Braving divergent ideas

Posted 12/18/24

 

On Labor Day 2022, I witnessed the police barricade a section of downtown Port Townsend. I was shocked and dismayed. Since then, I have sought to understand why my town is unable to talk …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Braving divergent ideas

Posted

 

On Labor Day 2022, I witnessed the police barricade a section of downtown Port Townsend. I was shocked and dismayed. Since then, I have sought to understand why my town is unable to talk calmly about certain social issues. And then came the Presidential elections of 2024 and the heated discussions intensified.

Fortunately, I have found others like me, longing for respectful conversations with people expressing divergent ideas. I found an organization full of these brave citizens, Braver Angels (www.braverangels.org). I even found a workshop that taught me specific skills enabling me to stay calm and listen when someone states an upsetting option or “fact”. During the last months of the election, Braver Angels offered online panels presenting intelligent reasonable people voting for both candidates and for neither candidate. Everyone made sense. I didn’t change my mind about either candidate, but it made me question my assumptions about both candidates and the people voting for them.

Can intelligent people disagree? Of course they can. But the real question is, Can neighbors disagree and still respect the other person? Of course they can. Braver Angels has been supporting people doing this since December 2016. With the mission of “Bring Americans together to bridge the partisan divide and strengthen our democratic republic.” Braver Angels demonstrating that we can all learn to speak with conviction and listen for understanding without the goal of converting anybody.

“When you are sure that you are right, you’re asking for a fight,” the facilitator at a recent community meeting espoused. How true, I thought and what a relief to have Braver Angels where nobody is seeking to “be right.”

Sol Riou

Port Townsend