The Role of the Peacemaker in Healing
Polarization
Summer Peace Camp for Lawyers
July 28-31, 2005
Black Mountain, North Carolina
After the last election, are you careful about raising political issues in public places? Do you have a lingering sense of anger? Do you notice that your friends and colleagues tend to be on one end of the political spectrum and you have few opportunities to engage in constructive dialogue with the other end of the spectrum? Do you have ideas that those Other People aren't people you would want to talk to anyway? Are you wondering how you can be a peacemaker in this polarized country when you’re having a hard time applying what you know and believe about being a peacemaker to your own political life? Or have you figured out how to live inside the polarization? Better yet, have you found ways to cross the great divide? In these strained political times, some are questioning their beliefs about how transformation of conflict really is possible. Some of us are wondering how we can be peacemakers in a polarized country (when we're drawn into the polarization). Others are wondering about when to stand up and fight and when to just keep our mouths shut. How do we manage our anger at the injustices we perceive in the world? Where are the wise leaders who can help us to find the common ground? We wonder what tools would be useful in approaching these polarized political situations, whether it is possible for us to be voices of peacemaking and healing. As you can see, we have lots of questions! If you have answers, please join us. If you share our questions, please come inquire and explore with us!
If this conversation intrigues you, the Board of Directors of the Renaissance Lawyer Society invite you to head for the hills with us…..the mountains of western North Carolina…for a powerful conversation and exploration.
As we notice the political polarization, we realize that these questions are not so different from the polarization of parties that we face as lawyers every day. What are the most effective tools to bridge the distance between polarized parties? How do we bring reconciliation and restore connection? We need that not only for our clients but for our own well-being and balance. We've learned that being at one pole in any dispute leaves us feeling out of balance, disconnected.
We'll explore peacemaking, healing ways of approaching and resolving conflict. We'll look at new models of practicing law from a commitment to creating connection rather than disconnection between parties. And we'll consider difficult questions like how and when to stand up for what we believe.
We’re inviting lawyers, educators, and peacemakers who are already working on the cutting edge: mindful lawyers, holistic lawyers, collaborative lawyers, humanizing legal educators, and practitioners in restorative justice, therapeutic jurisprudence, transformative mediation, peacemaking, etc. from across the country. We’re gathering with the experts at resolving conflict peacefully, bringing healing and connection where there has been anger and resentment. We intend that the event be transformational, that everyone goes home with new possibilities for peacemaking in their lives, their practices, and their communities.
In this event, we’re going to explore when and where to bring our peacemaking skills into the political and legal arenas and, if we decide to do so, we’ll explore effective ways of doing so. We’ll be inquiring for ourselves as individuals and in our roles as attorneys, counselors at law, educators, and peacemakers. The event will be an opportunity for sharing and cross-training of many different approaches and models. We’ll explore our own reactions to conflict and share approaches that work in resolving or moving through it. We’ll use a combination of planned programming and open space technology to fill the retreat with powerful and valuable content. Rather than war stories, we're inviting participants to bring their "peace stories" to share with us.
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