{"id":32490,"date":"2020-11-28T00:01:49","date_gmt":"2020-11-28T08:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=32490"},"modified":"2020-11-28T00:01:49","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T08:01:49","slug":"polarization-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/polarization-in-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Polarization in America: Here&#8217;s Something You Can Do About It"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_32531\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32531\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/WrestlingWithGodBook.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"https:\/\/WrestlingWithGodBook.com noopener noreferrer\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-32531 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/IMG_1310-3.jpg\" alt=\"polarization-in-america people-who-think-like-you wrestling-with-god-in-bookstore\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32531\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;Wrestling with God&#8221; &#8212; an antidote for polarization in America? I&#8217;d like you to give this book to people who think like you. And to people who don&#8217;t. <em>Photos by Barbara Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>By Barbara Falconer Newhall<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Americans are worried.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some are worried about the ever-increasing numbers of Muslims living among us.<\/li>\n<li>Others are troubled by the hard-nosed political activism of the evangelical Christian leadership.<\/li>\n<li>Still others find it hard to shake the anti-Semitism or racism they learned as children.<\/li>\n<li>Some distrust atheists.<\/li>\n<li>Others distrust organized religion.<\/li>\n<li>Some think Witches are evil and that Native Americans should give up their traditional ways.<\/li>\n<li>Many believe they must choose between faith and science.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Well, I&#8217;d like Americans to stop worrying. I&#8217;d like them to stop worrying about the spiritual beliefs and practices of their fellow Americans and take some time instead to listen to their stories.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_32538\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32538\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/2020\/11\/28\/polarization-in-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"https:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2020\/11\/28\/polarization-in-america\/ noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-32538 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/IMG_1517-3.jpg\" alt=\"polarization-in-America people-who-think-like-you ani-zonneveld\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32538\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AniZonneveld?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Progressive Muslim<\/a> Ani Zonneveld talked about women in Islam. <em>Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That was the reason for my book, &#8220;Wrestling with God.&#8221; I wrote it in hopes of getting Americans to stop hating and start talking to each other.<\/p>\n<h5>Polarization in America<\/h5>\n<p>The book comes out of my time as the religion reporter on a local <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bay Area newspaper<\/a>. There, on the religion beat, I heard from hundreds of people from dozens of differing, seemingly incompatible traditions &#8212; Christians, Jews, Muslims, Native Americans, Hindus, Buddhists, witches, atheists.<\/p>\n<p>I wanted to capture those voices in one volume, and let them speak, unfiltered, to my readers.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_32533\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32533\" style=\"width: 1259px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/2020\/11\/28\/polarization-in-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"https:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2020\/11\/28\/polarization-in-america\/ noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-32533 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/IMG_1951-3.jpg\" alt=\"polarization-America people-who-think-like-you Robert-Tharratt-Walnut-Creek\" width=\"1259\" height=\"708\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32533\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Robert Tharratt told me the story of the forced march across Germany he endured during World War II. He was angry at God much of the time. <em>Barbara Newhall photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I can&#8217;t say that my project was rewarded with a thunderbolt from heaven: No message from on high declared that any of voices I was hearing had a corner on the truth. But one thing did happen to me as I worked on this book.<\/p>\n<p>I learned not to be afraid of difference.<\/p>\n<p>All those people I spent so many hours with &#8212; the fundamentalist evangelical, the progressive Muslim, the church-going Nobel Laureate physicist, the Hindu dancer, the Jew &#8212; all those people, I spent time with, what were they?<\/p>\n<p>Just people.<\/p>\n<p>As so, now that we have celebrated two big events on the American calendar &#8212; Election Day and Thanksgiving &#8212; now as we approach the gift-giving season, I&#8217;d like to advocate for that book of mine. With the heightened polarization in America we&#8217;re seeing right now, its time has come.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wrestlingwithgodbook.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"https:\/\/wrestlingwithgodbook.com noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-24543\" src=\"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/cover-print-book-WWG0001-390x580.jpg\" alt=\"wrestling-with-god cover of paperback book proof Wrestling with God, Stories of Doubt and Faith, by Barbara Falconer Newhall. Patheos Press, 2015, won an IPPY gold first place in its category.\" width=\"150\" height=\"223\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h5><strong>Here&#8217;s what I&#8217;d like you to do:<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>Go to <a href=\"https:\/\/wrestlingwithgodbook.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WrestlingWithGodBook.com.<\/a> Buy two copies of the book &#8212; two! &#8212; and give them as gifts. Give one copy to a person who thinks the way you do. And give one copy to a person who does not.*<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s why:<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;d like the non-believers out there to hear a skeptical Martin Verhoeven tell of his encounters with the divine during a two-year walking and bowing pilgrimage up the California coast.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;d like the evangelical Christians among us to get acquainted with Ani Zonneveld, a thoughtful, warm-hearted Muslim.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;d like the progressives in our midst to experience close-up the yearnings of a fundamentalist Christian, Mark Zapalik.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;d like the science-wary to open their minds to Anthony Mack, an atheist who sees the world as miraculous.<\/p>\n<p>As do I.<\/p>\n<p><em>A heads-up for holiday shoppers* &#8212; it takes a couple of weeks for paperback copies of &#8220;Wrestling with God&#8221; to arrive. Plan ahead!<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>More about religion in America at <a href=\"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/2015\/08\/13\/author-don-lattin-americans-are-more-thoughtful-about-religion-than-we-think\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;Americans Are More Thoughtful About Religion Than We Think.&#8221;<\/a> Also <a href=\"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/2019\/11\/25\/vindman\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;Are We Born Selfish?&#8221;<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_32521\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32521\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/2020\/11\/28\/polarization-in-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"https:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2020\/11\/28\/polarization-in-america\/ noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-32521 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Salma-Arastu-Berkeley-artist-w-Expanstion-v-the-univrs-resized.jpg\" alt=\"polarization-in-America people-who-think-like-you Painter-Salma-Arastu\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32521\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Berkeley artist Salma Arastu, here with <a href=\"https:\/\/salmaarastu.com\/author\/salma\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">her painting<\/a> &#8220;Expansion of the Universe,&#8221; told of her conversion to Islam. <em>Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/2020\/11\/28\/polarization-in-america\/\" rel=\"https:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2020\/11\/28\/polarization-in-america\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-32531 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/IMG_1310-3.jpg\" alt=\"polarization-in-America people-who-think-like-you wrestling-with-god-in-bookstore\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This book is one writer&#8217;s response to polarization in America. She asks you to give it to someone who thinks like you &#8212; and someone who doesn&#8217;t. <a href=\"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/2020\/11\/28\/polarization-in-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,50],"tags":[1394,34,2066,2385,23,2386,716,53],"class_list":["post-32490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-my-rocky-spiritual-journey","category-on-writing-reading","tag-ani-zonneveld","tag-dont-miss","tag-holiday-gifts","tag-polarization-in-america","tag-religion","tag-robet-tharratt","tag-salma-arastu","tag-wrestling-with-god"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32490\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}