue. This “sound-bite stupor” can be seen in the ways that familiar metaphors like “culture war” coach attitudes and practices counterproductive for collective life. Drawing upon the insights of social and linguistic theorist Kenneth Burke, psychologist Michael Nicoles, and religious historian John Woodbridge, Baxter suggests ways to awaken from the sound-bite stupor by attending to patterns of reactivity, cultivating more complex and patient listening habits, and practicing more accessible and civic-building discourse.
The Institute for Cultural Engagement, an official program of Multnomah University and Biblical Seminary