Are you frustrated by the increasingly polarized state of your community? Do you find that the ability to have real, respectful conversations with those who have differing political opinions is diminishing? Are you concerned about growing tensions leading up to the next national election?
Perhaps your relationship with a progressive Bernie supporting friend or old uncle Ernie with the MAGA hat has been fractured by divergent beliefs on politics and current events. Perhaps you feel afraid to express your own political opinions in the company of those who may disagree with you.
Would you like to learn more about what you can do personally and locally to foster more civil conversation across the political divide?
Come join us in St. Albans**, Vermont for a meal and learn about the Braver Angels movement. Braver Angels (www.braverangels.org) is a national organization dedicated to the premise that reasonable, well-intentioned people can look at a topic and hold disparate views without rejecting each other. We can and do disagree without being disagreeable. We surprise ourselves by often finding common ground where we least expect it!
Click on the link below to register. All ages are welcome. We are limiting the event to the first 85 registrants, so get this on your calendar today.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/franklin-county-vt-braver-angels-gathering-registration-382331151767
Our local Franklin County VT Braver Angels Alliance (what local BA groups are called) has been working on this and much more since 2017. We invite you to join us to meet the members of Franklin County VT Braver Angels and the Vermont Braver Angels State Coordinator, learn how BA works and how you can start a local BA group of your own. As an extra bonus experience a taste of our training in skills for bridging the political divide.
When: 11 Sept 2022, 3:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Where: Greg Brown Lodge, Hard'ack Recreation Center, 179 Congress St, St Albans City
What: Lasagna, Salad, Dessert… and meet our eclectic group of Reds (conservatives/libertarians) and Blues (liberals/progressives) who believe that we can have differing opinions and remain respectful of each other. We look forward to meeting you and will do our best to answer your questions.
Why: We believe that the more people who learn and practice skills that contribute to depolarization, the healthier and more secure our democracy will be and the more energy we can all devote to finding common ground and coming up with and implementing real solutions to shared problems.
Cost: We recommend a donation of $10.00 per person, but if that is a burden, pay what you can. We are all volunteers who contribute our time and energy to this work because we believe it is the right thing to do. If you would like to contribute more to help us cover the rental and meal, that will be gratefully accepted. All proceeds will go to cover costs. Any extra will go to Vermont and New England Regional Braver Angels to support forming other alliances around VT and New England.
** We are holding this event in St. Albans because this is where Braver Angels has been most active to date. We know there are people all around Vermont who are interested in Braver Angels and we hope this event can bring many of us together in one place for the first time. We recognize that St. Albans may be a bit of a drive for you, so why not plan for a relaxed late summer day exploring or reacquainting yourself with an often-overlooked area of Vermont? The town park on Lake Champlain at the end of Lake Street is beautiful and worth a stroll (and a creemee to fortify yourself). Similarly, a walk down Main Street will pleasantly surprise you. If you enjoy reading, we have an old school independent bookstore on main street that you can easily spend hours exploring. There are many other new and established businesses and shops, a local art gallery, and of course 14th Star Brewery. Our new community pool at Hard'ack recreation area is impressive, and next to where we will host dinner. We hope to see you here.
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