There’s a contempt problem metastasizing across America.
Arthur Brooks, the respected professor of happiness, said, “We have a cultural addiction to contempt — an addiction abetted by the outrage industrial complex … and it’s tearing us apart.”
In a 2021 Pew report, Michael Dimock and Richard Wike wrote that 8 in 10 registered voters on both sides of the aisle believed differences in America centered around core values, and the escalation of fast-growing polarization has become a top concern for many Americans.
In a milestone address on peacemaking at the most recent worldwide conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson said that “civility and decency seem to have disappeared.” He encouraged attendees to not give up, and to instead “show that there is a peaceful, respectful way to resolve complex issues and an enlightened way to work out disagreements.”
Even though American animosity and polarization may feel resurgent and rampant, there’s a whole field of peacemaking efforts dedicated to this type of work. Many Latter-day Saints have locked arms with other people of conscience to participate in these efforts. Deseret News interviewed a number of Latter-day Saints who have been doing concentrated peacemaking work in recent years.
Becca Kearl, the executive director of Living Room Conversations, thinks listening will help people connect in spite of disagreements around everyday issues and even polarizing political questions.
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