Reader shares resource for bridging divides
After reading the April 18 column regarding the Mesa County Kindness Challenge, I would like to share a resource that promotes civil discourse.
Author and mediator Mark Gerzon describes a growing movement that promotes the practice of respectful dialogue. In his book, âThe Reunited States of America: How We Can Bridge the Partisan Divide,â he notes Living Room Conversations as a resource for bridging differences.
Visit livingroomconversations.org to find step-by-step instructions and conversation guides for hosting community conversations. There are more than 100 topics related to education, faith, justice, media and entertainment, politics and government, to name a few.
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6 Rules for Debating Politics in a Polarized America | Opinion Allan Katz and Michael McShane
, Founder and CEO and Advisory Board member of American Public Square On 3/3/21 at 11:20 AM EST
If there s one thing Americans today seem to agree on, it s that we ve forgotten how to disagree. A disabling tribalism has infected out country in recent years, one which has us at each other s throats, incapable of recognizing a shared reality, let alone shared values.
In fact, one of those values that Americans used to be able to agree on was that agreement is not actually a goal in and of itself. After all, a democracy is not built on sameness but on difference, on tolerance, on diversity. The ability to communicate with people who have strongly held beliefs that are different than our own, and to respect that difference, was once a core American value, and one we ve sadly lost.