Erin McLaughlin gives her presentation “Agree to Disagree: The Value of Viewpoint Diversity” at the Friedman Jewish Community Center on Sunday.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
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KINGSTON — The Friedman Jewish Community Center welcomed guest speaker Erin McLaughlin to town on Sunday for a presentation entitled “Agree to Disagree: The Value of Viewpoint Diversity.”
McLaughlin is a Luzerne County native, and the daughter of former mayor of Wilkes-Barre Thomas McLaughlin, a Democrat who held the office from 1980-1988.
“He had a love of people, and it was so infectious,” Erin McLaughlin said at the beginning of her presentation.
For nearly 70 minutes, McLaughlin used a slideshow, some memes, and some of her own personal experiences to craft an intriguing look into viewpoint diversity.
She was quick to differentiate viewpoint diversity from other, similar ideas.
“Viewpoint diversity isn’t about empathy, and it’s not about tolerance,” McLaughlin said.
A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, McLaughlin spoke at length about her own experiences as a student, and how her experiences shaped her views and allowed her to demonstrate viewpoint diversity.
An example that came up multiple times during the presentation was that of a local couple who were interviewed by NBC News in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election.
According to McLaughlin, this couple, Eileen and Michael Sorokas, represented a number of people who switched from Democrat to Republican during the election, thus flipping the county from blue to red.
She pointed out that, even though most people don’t know this couple, opinions of the Sorokas’ were unfairly formed by their voting choices, leading many to demonize them.
“Party is dividing us more than ever before,” McLaughlin said.
She also took a familiar quote from Rene Descartes, “I think, therefore I am,” and flipped it around to “I am, therefore I think,” to showcase how many people let their affiliations, whether political or otherwise, dictate how they think.
The presentation was met with hearty applause from the crowd, some of whom spoke up to offer their own experiences on viewpoint diversity.
“You could practice viewpoint diversity anywhere … at home, at work, even in the car,” McLaughlin said.
“We could all look out into the world and see something completely different.”