How will we manage diversity? A response to Jean Bethke Elshtain (A rationalist basis for defining human nature and ethics)

In basic agreement with Elshtain's suspicion of a rationalist basis for def ining human nature and ethics, this response underscores the importance of story, history, and collective experience for our achieving of such definit ions. At stake in the debate are two vital anthropological questions: (1) W ho are we that we should value each other and ascribe rights to each other? The "thin" rationalist answer to this question is that we just believe in the value of humanity, simpliciter. The Christian answer, that God created and loves us, seems much more solid, especially in face of the propensities of twentieth-century humans for killing each other. (2) In an increasingly global human society, how do we Christians negotiate with our neighbors co ncerning our different answers to the first question? We do it by speaking about our histories to each other; and, on the grounds of our own faith, we never desert the global conversation.