Braver Angels

We kick off the fall’s Braver Angels meetings at St. Matthew’s on October 8 at 7:00 pm. Braver Angels at St. Matt’s has raised hot topics from abortion to guns and land acknowledgement over the last three years. We created a relationship with ACT parish in Western Minnesota. We sought ways to create a pluralist, open culture in which people with deep differences surface their views, tell their stories, and listen to others with respect.

This last year the national Braver Angels movement adopted a broader mission of promoting “Courageous Citizenship.” Who would have thought that was controversial? The words “citizen” and “citizenship” turn off many progressives, who see them as restrictive, even racist. What do we lose by rejecting them? Can a deeper understanding of what it means to be a citizen provide a way forward on burning issues like immigration? In a time of polarization and fear, can courageous citizenship contribute to the work of building a more democratic and just society? Come with your questions, doubts and views!

This opening session will lead to others over the coming year. What, if anything, does “democratic socialism” contribute? Are there alternative ways than socialism to think about how to make deep and lasting change? How can we meet the challenges of AI? How can we transform a runaway consumer culture? Such topics and others are emerging across Braver Angels.

Once again we will create a format that allows everyone to speak their minds, voice their doubts, and listen to others. We will seek to develop wise “public judgment,” as the BA Civic Scholars Council calls it, beyond simply private opinions. The Council recently created a library of 39 papers on courageous citizenship. See https://braverangels.org/civic-scholars-council/