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By Catharine Richert

At Mercy Vineyard Church, a crowd has gathered for plates of pasta and a crash course in becoming peacemakers in politically polarized times.

Pastor Gary Dawkins kicks the event off with some scripture. He says the Bible is a good blueprint for navigating today’s divided environment.

“Jesus is quoted here by saying, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God,’” he said, reading from the Book of Matthew. “Jesus is saying, ‘I don’t want you to be a peace faker. I want you to be a peacemaker.’”

Dawkins is among religious leaders asking what role faith can play in bridging political divides in a particularly polarized election year.

Through a series of workshops, Dawkins and another local pastor, Stephanie O’Brien of Mill City Church, have been teaching congregants how to listen better, how to bust through their media echo chambers and how to use their faith to empathize with people on the other side.

Dawkins said that reducing polarization is exactly what Jesus would want his followers to do, even if it means loving someone who sees politics differently.

“One of the false conversations that we have around us, is that in order for me to be at peace with someone, I have to be on their team, or they have to agree with everything I agree with,” he said. “But that’s not peace. That’s just conformity.”

Talking to someone on the other side of politics is hard, which is why O’Brien came up with the idea for these workshops.

Since the pandemic, her parishioners tell her they’ve lost relationships.

“This is a form of deep loss and grief, and I have had people say to me, ‘It feels as though this person in my life has died, and I know they’re still alive. I even sometimes see them, but the person and that relationship is gone. It’s gone.’” she said. “I don’t believe that it has to be the end of the story.”

Old habits die hard

A recent workshop began with a little introspection.

Participant Tim Fynskov took a quiz that revealed his stereotypes about people who vote differently than he does.

“I found disdain is my natural inclination, or pity that you know they’re not hearing the truth,” he said.

And for him it’s personal. He said he doesn’t talk politics with some members of his family.

“Because I really want to resist thinking less of them. I know them for the people that they are, and I don’t want to find myself disparaging them or thinking of them with disdain,” he said.

Self-reflection was a consistent theme during the two-hour session.

At one point, co-facilitator Ramón Pastrano asked participants to evaluate their media consumption habits. Many participants said they tend to go back to the same sources of information over and over.

Pastrano said algorithms are designed to reinforce our biases.

“When we’re doing a Google search, we’re chasing our tail. We’re looking at our past search history to search for something that we think is going to give us some truth,” he said. “When actually what we’re doing is walking this path where we already have been, and we’re making decisions based on that.”

Seeking to understand, not change minds

Dismantling these old habits can be challenging, said participant Lizzie Dresselhaus. For years, she’s tried to change people’s minds about politics.

“Maybe changing somebody’s mind is not going to be super effective,” she said.

Now, she wants to change her approach to those conversations.

“How can I see somebody’s story, how did [they] get to the values that [they] have now, being a whole person and not just a representation of a viewpoint that I disagree with,” she said.