Berkley Center

Writing in the Catholic Sentinel, Senior Research Fellow Amy Uelmen considers political polarization from a Catholic perspective in advance of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Uelmen proposes a "buddy system" that would allow people of different political affiliations to dialogue and grow with each other. Building relationships with people across the political spectrum, argues Uelmen, can help slow down communication, giving us much-needed time to grow in perspective. The "buddy system" so conceived requires both humility and courage, but it is through both communication and charity offered by people of faith that we can work to heal our wounded body politic.