Undiscussable?

Arvind Singhal, who watched others fruitlessly fight the devastating impact of the caste system in India, became inspired by the work of Everett Rogers to create a radio soap opera as a means of changing long-held norms.

Every week people would tune in to the adventures of a handful of engaging characters that faced many of the same problems the listeners themselves faced every day. However, the writers behind these radio programs were interested in more than mere ratings even though their ratings were already high. They wanted to encourage people to talk about the debilitating caste system. It was high time it was abolished, but as long as there were people who had been cast as "untouchables," and as long as untouchables were largely a taboo topic, the system would continue.

Nobody preached anything on the show; the characters simply lived through problems the writers wanted to address. At the end of each program a renowned figure from the region would recap the events by asking pointed questions such as, "What will they do next?" "How should they handle this tough problem?"

After each episode, people would gather at work or at a pub or around a well and talk about what was taking place in the show. Everyone wanted to discuss the latest goings-on. The impact was nothing short of sensational. Singhal tells of a family who routinely listened to the show and was inspired to make a bold move:

The oldest daughter from the family was about to be married. They decided to use the wedding celebration (which lasts for several days) to take a stand on the caste system by inviting untouchables.

To avoid a total family scandal, they encouraged their unlikely guests to clean up for the celebration and even bought them some new but inexpensive clothing. The first day of the celebration, the father, surrounded by friends and family, asked one of his unexpected guests to bring him a glass of water. (These are people who are not allowed to cast a shadow on others.) The guest did so and the father then "ingested" something poured by an untouchable.

The server then offered water to the rest of the guests. Several took it, others said they weren't thirsty, and still others got up and left. As the celebration continued, the family took more and more steps to involve these "untouchables" until they achieved a more widespread acceptance. Multiply these powerful events by thousands of people across hundreds of communities and eventually values change. In fact, this radio drama alone eliminated many of the oppressive practices in the region in less than a year.

Why did these creative change agents succeed where others had failed? Because they found a way to get thousands of people to openly talk about what previously had been an un-discussable issue.

At the heart this effort is a key principle: "You can't change something you can't talk about".

If you want to see long-held but debilitating traditions go away, you have to find a way to hold what had once been "un-discussable" conversations.

Is there anything in your life or family that is un-discussable? How about at your work or school? What is God asking you to do about that?

Acts 4:13-20
The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say. So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves.

"What should we do with these men?" they asked each other. "We can't deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus' name again."

So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard."