Resources
What can I do to address polarization in my community?
The good news is that there are many resources to help us take action. Below are a few that partners have recommended. Some will be more suited to your particular community than others. All of them offer ways to approach issues of division and polarization constructively. They are for you to explore.
We hope that you will use these resources to make a positive impact in your community. Our goal is to equip trusted messengers (that's you) with the tools necessary to create change.
Navigating Difficult Conversations
Braver Angels is a civic renewal movement using workshops, debates, town hall meetings and community events to teach and demonstrate civil discourse across the partisan divide. They have shown that people who disagree politically can think and work together to address our nation’s most complex issues.
The Constructive Dialogue Institute provides lessons and online training on how to lead conversations where people with different perspectives try to understand each other – without giving up their own beliefs – in order to work together.
Doha Debates believes the world will be a better place if we make room to listen to and understand all sides of an issue and seek consensus together. As divisions become more entrenched, individuals retreat into echo chambers and refuse to listen to a spectrum of perspectives. We believe that positive, meaningful change only happens when we build bridges along lines reaching a diversity of viewpoints. Resources from the Doha Debates include:
For more than three decades, EP has helped civic groups, faith communities, colleges, and workplaces foster resilience, cohesion, understanding, and trust. They do this in several ways: first, by training stakeholders in their trademark approach; second, through long-term collaborations designed to shift community or institutional cultures; third, by co-creating new proprietary programs and materials to disseminate; fourth, through remote consultation and coaching; and finally, by facilitating community dialogues surrounding divisive topics.
https://whatisessential.org/impact-stories/fostering-open-dialogue-evangelical-congregations
This resource offers a range of online trainings for individuals interested in leading conflict transformation efforts. ISCT’s goal is to study and promote the understanding of conflict processes and interventions from the transformative framework.
Living Room Conversations are a simple way to connect across divides – politics, age, gender, race, nationality, and more. This link provides scripts and frameworks for dialogues across a variety of differences and on a multitude of topics, including elections.
This organization brings together groups of Americans to unite around common values and to discuss shared visions for the future.
Million Peacemakers hosts workshops on transforming conflict into “Nonflict,” a three-step conflict resolution methodology. The organization trains communities and provides them with resources to bring peace. The “Nonflict Way” includes understanding the self and others, understanding our shared reality, and co-creating our ideal reality.
Sacred Space Online Learning (SSOL) seeks to provide individuals with information about religious, spiritual, or faith-based online resources from a variety of sources. Sacred Space Online Learning does not claim ownership over the online courses or online offerings provided on this site.
http://www.sacredspaceonlinelearning.com/ssol-categories/peace-and-reconciliation-studies-pears/
This link includes numerous online courses and micro-courses on a wide variety of topics relating to peace and conflict resolution with a global focus. For example, Interfaith Conflict Resolution is designed to enhance the peacemaking capacities of individuals and faith-based organizations by focusing on objectives, methods, and best practices regarding interfaith dialogue.
Faith-Focused Resources
The After Party website describes their work as follows: “We don’t have all the answers, but we know we have lost our way. As Christians, we must confront toxic polarization and heal our broken politics. As we rebuild, we have a perfect example. Jesus refused to be defined by the politics of his day, and he calls us to be salt and light for our world as well. Our identity in Christ is far more important than any political party. But separating our Christian identity from our political one can be challenging. That’s what we’re here to explore together.”
According to the Coalition’s website, “Americans who value family, tradition, and integrity have been abandoned by both major political parties and ignored by most of the media. We’ve seen families, friendships and faith groups torn apart by tribalism, partisanship and polarization. Fed up with the biases of mainstream news, many Americans have sought alternatives, but these alt-sources are often far worse. While using cultural symbols to gain loyalty, they mislead, redirect, and deceive. They traffic in divisiveness to inflame passions. This extreme right, along with the extreme left, dominates our national discourse. But there is an exhausted majority desiring to heal our broken polity. American Values Coalition provides shelter for these politically homeless by connecting them to a fact-based community in order to prevent radicalization and restore democratic norms.”
Amplify Peace is a global movement that promotes the principles of peacemaking through the teachings of Jesus to create change in our world. According to their website, “We believe that peace and transformation begin within each of us individually and then flows outwardly to our families, communities and world. We intentionally and strategically provide opportunities, trainings, resources and experiences to connect people in respectful dialogue and effective communication. We seek to build bridges and plant seeds of God’s truth, hope, and peace where friendships are formed, and compassion and empathy emerges.”
This is a United Methodist curriculum and training tool with the goal of equipping Christians with the resources to transform conflict into opportunities for spiritual growth. Their vision is that Christians will look more like Christ amid experiences of conflict.
This Christian organization offers faith-based conflict resolution coaching, mediation, arbitration, and training programs. They offer free consultations, and then provide these services to parties involved in conflict. Their training services include day-long retreats for interested organizations which focus on all aspects of conflict resolution and management, team building, personal and group interaction, problem solving, and mediation.
A five-session course run through the Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury that focuses on three principles: curiosity, being present, and reimagining. A God-centered program, the sessions are designed for both large and small, new and existing, church-based groups with online or in-person audiences. The link above includes supporting materials and texts that accompany the course.
While there are many excellent resources that show why and how Christian Nationalism is incompatible with the historic teachings of Christianity, there are few resources available for those working to reach out to Christian Nationalists in our communities, churches, and families. Disarming Leviathan fills that void by providing practical tools and resources for people seeking to reach Christian Nationalists with the hope-filled message of the gospel of Jesus. They provide podcasts, curated resources and coaching for church leaders.
Sacred Ground is a sensitive, prayerful resource that creates space for difficult but respectful and transformative dialogue on race and racism. The invitation is to form a dialogue circle or circles in your congregation that would meet for 11 sessions to engage with the films, videos, written materials, and each other – a study group. This resource was created for use by Episcopal congregations and other Episcopal entities across the United States. It can now be used by small groups hosted by any faith-based organization. Congregations are also encouraged to invite others in their community, such as neighboring churches or civic groups, to join dialogue circles.
The ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations staff in the Office of the Presiding Bishop is responsible for supporting, enriching, and coordinating the ecumenical and inter-religious life of this church across its various expressions, and enhancing the public commitments of this church in Lutheran, ecumenical and inter-religious circles.
https://www.elca.org/Faith/Ecumenical-and-Inter-Religious-Relations
This video course covers 10 Ground Rules for Conflict Resolution and how to handle conflicts in a Christlike manner. Practical tips for marriage, parenting, work situations, church conflicts, or any relationship. According to the organization, “With God’s help, you can manage conflicts in a way that honors God and brings peace to your life, work, and relationships.”
https://www.hopefortheheart.org/product/conflict-resolution-course/
Created to support of the 2024 election, this playbook is designed to make it easier for faith and community leaders to join work that is already happening across America to help the 2024 elections run smoothly. It contains training materials on depolarization and other related topics that can apply to bridging divides within communities as much between them. Small grants are available for faith groups working on elections. Interfaith America offers a wide range of additional approaches to building the promise of religious diversity in America for the common good. Additional resources include Shared Values Dialogue Guide and “Skills for Bridging the Gap” Curriculum.
Supported by the American Values Coalition, the goal of this cohort is to empower pastors and ministry leaders to recapture the political imaginations of their congregants by providing high-quality training from renowned ministry leaders and to be in fellowship with clergy from across the country.
This collection of courses for Church small groups or individuals aims to confront division and bring healing, restoration, and union back to churches and communities.
Founded by Pastor Bob Roberts, Jr., Imam Mohamed Magid, and Rabbi David Saperstein, the MFNN works to build mutual trust and respect among faith leaders through civic engagement, authentic relationships, and honest dialogue, leading to resilient, compassionate, and flourishing communities.
One America partners with faith and lay leaders in divided communities for the purpose of relationship-building and collective action. They evaluate the impact of their work through surveys developed in collaboration with experts in conflict prevention, identity formation, neuroscience, and psychology.
PACE is a funding and learning initiative to explore the ways faith and faith communities support democracy and civic life. Multiple reports on different aspects of faith and/in democracy are available on their website.
https://www.pacefunders.org/faith/
A collaboration between Search for Common Ground, Multi-Faith Neighbors Network, and the Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab at American University produced these evidence-based tools and approaches for clergy and lay leaders to contribute to proactive peacemaking in their churches, neighborhoods, and cities.
According to their website, “Christians are called to serve as signposts to the coming Kingdom of God, when Jesus will finally repair all brokenness. In a culture afflicted by division and confusion-a condition depicted by the story of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9-Redeeming Babel equips Christians to navigate the chaos with timeless Biblical truths.”
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) has a series of Action Guides focused on religion and conflict analysis, mediation, reconciliation, and gender-inclusive religious-based peacebuilding in collaboration with the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers and the Salam Institute for Peace and Justice. These Action Guides provide a practical overview of the religious peacebuilding field and the role that religion plays in driving both conflict and peace, examples of how religious actors and institutions have contributed to the prevention and resolution of conflict, and considerations for how best to engage the religious sector in peacebuilding.
https://www.usip.org/programs/religious-peacebuilding-action-guides
This organization rooted in Jewish values seeks to build bridges and cross-divides in the United States, Israel, and around the world. They host everything from weekend workshops and courses on good communication to storytelling events and online courses. They also train facilitators and offer consultation and coaching.
This resource is a database of Jewish texts that includes lessons and lectures for faith-based leaders, searchable by topic.
This is a database of sermons searchable by topic.
- Example #1 – Staying Anchored in a Polarized World
- Example #2 – The Paradox of Christ for a Polarized World
- Example #3 – A Biblical Antidote to Polarization
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/sermons-about-dialogue
A seminary-based program in theologically informed conflict transformation, this program is aimed at training ministers and other religious leaders in the theology, theory, and practice of faith-based conflict transformation in the church and in the world. It is rooted in the Christian tradition.
This guide is rooted in interfaith dialogue but could be adapted to help facilitate groups on any topic.
https://www.oikoumene.org/what-we-do/interreligious-dialogue-and-cooperation#get-involved
Other Resources
This film – complete with an attached study guide – aims to change the national narrative of division. It is inspired by the teachings and writings of The Most Reverent Bishop Michael Curry – best known for his passionate sermon about “The Power of Love” at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle — who serves as Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church.
This center fosters partnerships between government and faith-based organizations and increases the nation’s resilience by creating trust and strengthening relationships. More specifically, this branch of the DHS promotes whole community participation in disaster emergency response and recovery by utilizing existing infrastructure and empowering faith and community leaders.
This guide is from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It is intended to assist individuals in mitigating dangerous and hateful speech.
This 2000 film provides a clear understanding of the work done by South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission as part of successful process to negotiate the end of Apartheid and avoid a civil war. Truth and Reconciliation Commission have been used in many countries following conflict or to address past injustices. In Canada, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established to remedy the injustices and attempted systematic annihilation of the Indigenous population through its residential boarding schools system.
While not a congregation, the Of Many Institute at NYU is a stunning example of interfaith dialogue and has produced the documentary “Of Many” as an inspiring example of the power of working together across faith lines. The pioneering initiative started in 2012, with co-founders of international prestige from across faith lines, including Chelsea Clinton and Khalid Latif.
This is an award-winning PBS documentary series showing how ordinary people in Northern Ireland were willingly and unwillingly sucked into the violence of “the Troubles” and how it changed their lives forever. There are five episodes of approximately 55 minutes each. It is from the producers of the BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning “Once Upon a Time in Iraq.”
Project Overzero provide multiple resources for conflict prevention, including resources on conflict sensitive communication, community response planning, and primers on key psychological and social concepts that influence identity-based violence and division.
This is a documentary from Resetting the Table. Subtitled “a short film uncovering the humanity beneath our national conflicts,” the film tells the story of a group of Americans with contrasting political perspectives engaging in political discussions in order to confront their disagreements and uncover mutual concerns and experiences that underlie their positions. It was filmed in rural Wisconsin and Iowa.
This short guide produced by The Carter Center is intended to provide resources to election officials to help support their own well-being and the well-being of their colleagues and teams. The guide contains information about the signs and impacts of trauma; techniques for the promoting resiliency and recovery; mental health support near you; online security tips and toolkits.
The idea for an online resource center came during the training course “Train the Trainers – It’s Up to Me 4” that was held in 2017 in Germany. During the past four years of conducting this training course, we have been collecting learning materials for the participants from a variety of sources – books that we have read, videos that we have seen, guides that we have developed. However, the resources we had did not meet the needs of the participants and their need for specific learning materials. Google Drive materials which were collected for several years in the form of scattered materials here and there were obviously indicative of the need for a more structured and well-organized resource center from which trainers could develop their skills and competencies.
A selection of books from the Next Big Idea Club covering topics such as social media, brain science, escaping conflict traps, and talking with “people who defy reason.”
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/9-books-polarization-fix/30019/