Thursday night was quite an experience. Better Angels, whose mission is to depolarize America by hosting workshops that help people who disagree politically find common ground held our own State of the Union Address. The Address was designed be given two days after the President’s SOTU. Since heightened polarization caused President Trump’s address to be postponed. Our SOTU Address was very timely.
Better Angels encouraged members to hold watch parties through out the country so we could introduce as many people as we could to our organization. The presentation had several highlights:
- A video of a Nightline episode was shown that described a three-day Red-Blue Workshop that took place in Ohio. Greg Smith, a Conservative Christian who supports President Trump participated on the Red side and Kouhyar Mostashfi, a Muslim participated on the Blue side. While both stayed loyal to their values and beliefs, they grew fond of each other and agreed to visit each other’s place of worship. Greg visited Kouhyar’s Mosque and Kouhyar visited Greg’s Pentecostal Church. They ended up by riding together from Ohio to Virginia for the Better Angels Convention last June.
- Better Angels President David Blankenhorn told the story of the conversation that he had with Organizer Chair, Donna Murphy. David talked about growing up in the South where he was around guns a lot. Donna grew up hating guns. As the conversation went on, David suggested that Donna visit a gun shop. She agreed to do that, and while she still hates guns, there is no personal animosity between the two on this polarizing issue.
Why is there such a need for us to get so offended when someone disagrees with us? While some might blame one party or another, polarization is happening all over the world. Great Brittan is up to their ears with polarization regarding Brexit. My friend, Jim who attended our watch party feels that the polarization comes from pure stubbornness. Jim noted that President Lincoln appointed some of his political opponents to his cabinet. It’s my opinion that social media is to blame. We have the ability to ridicule the people we disagree without having to look them in the eye. It seems as if the first rule of social media is to be clever with accuracy way down the list.
It doesn’t have to be that way. John Fry, President of Drexel University, suggests that we spend less time on social media and more time in face to face conversations. Fry says that “empathy and respect would go a long way to bridging the political divide.”
How can we keep our integrity while searching for common ground? Dylan Marron delivered a TED Talk last April, called “How I turn Negative Online Comments into Positive Offline Conversations.” Marron used the phrase, “Empathy is not Endorsement, arguing that “Empathizing with someone you profoundly disagree with does not compromise your own deeply held beliefs and endorse theirs. It just means acknowledging the humanity of someone who was raised to think very differently.”
There’s more to come from Better Angels. Next Saturday, the San Francisco Alliance that I belong to will be hosting a Red-Blue Workshop where seven conservatives will sit around the table with seven liberals and a non-partisan moderator. They’ll clarify what they believe in and uncover what they have in common with each other. The hope is that relationships will be developed and alliances will be built.
The Better Angels State of the Union Address is available on our website; https://www.better-angels.org/sotu/
Please take a listen, whatever side you’re on politically, I think it will lift your spirits.
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