Connecting in Community Step 5: EXPLORE YOUR COMMUNITY'S CONFLICTS AND DIVISIONS
For the end of the year we’re going through 10 small, easy things you can do to start connecting in your community by understanding yourself, your context, the people in your community, and the conflicts in your setting. See Step 1 here, Step 2 here, Step 3 here, and Step 4 here.
Peacebuilding is a process of diving into a conflict in order to heal and restore relationships, so this means understanding our community’s conflicts and their effects.
Take a few minutes to reflect on the divisions that feel most pressing to you.
Reflect on a division you feel in your community, religious congregation, or family. How is that division impacting people’s relationships and wellbeing?
Or consider a larger, national culture war or political struggle. How is it filtering down into your local setting? How does it affect you, your neighbors, or your family members?
Social divisions can be seen in how people are written or spoken about, and whose stories get heard. Divisions also surface when assumptions, stereotypes, and judgments come out. So if you want to go a step further, take in some local news or just pay attention throughout the day to how you hear people talk about other groups.
Whose voices are prioritized?
Which stories get the most air time?
What assumptions are implied about other groups?
