The Mission
Who We Are
Challenges and Opportunities
We believe there are unique challenges of polarization that people of faith and faith-oriented organizations/congregations deal with. For example, people of faith may face:
- ostracization within their own faith communities for having different political leanings than others in the community
- undue pressure, or the questioning of their morality/integrity, by those who believe someone of their faith identity should only hold certain political views and eschew others
- fracturing of their faith communities as fellow congregants leave the congregation to find one better aligned with their political views, or leave the faith all together because they believe it is being used to drive polarization
- stereotyping because of what others in their faith community believe or are perceived to believe politically, even if their own political beliefs are different
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We also believe that people of faith can play a particular role in depolarization within American society, including through using their unique influence and networks to engage more of their fellow Americans in depolarization work, and by promoting values that support depolarization from within a spiritual framework.
The Braver Angels of Faith Caucus seeks to support Braver Angels members in addressing the above challenges and capitalizing on those opportunities.
What We Do
Our main activities within Braver Angels are as follows, while we constantly seek to grow and adapt to evolving needs of Braver Angels and our country:
1) Facilitate a space for members to offer spiritual support, encouragement, and sharing of best practices with each other as we strive to depolarize our nation (including how we are applying principles of our faiths to this work on a practical level). We envision that members can use this space to learn from what is working well or not working in other congregations in order to better address challenges/outreach in their own congregations, explore collaborations, etc. Group meetings, discussion forums, workshops, and other activities can be used to facilitate this.
2) Provide—as needed—feedback and advice to Braver Angels leadership about how to engage with faith communities, how to navigate sensitivities, and how to deal with unique challenges and dynamics of depolarization within faith communities. This may include providing a ‘testing ground’ for piloting, providing feedback on, and refining faith-related workshops and other materials as they are developed by Braver Angels.
3) Play an active role in increasing outreach to and engagement of wider faith communities around the country who are not yet aware of or motivated to participate in the work of Braver Angels. Some Americans of faith may be more inclined to join this work if invited to do so by a member of their religious congregation, or if inspired to recognize the
importance of depolarization from a faith-based perspective.
How to Get Involved
To join the Faith Caucus and receive updates on our meetings and other activities, please sign up below.
For questions, please reach out to: faith-caucus-info@braverangels.org.