I’m sharing this here because although this project focuses on US politics, I feel like US politics eventually bleeds into Canadian politics, so I think it’s worth supporting impactful projects that may make a positive difference.
The Enemies Project helps “enemies” discover the human being in each other.
In each episode, the Enemies Project documentary pairs two people with fiercely opposing worldviews. Intense conflict, yes. But the Enemies Project is neither gotcha TV nor political debate. The purpose is for “enemies” to find the humanity in the other — because in a warring world, understanding is rebellion.
Episodes are hosted by renowned Peacemaker Larry Rosen.
They’re running a Kickstarter Campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/larryrosen/enemies-project-a-docuseries-where-enemies-become-human
Episodes Released So Far:
- Transgender — A transgender woman and a MAGA mom move from outright hostility to deep tenderness
- Abortion — A pro-choice woman and a pro-life man confront the fact that their enemy is deeply, beautifully human.
- A Palestinian and a Jew — A Palestinian American and a Hasidic Jew sit together in the aftermath of October 7, confronting grief, pain, and shared suffering
- Two Jews — A Zionist and an anti-Zionist Jew wrestle with betrayal, loyalty, and the pull of reconciliation within their own community
- Do Kids Need a Dad? A Lesbian and a Fatherhood Purist — A lesbian mom and a man who believes gay people should not have children find respect and warmth
- Dictatorship Under Trump: A Proud Boy and a Progressive — Each fears dictatorship in America, but from opposite sides of the political spectrum
- Dictatorship Under Biden: A Proud Boy and a Progressive — The mirror-image conversation, revealing how fear of tyranny shapes both left and right
Coming Episodes — What You’re Enabling:
- Guns — Two Traumatized Women Divided by Ideology
- Immigration — A White MAGA Teen and a Mexican American Dad
- Police Use of Force — A Cop and an Abolitionist
- Falling from Christianity — A Gay Man and a Preacher
- Falling from Islam — A Tech CEO and a Muslim Mama
- Race in the U.S. [participants being interviewed now]
Other Episodes in the works: Russia/Ukraine, India/Pakistan, Falling from Mormonism.
Even in a world of fake news, the best and most powerful lies are still built around a grain of truth. Both sides have lies that they’re either telling themselves or shouting at others, and both sides have grains of truth those lies are built around. I don’t think the lies are equal, and I don’t think the truths are equal either. But they’re not invalid, and unless and until we start discussing and addressing them from a hypothetical position of being valid, even if you don’t agree with their validity at all, there’s no chance of ever changing anyone’s minds.
Many people are not debating or operating in good faith, but at least as many still are. The “enemy” may indeed be deeply ignorant, but that can be only be dealt with by educating them. And if you truly believe they can’t be educated, how did they get the way they are? They were mis-educated somehow. Obviously there is some way of getting through to them. Your enemies already did it. We have to find how we can do it too. Maybe there’s a better way. Maybe there isn’t. But denying the validity of people’s views obviously isn’t enough to convince anyone, if it ever was. We need to work harder to identify people whose minds can still be changed, and work harder to engage with them. Meet people where they’re at, they’re not going to come to where you are unless they’re coming to fight. Most people waste way too much of their time arguing with the wrong people.
Well said. I think we have to face the fact we’ve landed in a state where the polarization is split evenly at 50% and so we have no choice but to figure it out, because we’re talking about our own neighbors both within the US and within Canada. I think the situation is less heated in Canada, thankfully, but the last federal election showed that we’re just as equally split here, and we’re probably not trending in the right direction.