Humanity Is Not Red Or Blue
by Brown Campbell
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1025/p09s01-coop.html
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Did you avoid discussing the 2004 election with a family member or friend? Why? What purposes or values guided your avoidance? What were you afraid would happen? What may have been lost by holding back? What was gained?
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What purposes and values might move you to talk about politics with this friend or family member in the future? What commitments would you (and the friend or family member) need to make before you could approach a conversation about politics with more hope than fear?
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If you are involved in a congregation or faith community, how was it affected by the polarizing climate surrounding the 2004 election? Were efforts made to limit the negative impacts of events in the political sphere within the faith community? If some steps were effective, what may have made them so?
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What do you think about the author’s assertion that “avoidance of a potentially divisive issue is always counter-productive”? What personal experiences inform your answer?
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The Parents’ Circle is testimony to the power of reaching across extreme conflict and great trauma. How do you imagine that members of this group have been able to accomplish what they have? What piece of advice might a member of the Circle offer citizens of the US at this moment in our history?
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The author challenges us to discover “how conflict and civility can exist in the same space.” What experiences have you had with spaces in which people could conflict in civil ways? What do you already know about how to build and maintain such spaces? What do you want to learn more about?
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What assumptions make it hard for you to acknowledge the humanity of some or all of those on the other political “side”? What steps could you take to move beyond the labels and stereotypes that currently color your view of others - for better or worse? What may be the cost to you and others of not doing so?
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The author underlines the importance of separating what political adversaries say from who they are. Do you accept this distinction? Why? Do you share her view that it is an important one to make? Why? What, if anything, makes it challenging for you to honor this distinction in practice?
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Imagine that one of your neighbors openly espouses views and actions you deeply oppose on moral or political grounds and has symbols of her/his views on display. It's Halloween and you are taking your children out to trick-or-treat. Would you encourage your children to ring that neighbor's doorbell? Why or why not?
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The author’s final words urge readers “always to reserve for yourself the possibility that you might just be wrong.” How hard is this for you to do? In personal or professional arguments? Political or moral ones? What makes it hard? What tends to make it easier?
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What questions does this article raise for you? If Brown Campbell were here, what question would you ask her to deepen your understanding of her views?
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