Imagine a couple hundred conservatives sitting side-by-side with a couple hundred liberals to watch the recent presidential debate. What do you think would happen? Last June that is exactly where I was at the Braver Angels convention in Kenosha, Wisconsin and I can tell you that American Hope is alive and well! We laughed, we cried, and after the debate we entered into respectful conversation.

Now imagine Democrats helping out at the RNC in Milwaukee and Republicans helping out at the DNC in Chicago. The prospect of “the other side” being at a national convention may concern some, but here too it represents Americans coming together to support the democratic process despite fears that the other side’s candidate may be a threat to our Democratic Republic. This is only one way Braver Angels, a grassroots national non-profit, is helping our communities make a more perfect union by providing free tools, training, and opportunities for peaceful conversations.

Pairing up with Red and Blue leaning volunteers and canvassing on the streets of Milwaukee with Braver Angels was an affirming experience of the power of nonviolent civic engagement, not for the purpose of changing minds, but from a place of curiosity and concern for our country. For example, at one moment my colleague and I were talking with pro-life protesters at a women’s health clinic and at the next moment with the escorts of patients. In the first Braver Angels “Common Ground” workshop, which had an equal number of pro-life and pro-choice participants, the topic was abortion. You may ask: How many points of agreement without compromise could 16 people of different perspectives unanimously agree on about abortion? TWENTY!

In 2022, Braver Angels engaged hundreds of members on a deep-dive into the topic of “how to ensure Trustworthy Elections” using the format of the Common Ground workshop. In each of the workshops that were held around the country, Red and Blues first met separately, each with their own moderator, to create a list they all agreed on. If any participant didn’t agree, and if changing the wording didn’t solve the problem, the point was removed from the list. Then both groups came together and again anyone on either side could bump the point off the list. In the end they came up with SEVEN-HUNDRED-TWENTY-SEVEN points of agreement! I’ll say that again; 727 unanimous points of agreement about trustworthy elections across values, concerns, and solutions based on 26 workshops with 194 evenly-balanced Red and Blue participants. A summary report was sent to our congressional and state representatives and is available to anyone to use.

July 30 marked 100 days before the presidential election, and Indiana is leading the way with its “100 Days The Braver Angels Way” statewide campaign. Trained volunteers will be running a variety of workshops and information sessions across the state. If you would like to volunteer, view the full Trustworthy Elections report, or request a speaker at your location, visit www.BraverAngelsIndiana.org

Miles Eddy is one of three Indiana State Coordinators, Red/Blue/Independent leaning, facilitating the creation of local Braver Angels alliances and speaking about the range of programs available to citizens, politicians and their staff, schools, churches, and other organizations across Indiana. You can reach Miles at [email protected]