Journey Together: Called to BE a Blessing
Return to Journey Together: Called to BE Love resource page
As we enter the final 12 weeks of the 2024 presidential election process, we invite you to continue to Journey Together consciously—to BE Love—to BE a Blessing in our troubled nation. Our Creating Beloved Community page, offers resources to support discernment and inspire our efforts to journey together for Beloved Community.
Individually and as a community, we have a responsibility to listen and discern with open hearts and minds, to act with courage and commitment to Gospel values, and to be agents of God’s goodness and love. Please join us as we renew our commitment to BE kind, gracious, grateful, peaceful, open-hearted, open-minded, welcoming, and loving. Let us vow to support one another and all people of goodwill on this journey together to BE love.
Reverend Martin Luther King popularized the phrase “Beloved Community,” which recognizes our timeless call for peace, justice, and joy. To learn more about the concept of Beloved Community, visit the Boundless Love Project and the King Center.
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Everyone is biased and that’s okay. What is important is being aware of our biases and striving to open our minds and hearts to new information and new ways of thinking. It is particularly important to be aware of confirmation bias and how it contributes to misinformation and polarization in our world today.
Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out and prefer information that supports our preexisting beliefs. It is also a way to ease the work of information overload. We judge new ideas based on the ease with which they fit and confirm what we think we know. As a result, we tend to ignore any information that contradicts those beliefs. Confirmation bias is often unintentional but can lead to poor decision-making in many real-life contexts. It is essential to recognize our vulnerability to confirmation bias and actively guard against it by being open to evidence that is not consistent with our theory or worldview.
Confirmation bias leads us into an echo chamber of information-gathering. An echo chamber is an environment where people only encounter information or opinions that reflect and reinforce their own. Echo chambers can create misinformation and distort a person’s perspective, making it difficult to consider opposing viewpoints and discuss complicated topics.
What are misinformation and disinformation?
Misinformation: Inadvertently sharing false information without the intent to harm.
Disinformation: Intentionally sharing false information with the intent to harm.
Stop and think before you speak, write or share!
We encourage you to explore the Resources section below for additional materials that may provide further clarity on this topic.
“Pursue What Leads to Peace”
Romans 14:19
How we choose to consider issues with those who differ from us will have a profound effect on everything else: our understanding, our relationships, and the direction and duration of the conflict. Most Americans debate by default, so it requires a conscious decision to be in a true dialogue with someone whose beliefs differ from our own.
Debate involves a closed, strategic, instrumental form of persuasion. It is designed to create a winner and loser. It assumes you and your position are right. It involves making a solid case for your original position and then listening to the other side to identify flaws in their logic or evidence that you can cite to bolster your argument.
Dialogue, on the other hand, is a process of open and reflective listening and intentional and thoughtful speaking with a focus on learning and discovery. The purpose is to build relationships and exchange perspectives, particularly with people from fundamentally different worldviews. Dialogue is two-way and cooperative. It moves us to a deeper understanding of ourselves and those we are in dialogue with, fostering a sense of connection and community.
Let us neither express nor cherish any hard feelings toward any citizen who . . . has differed with us. Let us at all times remember that all American citizens are brothers [and sisters] of a common country and should dwell together in the bonds of fraternal feeling.
President Abraham Lincoln
We encourage you to explore the Resources section below for additional materials that may provide further clarity on this topic.
The election season frequently triggers strong emotions, especially stress and anxiety. A recent survey by the Thriving Center of Psychology found that 72% of Americans are feeling stressed, and 60% are concerned about future violence and political violence. Here are some common strategies to cope. Revisit the other resources below for additional support and guidance.
Show compassion to others. Separate people and their inherent value from their viewpoints. Develop your empathy muscle by remembering that we are all created in the image of God. Look for the good. Be kind. Remain civil and refrain from name-calling. Be curious and take time to learn from others, even if you don’t agree with them.
Make a plan to vote and follow through. Focus on what you can control. If you are eligible, register to vote and plan how and when to vote. Encourage others to put their voice where the ballot box is. Intentionally take time to learn about the different issues locally, statewide, and nationally.
Take care of your body, mind, and spirit. Eat healthily, drink plenty of water, and get the rest and exercise that your body needs. Practice mindfulness and relaxation techniques. Meditation, deep breathing exercises, and yoga can help manage stress, and deep breathing can provide immediate stress relief.
Be selective about your media consumption. Set specific times for checking news updates to avoid media overload. Silence-breaking news notifications. While it’s important to stay informed, consider intentionally getting your election-related news and updates from nonpartisan sources.
Take breaks from social media. Avoid “doomscrolling” through social media and news feeds. Consider limiting your time on social media or filling your feed with positive and inspirational messages that nourish your soul.
Get involved. Do things that make you feel connected to your values and build a sense of purpose and connection. Engage in community activities, such as volunteering or participating in community events, or activities that help you feel a sense of peace, such as learning a new skill, creating art, exercising, making music, being in nature, or time with trusted friends and family,
Show compassion to yourself. Acknowledge negative feelings, recognize what is causing your heightened stress, and find healthy ways to feel better. Remember that you are not alone in feeling stressed or overwhelmed about the elections. If in a safe environment, talk with family or friends or find a professional for support. Be kind to yourself.
We encourage you to explore the Resources section below for additional materials that may provide further clarity on this topic.
“…Let all citizens be mindful of their simultaneous right and duty to vote freely
Gaudium et Spes: Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, 73.
in the interest of advancing the common good.”
In the current political environment, it is tempting to shut down, become cynical, and ignore our responsibility as citizens. In a column for the National Catholic Reporter, Professor Steven Millies reminds us that “In its first, best and most useful sense, politics means ‘our shared life,’ the life of the community…. Politics means valuing our shared life together more than we value winning any argument — and bearing witness to that value in our commitment to dialogue with one another.”
Throughout his tenure, Pope Francis has reminded us that politics–serving the good of the whole–is “one of the highest forms of charity.” In a July 7, 2024 address, Pope Francis said:
Let us not be deceived by easy solutions. Let us instead be passionate about the common good…. As Catholics, in this context, we cannot be content with a marginal or private faith…. We must be a voice, a voice that denounces and offers solutions in a society that is often voiceless…. This political charity is a call to the entire Christian community, with its different ministries and charisms.
Let us train ourselves in this love, to circulate it in a world that is lacking in civil passion. We have to reclaim our civil passion, that of the great politicians we have known. Let us learn to always better walk together as God’s people, to be leaven of participation among the people to which we belong.
As people of God, let us journey together to build Beloved Community. Let us be “artisans of peace, democracy and contagious witnesses of participation.”
We encourage you to explore the Resources section below for additional materials that may provide further clarity on this topic.
On Misinformation
Resources to support healthy dialogue and nonviolent
communication
Resources for A Better Kind of Politics
- Fratelli Tutti (Papal Encyclical 2020)
- Take the Pledge to a “Better Kind of Politics.”
- 5 tips from Pope Francis.
- Catholic Social Teaching for Adults
- Catholic Social Teaching for Children
- Catholic Social Justice Reflection Guide
- Equally Sacred Issues 2024
- Project 2025, in contrast with Catholic Social Justice
