One person in Tillamook County is trying to start a chapter here, with a web site, now called Braver Angels. In 2020, the name was changed to Braver Angels partly to settle a trademark dispute and also to pay homage to the bravery required to have respectful conversation outside our preferred silo of opinion. Jim Heffernan living in South County, became enamored of Braver Angels when he read Monica Guzman’s book, “I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times” in 2021. Monica is a very liberal Hispanic Seattle journalist who was troubled when conversations with her conservative immigrant parents often ended in tears because of their political differences.
With clear and penetrating logic, she outlines what causes our distress and offers a way out of it. The cause is distilled down to the acronym SOS. It’s very apt that it matches the classic distress signal, but what it stands for is Sorting, Othering, and Siloing. Sorting happens when we separate ourselves into groups based on politics or race.
Othering happens we react to sorting by identifying people as either “us” or “them” -other.
Siloing happens when we seek our conversation and news in silos, the same sources, that don’t ask us to stray from our beliefs. Sorting, Othering, and Siloing — none of them are good for us or for the nation.
Read more at braverangels.org/ If you would like Mr. Heffernans e-mail address – e-mail me dixiegainer@gmail.com and ask for it.