Dear editor:

Did you ever think Reds (Republican-leaning) and Blues (Democrat-leaning) could watch a Trump-Biden presidential debate together? It happened, successfully! We were among over 500 nervous conservatives, liberals and others who watched in person together and maintained good will. Despite our profound differences, we all love America and want what is best for our nation.

 This was clearly evident as over 750 people from across the country — equally represented by Reds and Blues with a smattering of “others” — attended the recent Braver Angels National Convention in Kenosha, Wisconsin. This site was chosen because it is located halfway between the Republican National Convention site in Milwaukee and the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Through debates, workshops, music and theater, we learned from each other and gained hope to bring back to our communities.

Do you wonder if Reds and Blues can find any common ground without sacrificing principles on issues such as abortion, speech rights, immigration or gun violence? We sure can! At our convention, through common ground workshops evenly represented by Reds and Blues, we did! Through brave, open conversations we came up with common values, concerns and solutions for all these issues — with 100% agreement.

We came away from this transformational experience enthused and hopeful for the future of our country no matter who is elected. The strength of America has always been in our people, our diversity and our ideals. We are much less divided than we are led to believe. Ordinary Americans have the capacity to come up with real, workable solutions to the major problems affecting us, but we must try — together.

We need to be the change we want to see. We must resist regarding our political opponents as bad people who represent a threat to all that we hold dear. Our leaders cannot be depended upon to do this work for us. In fact, they all too often act like bellows feeding the flames of animosity. We cannot afford to remain silent thinking these problems will go away.  Braver Angels and other organizations working to end toxic polarization provide skills and methods to help us reach across the divide — whether it is to a family member, a neighbor or a political leader.

It takes courage and hard work. We especially need to change how we think about conflict and how we approach political conversations. Instead of being fearful about conflict, we need to learn how to make progress through conflict. We need to speak from our hearts and more importantly, to listen from a sincere place of understanding others’ points of view. We can acknowledge our differences openly and honestly hear each other out. Winning an argument should not be the goal. The goal should be learning, realizing common values and finding common ground. We guarantee that this will give you hope. It’s not easy, and we need to practice, but this work is necessary to hold families, communities and our nation together.

We would love to share with anyone interested about the Braver Angels formats that bring Reds, Blues and others together to build new ways to talk to one another, participate together in public life, and influence the direction of the nation. Feel free to contact Kris at kkorfanta@braverangels.org or Tom at tombrantley@braverangels.org. Please check out Braverangels.org — a not-for-profit, volunteer-led group working to bridge divides and build a house united. 

Kris Korfanta

Braver Angels Wyoming Blue co-chair

Ranchester

Tom Brantley

Braver Angels Wyoming Red co-chair

Cheyenne