Today's speakers were Past District Governor Ed Marek and Bruce Morlan, who are co-leading the "Braver Angels" team in our area. Bruce was born in MN but spent most of his career as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. Braver Angels is a New York-based organization dedicated to political depolarization. Braver Angels runs workshops, debates, and other events where "red" (conservative) and "blue" (liberal) participants attempt to better understand one another's positions and discover their shared values It was founded following the contentious presidential election of 2016. Abraham Lincoln was an inspiration for this effort, because of his well-documented openness to working with people whose views differed from his own, as shown by the famous quote: "I do not like that man. I must get to know him." as well as his appointment of a "team of rivals" (former rivals for public office) to his presidential cabinet. Braver Angels does not attempt to change the minds of others in terms of political views. Its intent is to reduce the "demonization" of people whose views differ from our own - by helping people understand that we have more in common than we think. This thinking fits well with Rotarian values and the desire to bring about peace in the world.
We also heard from visiting Rotarian Cindy Carlson from the New Brighton-Mounds View Club who shared the work they have undertaken in the Central African Republic by way of a Foundation grant to fund its Senitizo Project. Senitizo provides free, life-saving health services to people without access to healthcare in this area - a great example of Rotarians doing good in the world.