Would You Sit Down With Someone You Disagree With?
Would you be willing to sit down with someone you disagree with? What if they hate Donald Trump, and you love Donald Trump? What if you're a Christian, and they're an atheist?
Okay, well they're going to pair you up with someone to sit down and have a conversation- but you have to talk about something other than politics. Sounds like a cool concept, right?
That is exactly what Anne Bailey is doing with the Montana Media Lab at The University of Montana's School of Journalism. They're teaming up with NPR's StoryCorps on the "One Small Step" initiative. As Anne Bailey tells us:
It basically pairs up total strangers (or even friends and family members) who are on opposite sides of the political divide to have a 40-minute, sit-down conversation that’s NOT about politics or debating issues. The goal is to help break down boundaries created by politics and get back to having respectful conversations with each other.
Would you like to take part? Know someone else you'd like to nominate? If you or someone you know is interested in being paired up for a conversation just complete this short online survey by November 1st. They hope to begin recording these conversations in early December.
Since they're based in Missoula, they anticipate getting a lot of participation from folks in Missoula, but they really want to feature a more diverse background from folks elsewhere in the state and with different political beliefs. So, please encourage your friends to take part.