“We have to move from the sidelines to solidarity with people who are being targeted,” said Melissa Rogers, professor at the Wake Forest University School of Divinity at a panel discussion at Purdue on Wednesday evening.
The discussion titled “Religion, Polarization, and the Public Space” is a part of Purdue’s “Democracy, Civility, and Freedom of Expression” series.
It featured six panelists and was hosted by Amy Goodman, the executive director of “Democracy Now!”
“Some Americans are unable to practice their faith without fear for their physical safety,” said Rogers. “In the United States we don’t have religious freedom unless everyone can practice their faith without fear.”
Democracy is under siege and the only thing we have to combat it is how we communicate with one another, said Ron Reagan, contributor to MSNBC and son of former President Ronald Reagan.
Civility is a good starting point, but it isn’t enough, said Reagan. He offers that people instead adopt a I don’t know, and I might be wrong approach to polarized conversations.
“The call to civility can actually be used as a weapon against the oppressed,” said activist and reverend, Naomi Tutu.
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