By Helen Warren,
Commentary

Last month, 75 of our neighbors gathered at the SAP Library to consider how we can preserve bonds with people who don’t share, or who oppose, our political beliefs and values.

Sponsored by the St. Anthony Park Branch Library Association, the forum featured Bill Doherty, cofounder of Braver Angels, a national civic organization dedicated to “bringing Americans together to bridge the partisan divide and strengthen our democratic republic.”

Wendy Rahn, one of the event organizers, was surprised when two participants at the library announced their support for President Trump. She understood the bravery this disclosure required in a neighborhood where 97% of voters marked their ballots for Harris/Walz.

The gathering needed these two folks to show up. Without them, like-minded people would almost certainly have invoked abstract principles of inclusion and civility without having to enact them.

Braver Angels can’t achieve its mission so long as folks talk about the people whose beliefs they can’t abide. To bridge partisan divides, we must talk to people who disagree with us.

Perhaps the conversation starts when we acknowledge the bravery it takes to state our views without fear, to look into dozens of eyes that see the world very differently than we do.

We are accustomed to shielding ourselves from the disapproval of others. We skirt topics, excuse ourselves from conversations, or clam up entirely.

Rather than respond to those whose views clash with our own, we look forward to a later conversation with our tribe when we rehearse what we “should have said” to demean or mock the views we don’t hold.

Very few public figures reward bravery with respect. Our elected officials, our comedians, our opinion leaders typically resort to sarcasm and diatribe when it is their turn to talk. These responses magnify differences and animosity.

Bill Doherty says that behind every person is a story. Curiosity about how that narrative unfolds can counter the pressure to avoid or attack. Instead of interrogating, or lecturing, or diagnosing those “wrongheaded” people, perhaps we inquire about them and draw out their stories. The stories likely include moments we recognize because they resemble moments in our own lives. Affinities emerge and hostility is harder to maintain.

To learn more about these possibilities, visit sapbla.org to see a recording of Bill Doherty’s remarks. Or visit braverangels.org. 

Helen Warren lives in St. Anthony Park and is the presiding officer of the Park Bugle board of directors.