Articles by Backman Writing & Communications

Since 1986, we've created concepts and written copy for a broad range of clients, including Coca-Cola, General Electric, Aflac, Toshiba, The Bank of New York, the New York Lottery, North Fork Bank, and many others. Specialties include higher education, finance, technology, and healthcare.

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Backman Writing Communications has written 52 articles for AdTalk

Backman Writing & Communications

A New Book, A New Conversation: Why Can’t We Talk? Coming to Bookstores Near You

by Backman Writing & Communications

I invite you to join me in celebrating some good news—and pondering what it might start. If you’ve explored the other parts of this site, you know I’ve been working on a book. It covers many of the themes we explore right here—particularly the ancient “work of the soul” that can make dialogue not just [...]

The (One-Step-at-a-Time) Way of Dialogue

by Backman Writing & Communications

Not long ago, I ran across a blog post that provoked me. The writer’s assertions struck a raw nerve that brought up a few ghosts from my past. I felt compelled to respond. The first draft of my response felt angry and haughty. I needed to breathe deeply, approach it from a more dialogic place [...]

What Good Friday Says About Dialogue

by Backman Writing & Communications

It’s hard for me to compose a blog post on Good Friday and not write about Jesus. He is, after all, the central figure of the Christian faith, and his execution on a Roman cross is a key part of the central event. In Christian theology, the Crucifixion speaks volumes—innumerable volumes—about the love of God. [...]

Trayvon Martin: Being Present to Paradox

by Backman Writing & Communications

This is my third attempt at a post about the Trayvon Martin tragedy. Everything I write seems presumptuous. There are already too many voices raised, too many fleeting shards of news and rumor and innuendo flying around the Internet. At the center of all this is something horrible beyond words: the death of a young [...]

My Life as a (Not Quite) Monk

by Backman Writing & Communications

This is a bit self-promotional, but it may give you more insight into the spirituality behind the ideas you read here. A kindred spirit, Lauri Lumby of Authentic Freedom Ministries, recently honored me with an invitation to submit a guest post to her blog. In response, I sent her “Living the Monk’s Life in the [...]

Why Today’s Cynicism Isn’t Enough: The Sequel

by Backman Writing & Communications

few days ago, I received a response to last week’s post from my good friend Kim. Kim is both a deeply committed Christian and a remarkable thinker, so it came as no surprise that her response took the whole conversation in a new and deeper direction—away from a critique of today’s cynicism and toward a [...]

Why Today’s Cynicism Isn’t Enough

by Backman Writing & Communications

Recently I spent two days in meetings with an emerging coalition of partners who want to facilitate change in the way communities function. Many of the participants expressed a deep passion for substantial, structural transformation; words like movement, culture change, and manifesto buzzed around the room. It got me thinking about the way this energy [...]

Certainty from the Left?

by Backman Writing & Communications

When I think of people who are certain of their beliefs—no possibility of compromise—certain strains of conservative come to mind. My conservative friends, however, tell me that progressives can be just as certain. I think I’ve found a case in point: a compelling article by Candace Chellew-Hodge. In “Smashing Our Idols,” Chellew-Hodge—a pastor and editor [...]

Toward a Humble Washington

by Backman Writing & Communications

What would happen if U.S. elected officials practiced humility? I can imagine the snorts of derision that question may elicit. Yet last summer, amid the brinksmanship over the U.S. debt ceiling, a number of respected public figures raised this very issue, and now I hear that columnist David Brooks is writing a book on humility. [...]

What’s Your Dialogue Story?

by Backman Writing & Communications

Maybe it was a conversation that healed a friendship…or a comment over lunch that helped you see a hot-button issue in a new way…or an email exchange that softened your heart and maybe even changed your mind…or a sit-down with your partner to sort out a family issue. Whatever the specifics of your story, I [...]

Of Dreamers, Realists, and Dialogue

by Backman Writing & Communications

A few years ago, my wife and I had the privilege of visiting a monastery in South Africa. Like many monasteries, Mariya uMama weThemba observed the Great Silence from roughly 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. I relish this extended time of silence and was dismayed, when I awoke early one morning, to hear my wife [...]

Cynics, Third Parties, and Maybe a Smidgen of Hope

by Backman Writing & Communications

Recently, on the main listserv and Facebook page for NCDD (the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation, of which I’m a board member), we discussed signs of disaffection with the federal government. There certainly seem to be a lot of them these days. Part of the discussion centered on Americans Elect. In case you haven’t [...]

Dialogue and Christmas—the Holidays—Whatever

by Backman Writing & Communications

We’ve talked a lot about the need for precise language, in dialogue and out. Our dialogues could be so much more productive if we avoided sidetracking them with inflammatory or inaccurate words. Conversely, precise language gives us the best chance of conveying our ideas more clearly to people who might not share or be familiar [...]

Christians and the Call to Dialogue

by Backman Writing & Communications

We Christians are notorious for fighting. We fight among ourselves over subtleties of doctrine. We fight with other faith traditions over what constitutes Truth. The Crusades, an extreme example of fighting if there ever was one, are a horrible stain on our history. Fortunately, some Christians have made good progress in dialogue over the past [...]

Reflections on the Dialogue: LGBTQ Issues and the Christian Church

by Backman Writing & Communications

Hello, my friends. It’s so nice to be back with you. A few weeks ago, I told you about an upcoming dialogue to which I’d been invited—a conversation with a dozen evangelical Christians about LGBTQ issues and the Church. As you may know, the words evangelical, LGBTQ, and dialogue do not often appear together in [...]

Reading Material for the Dialogue Journey

by Backman Writing & Communications

I will be away from the laptop for a few weeks, so instead of an original post I thought I’d link you to some other food for dialogical thought. Read one a week, and it’ll be as though I never left! The Abortion Stalemate: Can “I Don’t Know” Break It? In this post, I suggest [...]

Taboo for Dialogue

by Backman Writing & Communications

If you scanned the headline quickly, you may have misread it. This is not about taboos in dialogue, like shouting epithets or characterizing anyone left-of-center as a socialist. No, this is about the game Taboo® from Hasbro—and a flight of fancy on a rainy Friday. In case you’re unfamiliar with Taboo, it’s a party game [...]

Fearing the Change That Dialogue May Bring

by Backman Writing & Communications

Last week I told you about a dozen or so Christians—gay, straight, conservative, liberal, and people who identify in other ways—who will gather in November to have a two-day conversation about LGBT issues. I mentioned how thrilled I am to be part of this, and how encouraging I’ve found the emails from participants. I didn’t [...]

Upcoming Dialogue: LGBT Issues and the Christian Church

by Backman Writing & Communications

When a pillar of our quasi-evangelical church came out in 1989, I had just started rethinking the whole issue of gender, sexuality, and the Bible. So I was not prepared for how torturous the resulting church discussion would be. Partly because of this event, LGBT people and issues have been dear to my heart ever [...]

Why Facts and Logic Aren’t Enough

by Backman Writing & Communications

Scene 1: A buddy forwards me an email that rails against U.S. foreign aid, because it’s taking away from Social Security. I’ve read enough to know that’s not true—foreign aid constitutes maybe 1% of the federal budget—and I send him a reply to that effect with three links from reputable (though allegedly liberal) sources. My [...]

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