October 22, 6:30 pm
Civil discourse requires mutual respect. Respect, not agreement, is an essential key for a healthy discussion. This workshop addresses how we may inadvertently be complicit in, or possibly even encourage, polarization.
What is the Depolarizing Ourselves Introductory Workshop?
The Depolarizing Ourselves Introductory Workshop is designed to help you lessen the effects of polarization when you encounter them in your political conversations. Note that by “polarization,” we are not referring to healthy disagreements over issues or philosophy. We are talking about how we regard and talk about large groups of ordinary people on the other side of our own politics as if they were enemies.
This is a group session that is approximately 1.5 hours long. It is led by a volunteer Braver Angels Facilitator. Braver Angels is a non-religious organization that develops educational tools to build bridges between people divided over politics. We also partner with religious and other groups who use our tools in the context of their own traditions.
Goals
To teach participants:
How to be more aware of their own “inner polarizer”.
How to interact without demonizing, dismissing or stereotyping large swaths of the population.
In our current political climate, much of our conflict stems not from healthy disagreement over policies, issues, or philosophy. Instead, it’s created by the often emotional, rancor-escalating, and highly polarizing conversations that we typically have with others. Braver Angels has created our Depolarizing Ourselves Workshop to help you reframe how you view the other side in the face of disagreements around politics. Successfully ‘taming’ our inner polarizer starts with recognizing our tendencies around harmful generalizations about the other side. This requires acknowledging how we often attribute negative intent and motivations to the other side without first trying to understand them.
