Having Tough Conversations Post-Election?
These weeks surrounding the 2024 presidential election have been tough on us all. In partnership with RENEW International, I have a new resource available to help with talking across divides. It is called "Many Voices, One Spirit: Building Bridges in Today's Divided Church." Because it received funding from the USCCB, the resource is free. Can you believe it? All you need to pay is postage. Even better, it is available in both English and Spanish. Order as many copies as you like. Gather your friends. Have a discussion on this topic together as we try to figure out how to best be with each other in this time.
I'd also like to invite you to check out two other resources I have available. Let's Talk About Truth --awarded second place in the 2021 Catholic Media Association Book Awards "Church Professional" category--is a great resource for digging into the Catholic tradition around truth and what it means to take truth as a central value in one's life. You can check out reviews of this book in both NCR and US Catholic, but hurry because there are only about 100 copies left in existence! Also, my book Redeeming Conflict is being used by parishes and dioceses and schools across the country as a tool for skillbuilding around having tough conversations during this time.
Finally happy to share with you an essay I wrote for NCR on conspiracy thinking called "Aquinas vs. QAnon." Conspiracty thinking has been coming up more and more frequently when doing workshops on tough conversations, and I'll admit that it is one of the toughest conversations out there. What can you do when someone you work with or--worse--someone you love seems trapped in conspiracy thinking? This is my own attempt at thinking it through. Happy to hear additional ideas you might have! (Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash)