#WATWB: Building Bridges with Respect

August 31, 2018 by JoAnna 24 Comments

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

Abraham Lincoln

Better Angels is a “bipartisan citizen’s movement to unify (a) divided nation.” The organization builds alliances between people with very different beliefs. The goal is to reconnect through respectful communication. With the growing polarization in the US  (and perhaps other countries) we desperately need to listen with respect, listen to understand, and look for common ground. In the following video, we see people who are very different politically, yet they build bridges by listening with courage, respect, and patience.

(Note: There are some brief, unpleasant scenes starting 1 minute and 8 seconds into the video with ABC news showing the problem of polarization, so if you want to skip over that part, go to 1:48 to get back to the solution.)

It’s interesting that in a longer video I watched, the closing media commentary included the report that both sides blame the media for polarization of “hyper-partisanship.”

I appreciate this program because it shows we can do better. We can learn to communicate and listen with respect even when we strongly disagree.

 

To learn more about Better Angels, visit: https://www.better-angels.org/

#WATWB brings positive stories on the last Friday of every month.

Thank you to our hosts,  Simon Falk, Andrea Michaels, Shilpa Garg, Sylvia Stein, Belinda Witzenhausen.

For more information on #WATWB, click here

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