The national conventions for both parties are coming up. The Republican National Convention is this week, from Monday, July 15, to Thursday, July 18. The Democrats will follow with their convention from Monday, August 19, to Thursday, August 22.
It is likely that neither of these events will be the staid affairs of years past. Former President Donald Trump is famously unpredictable, and the Democrats are currently in turmoil, debating whether President Joseph Biden should continue his candidacy.
We have been emphasizing in these features that, in the face of uncertainty and fear, we can sow hope and peace by practicing democracy in our own voice and our own communities. In keeping with that, we encourage you to gather for your own conventions! And we have some thoughts about how to do that.
(We will offer this same invitation for the Democratic convention in August. This is part one.)
This week, gather people of faith together for intentional conversation about the Republican Party’s platform. The group does not need to be big, and it does not need to be homogenous; invite anyone who has a belief system that frames their values and vision.
Share with the group the themes for each day of the convention. So that you can have them at-a-glance, we summarize them here, based on reporting from Reuters.
Monday: economic policy
Tuesday: law and order policies
Wednesday: immigration and foreign policy
Thursday: overall strategy for strengthening the United States
We have stated them here quite generically so that each member of your group can speak from their center, rather than find themselves arguing with a particular position or candidate.
Practice democracy by polling the group to see which theme concerns people the most. If there is consensus, begin with that issue. If there is diversity, begin by allowing each person to speak on the issue that concerns them the most.
Consider using these guidelines: First, everyone should bring their faith tradition to bear on the issue by referencing a creed, scripture, practice, teaching, etc. Second, provide some structure for the sharing; for instance, give everyone two minutes to talk, and assign a timekeeper. Third, do at least several rounds of sharing where there is no cross-talk and everyone is listening deeply to the speaker; you can open a freer discussion once everyone has been heard on each issue.
Other ideas for practicing democracy with your faith community can be found in this article.