Better Angels in Mansfield

“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 1st Innaugural Address 4 March 1861

The above are the wise words Better Angels derive their name and mission from. From their website:

Better Angels is a citizens’ organization uniting red and blue Americans in a working alliance to depolarize America

• We try to understand the other side’s point of view, even if we don’t agree with it
• We engage those we disagree with, looking for common ground and ways to work together
• We support principles that bring us together rather than divide us

Many times the first reaction to Better Angels is that they are some entity looking to create a simplistic centrist majority. Another typical reaction is the belief that this is all an effort to trap people into political conversion or shaming. The truth is Better Angels holds the passion people have for their politics in very high regard. They are also wise in taking the position that changing people’s minds is not the way to achieve their true goal, the depolarization of America.

Perhaps the best way to illustrate Better Angels position is to share another of their slogans:

Start a conversation, not a fight

Quite simply if we don’t start talking to each other instead of shouting at each other we will fail to be the best we can be. We will fail the principles of democracy we actually share common ground on. We will indeed not have the government we want but instead the one we deserve.

It is no small task to attempt to foster civility when people have become accustomed to the opposite. Still as President Lincoln said it is in our nature to make the effort at least. To that end I am working on a Better Angels Red/Blue Workshop for Saturday April 27th 2019. The time is 10 AM to 1 PM. The initial workshop will be comprised of two 5-7-member teams. One team of “Reds” (Republican/conservative-right) and one of “Blues” ( Democrat/ liberal-progressive-left). It is also hoped we can establish an equal pool of observers, up to 5 each. Two moderators supplied by the Better Angels organization will conduct the workshop. There is NO COST to attend this event but folks will need to be registered.

For information about Better Angels see their web page https://www.better-angels.org/...

For questions or further information on this workshop feel free to email me allenb@mansfieldunited.com