Teaching Capitol Hill to Work with Negative Emotions

By Frank Rogers, Andrew Dreitcer, and Mark Yaconelli
Claremont School of Theology

Contemplative activists from Claremont School of Theology report on their effort to encourage civility in the political process.

Hoping to help heal bipartisan rancor, the Faith and Politics Institute invited Frank Rogers, Andrew Dreitcer, and Mark Yaconelli to speak to congressional leaders, staff members, and others who work on Capitol Hill, about a more constructive approach to working with the natural anger, rage, despair, and resentment that emerge in American politics.

Although "love your enemy" is a primary teaching within spiritual traditions, we receive little instruction on how to work with the negative emotions that our adversaries arouse in us. When fear, anger, and other reactive emotions are triggered, we often respond in one of three ways: we lash out, repress our feelings, or judge ourselves for having such feelings in the first place. In the political arena we demonize one another, returning insult for insult, while the issue at hand is lost. Consider, for instance, the name-calling and fear-mongering that overshadowed the core concerns within the health care debate.

The democratic process is vulnerable to emotional conflict by its insistence that all persons and perspectives be heard. Inevitably, people with differing passions and commitments can feel threatened and enraged by one another. Indulging in these feelings poisons us physically and spiritually, damages relationships, and destroys productive dialogue.

Go to http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/04/teaching_... to read the whole article on the Washington Post's Website.