Podcast Transcript | Ep. 68

Breaking Free from Fear-Based Ideologies: Embrace Love over Hatred

Breaking Free from Fear-Based Ideologies: Embrace Love over Hatred | Ep. 68

[00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to Order Within, navigating a world of endless chaos and crisis. Many of us are experiencing inner turmoil, insecurity, anxiety, fears, and isolation. These feelings are only being amplified by new cycles social media, and never ending political madness. How do we find our way out of the chaos?

[00:00:24] How do we find strength within ourselves? How do we find meaning in a world driven by materialism? These questions and many more I aim to answer on the show. My goal is to be a trusted guide on your journey to selfhood. May you find what you seek. Hello and welcome everyone. I'm your host, Brandon Ward back with another episode of order within. Episode number 68.

[00:00:54] Today's a deep episode. I think we're going to be getting in the weeds on this one. [00:01:00] Or are we talking about fear-based ideologies? And then the name of the episode is breaking free from fear-based ideologies. And brace love over hatred. And. This is something that I've been thinking about a lot. And I was my wife and I've been watching the women's world cup.

[00:01:18] You know, she's turned me into quite a pretty decent soccer fan at this point, but I have a lot of respect for the sport. Now it's a lot of fun, especially the world stage. A lot of cool things going on. And I'm rooting for the U S I'm rooting for our country. I'm rooting for us to do well.

[00:01:34] Although, I'm not a fan of some of the girls on the team and the positions they hold and the perspectives they have. And. While we were watching one of the games with the U S. Team. Megan commercial came on, it was sponsored by Google and their new pixel. And the message in that episode. Really got me thinking a [00:02:00] lot about these fear-based ideologies and the destructive power of anger and hatred.

[00:02:06] Because in that commercial repeat snow was talking about. What inspires her? And her response was what would inspire her. Is if everyone was as outraged about homophobia, racism, equal pay. As she is, and other women. Or the LGBT community. The frustrating thing about this. Is, it's taking a very anger, fear driven path. And I'm going to talk a lot about this because this whole outrage concept of living in anger, living in outrage, being outraged.

[00:02:44] It's a very dangerous and damaging way to live. The sad thing about this is that is taking this position. Uh, a position of anger and hatred and bitterness, instead of looking at all the progress that we've made in society over the past [00:03:00] 20 to 40 years, especially in those issues, she specifically mentioned.

[00:03:04] Not only that though. Rapino is proof. That you can do anything, particularly in the United States. If you're willing to put in the work and dedicate yourself to something, she is living proof as a female. Gay person in the us that you can reach the pinnacle of success and live a life of your own making. If you're willing to do it.

[00:03:27] Because if. If the society that she lives in is so hateful and bigoted and backwards, like she's claiming it is she wouldn't be in the position that she is. So this got me thinking a lot about this is I see it everywhere, this concept of outrage and. Why do we have to ask people to live and outrage? I think that's a very irresponsible thing to do so many people look up to her.

[00:03:51] And her response is to tell people to live and outrage. While ignoring the progress that we made. Statistically [00:04:00] speaking. In the last 20 years in particular. Over 90 plus percent of people don't care about interracial marriage and over 90 plus percent of people don't care about gay marriage. Now in 2022 and beyond we're in 2023 now.

[00:04:16] So Y now there are always going to be ignorant bigoted people, but their influence and impact in society is. Minuscule, the majority of people don't care about these things. So the idea that somehow that we need to focus all of our intention and energy into the smallest percentage of people. Who are ignorant and bigoted is absurd to me and it's focusing on the wrong things.

[00:04:43] And so I want to talk about the prevalence of fear-driven. Narratives in society and their impact on individuals and communities.

[00:04:51] And then set the stage for exploring the transformational journey of embracing love and compassion. Over anger and hatred. It's a very [00:05:00] different way of living. It's a very different way. Of operating. So let's start by defining fear-based ideologies in their characteristics. So we're going to go through the understanding fear-based ideologies. We're going to look at destructive power of anger and hatred. We're then going to look at the path of love and compassion.

[00:05:18] And we're going to highlight breaking free from the fear-based mindset. And then we're going to share some examples and then look at building a bridge to find common ground. It's a lot to go over in today's episode. It's a big topic. But fear-based ideologies are defined as a belief systems or worldviews characterized by the intentional cultivation and exploitation of fear to influence and control the attitudes and behaviors of individuals or groups. And that's another, that's one big piece.

[00:05:46] That's frustrating about the media politics, the news Hollywood, everything is coming out of the big organizations and institutions and our modern world are promoting these fear-based ideologies. The intentional cultivation [00:06:00] and exploitation of fear because the message that repeated was sharing and many others is a fear-based message.

[00:06:06] It's focusing on the smallest percentage of people that the, in the most.

[00:06:12] Unimpactful people. In our society. The fundamental elements of these ideologies revolve around perceived threats to survival, security or values. Does that sound familiar? These perceived threats can be real or imagined ranging from crime rates and terrorism to changes in cultural or societal norms.

[00:06:33] And fear is used as a tool to control and manipulate individuals and groups by using an us versus them mentality. So we're the target group. They are the bigoted ones. They are the hateful ones. They are the angry ones. Us verse them. That mentality is very prominent in our society and it's on both sides of the aisle. We have to.

[00:06:55] Transform our relationship to this us versus them mentality the left [00:07:00] versus right, right. Versus left Democrats Republicans. All this crap is divisive. And it only pins us against one another. We have. So we have to stop that all around, but you have to first recognize it, but the us versus them mentality is a huge component of it. Crisis narratives are another means. These ideologies frequently emphasize imminent threats or crisises that require urgent action, which includes sacrificing personal freedoms or accepting harsh measures for the sake of safety.

[00:07:28] Or preservation of values. There's quite a few examples that you can look at. The Patriot act after nine 11 was a huge one. We lost a ton of personal freedoms and liberties that the government was doing on our behalf to protect us. COVID is another prime example. And there's the info. Which COVID and fear was huge. And the same thing is happening in the LGBT community. There's all this fear-based ideology that people are getting destroyed, that people are going to be in isolated that no one's going to allow to live that there's this.

[00:07:58] [00:08:00] Destruction of entire groups of people. Which isn't happening. That's what's wild.

[00:08:06] If it's happening, I wouldn't let me say this. It's these incidents are small and rare now, and people know that and we call them out. Uh, ignorance, hatred, anger. We know what that looks like. So we call it out. But because it's so few in our society, we've now stretched into the point to where we're doing all these microaggressions.

[00:08:26] Language stuff on the internet, things like that. That's what we're calling all of this great, this fear, this crisis that we're looking at. It's insane.

[00:08:39] There's a manipulation of information. These ideologies may involve selective presentation or distortion of facts to sustain a state of fear and keep followers aligned with the ideology. Does that sound familiar? Manipulation of information is very powerful. When you look at the government leveraging social media companies trying to use right [00:09:00] speak.

[00:09:00] Doing the whole discussion around misinformation. What's true. What's not. We are in deep trouble. If we are looking for single sources, groups, centralized authorities that are decreeing, what is true or not? We're in deep trouble. If that's where we're headed. Y'all.

[00:09:17] Fear-mongering. The spread of frightening and exaggerated rumors of an impending danger or the habit or tactic of purposefully and needlessly arousing, public fear about an issue. Again. This is happening on both sides of the aisles. That's why I'm not me. I'm not picking on specifically because it's happening all around that message though.

[00:09:37] Really. Elevated this awareness to me as I was looking at the word I've been looking at this stuff for a long time, but it just elevated that to me, that we're looking at a fear-based ideology. That's. That's creating a culture of anger and hatred and envy and bitterness. Those are all. The sins, that we're trying to avoid quote, unquote [00:10:00] sins. That's why we, that's why these are considered those things because they end up robbing us of our virtue.

[00:10:06] Of joy, of meaning of passion, of, of compassion. And that leads into the next piece of this, which is dehumanization. The process of demonizing or dehumanizing the other to increase fear and justify harmful actions towards them. This is happening a lot right now in our society where people are looking at Republicans and demonizing them. People are looking at Democrats and demonizing them. It's all this.

[00:10:33] Dehumanization. That is a very dangerous and slippery slope. And then the last component is propaganda. Which is being used everywhere now. Dissemination of biased or misleading information to promote a political calls or point of view. Often focusing on worst case scenarios or emphasizing the danger posed by the outgroup.

[00:10:55] That's it, the danger posed by the outsider group. Both [00:11:00] parties are guilty of this type of activity.

[00:11:03] But what this ends up doing is it ends up psychologically and emotionally affecting us by being immersed in these fear-based societies, it creates a heightened anxiety and stress. Constant exposure to perceive threats can lead to chronic anxiety, fear, and stress, which in turn can contribute to physical health issues like heart disease, diabetes, and immune disorders.

[00:11:24] That's COVID to a T.

[00:11:27] That's why living in fear. And anxiety and stress is bad for us. It creates polarization and hostility.

[00:11:35] Fear-based narratives often result in increased suspicion and hostility towards the outgroup, which can deepen societal divisions and conflict that's happening hugely. Right now, both sides are looking at the other as the outgroup. And it's creating tons of polarization and division. There's paranoia and hypervigilance.

[00:11:54] By those who are immersed in fear-based idle ideologies can become overly [00:12:00] suspicious and paranoid, always on the lookout for perceived threats. Like when I'm on Twitter and I'm looking at this stuff and I'm going through and I'm commenting on things, the amount of overreaction and. An immersion in these ideologies. As a parent, people are living in this state, they see it everywhere. They can only see the negative. That's my problem with a lot of this too, is when you only view the world.

[00:12:21] As a hateful, angry, bitter place, that's all you're going to see. That's all you're going to see.

[00:12:28] Which leads to the final. Component of decreased. Not autonomy and increased conformity. People living in fear are far more likely to give up their autonomy and follow the crowd. Often accepting or even advocating for policies that they would otherwise find unacceptable. COVID is another prime example of that.

[00:12:48] This is how the narrative, how the component of crowds works. Using fear puts us in a more small animal, like state. We're easily manipulated and controlled when we are in [00:13:00] fear-based states.

[00:13:02] The next section of the show here is the destruction destructive power of anger and hatred. So that's the first piece is understanding fear-based ideologies. Now we're going to look at the consequences of succumbing to anger and hatred on personal wellbeing and relationships. So chronic anger and hatred can lead to a variety of negative health effects, including increased stress levels, high blood pressure, heart disease, digestive problems, difficulty sleeping, immune disorders. All this limits, our ability to live healthy and fulfilling lives.

[00:13:33] These emotions can also contribute to mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. This is also why having healthy diets and lifestyles are so crucial to counter all this fear-based information. That's out there. They can then lead to physical or verbal aggression and promote patterns of thought that are focused on blame and revenge rather than understanding and reconciliation over time. This can erode trust, promote resentment and lead to [00:14:00] the breakdown of relationships, whether they are familial friendly or professional.

[00:14:04] You're seeing that in every component of our society right now, that's the consequence of living in anger and hatred. Like we have been for what five, probably. Moving on 10 years at this point, but really 20 15, 20 16 is when all this stuff started to shift. Is what it seemed to me. This has been happening prior, but it really picked up around the 2016 election.

[00:14:28] Discuss how fear and anger can lead to. So with this, with looking at divisive behaviors and hinder. How it can hinder our understanding and empathy. When people feel threatened, they're more likely to react with hostility, become defensive and view others with suspicion. This can lead to divisive behaviors, such as the rejection or dehumanization of those who are perceived as different or threatening.

[00:14:54] Again, This is happening when you're looking at people. If you're viewing people with ideal [00:15:00] political ideologies, Looking at them in a variety of ways. A lot of this is driven by the ideological components in our society. But when we had that us versus them, it creates this divisiveness. These emotions hinder the development of understanding and empathy. Empathy involves the ability to comprehend another's feelings and perspectives and to respond with care and understanding. It's impossible to do that when we're in a divisive, angry state. That's another reason why this is so dangerous.

[00:15:30] Is it. Pushes us further away from one another.

[00:15:33] However fear and anger can cause people to become more self-focused and less capable of empathetic understanding instead of seeking to understand others. Individuals might generalize or stereotype leading to prejudice and discrimination.

[00:15:50] These behaviors are happening all throughout our society and culture right now. Some real world, examples of destructive, the destructive [00:16:00] impact of anger and hatred in various contexts, racial and violent racial violence and discrimination. Historical events such as the Holocaust and more recent instances of racial violence, like the genocide and Rwanda and Africa.

[00:16:13] Our stark examples of the destruction, power of anger and hatred on a smaller scale individual acts of hate crimes, racial profiling, and discrimination also demonstrate this destructive power.

[00:16:27] Political violence, our current age and throughout recorded history. Political violence has been a very common thing. That's civil war in America, the American revolution and the variety of wars before the discovery of America, the official discovery of America with French. Settlers British settlers, the American settlers, all these different settlers that were coming here, went to war with the native Americans and indigenous tribes here in America. Because again, there was.

[00:16:58] Ideological differences, which led [00:17:00] to political violence.

[00:17:02] And then a huge one, which is becoming way more prominent is online harassment and cyber bullying in the digital age, anger and hatred often manifest as online harassment or cyber bullying, which can lead to emotional distress and struggles for those. That are getting bullied like that. And the problem is that this is another way to dehumanize one another instead of.

[00:17:25] Bridging gaps and reaching out we're. Attacking people were trolling on the internet. Trolling on the internet. As anonymous creators. Is a very destructive and unhealthy habit. It's a reflection of someone's own inability to manage and assess their own emotional state. And avoid that work by going on the internet and yelling and being angry and hateful towards people that they don't even know. And it's often always done.

[00:17:51] In an anonymous fashion. That is incredibly toxic and unhealthy. If we're treating people like that. It doesn't matter whether it's on the internet, those are real [00:18:00] people behind those profiles. If we're going to do that to people online, with no regard to their humanity. We are losing all that is good in our society. And that's why it's so critical.

[00:18:12] To be aware of these things because only through love and compassion, can we counter this nonsense? Which leads us into the path of love and compassion. The transformative power of love and compassion is the answer to fear-based ideologies. The positive emotions work against fear and hatred by promoting understanding, acceptance and unity.

[00:18:37] Thus acting as antidotes to divisive and destructive ideologies. That's why compassion and love is so critical. It's harder though. It's way easier to be angry and hateful and bitter. Especially to people that you don't know on the internet. Than it is to be compassionate, to be understanding, to be empathetic.

[00:18:57] Being compassionate and loving [00:19:00] encourages us to see others, not as threats, but as fellow human beings who share our basic desire for happiness and freedom from suffering. All of us share those things together. We are all common. We are all born of the earth. We were all born from the same creator.

[00:19:16] We are all part of the same spiritual family. Even if you don't believe that we are all one human family, the earth birth DUS, we are made of the earth and we are all connected. We all bleed the same. When we approach others with love and compassion, we tend to foster relationships based on mutual respect and understanding rather than fear and suspicion. And that's the thing that we've lost is we've lost mutual respect for one another, and it's damaging our society. Our communities.

[00:19:45] And it's creating division. That's why I'm calling out people like and others, because they're leaders, they have platforms. And they're using their platform to spread fear-based ideologies.

[00:19:56] Loving compassion lead to open-mindedness [00:20:00] curiosity and willingness to learn about those who are different from us. This can break down stereotypes and misconceptions, thereby dismantling the foundations of fear-based ideologies. That's why love compassion being open and curious if we're, if we lead with openness and curiosity.

[00:20:17] The world's challenges would be solved. We would transform this world. Open and curious are the means. That's the way we get there. But it starts in our daily life. How we treat others, how we interact with people on the internet.

[00:20:34] Be the example, be kind, be loving. Remember pause before we respond. Remember the connection and commonality that we share with our fellow human brothers and sisters.

[00:20:46] Because when we develop empathy and understanding it, connect it, fosters connection and harmony in our society. And that's what we want. That's the common thing that all of us want. We want harmony and connection. And the way [00:21:00] we do that is empathy. You can't have harmony and connection without empathy. If you can't empathize with someone that you don't agree with.

[00:21:07] Or that you don't share perspectives with. We're already lost empathy. Is the bridge builder.

[00:21:14] Empathy is the ability to feel what another person is feeling. It allows us to connect with others on a deeper level. It encourages us to listen, to understand, and to respond with care and consideration. It's harder to do that. That's more difficult. Understanding on the other hand helps us to see beyond our own perspective.

[00:21:36] It allows us to appreciate other's experiences and views, even if they differ from our own, this fosters, respect and acceptance, promoting harmony and diversity and allows us to expand our worldview. That's a wonderful thing. All of us can benefit from these things.

[00:21:51] Empathy and understanding can lead to meaningful dialogue, constructive conflict resolution and the dismantling of prejudice and [00:22:00] stereotypes. They are the antidotes to divisiveness and conflict that fear and anger can create. That's why they are so crucial to learn and develop in our own lives and to leverage them, to use them, to deploy them in every form that we can.

[00:22:14] When we think about stories of individuals who've chose love over anger and hatred and created positive change. First one that comes to mind for me is Martin Luther king Jr. He was a key figure in the American civil rights movement. He advocated for non-violent resistance and emphasize love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.

[00:22:36] His teachings and actions significantly contributed to advancing civil rights in the United States. Martin Luther king was a G and he understood the power of love and compassion. He taught those. From a Christian background, he was a Christian faith person and he taught those principles that Christ taught us about.

[00:22:56] Nonviolence about acceptance, about love, about [00:23:00] offering the other cheek. That's saying that you know what, you are hurt, you are broken. I will still love you. Regardless.

[00:23:07] Nelson Mandela. He was in prison for 27 years during apartheid in South Africa. And he chose reconciliation over revenge. His compassion understanding played a crucial role in healing, a divided, deeply divided nation instead of fighting and being angry. He accepted it and he reached his hand out. He still led with compassion.

[00:23:31] Mahatma Gandhi.

[00:23:32] Throughout his life gone. He maintained a consistent message of nonviolence and love. Even when faced with extreme hostility and violence. His leadership was crucial in India's struggle for independence and his teachings have inspired numerous civil rights and social change movements around the world.

[00:23:49] Again, leading with non-violence and they were being attacked. They were being hit. Wounded. All those things over the salt. Over the salt. [00:24:00] What they were the. Protest. They stayed true to the non-violent component. By not responding with violence and that transform India created their independence.

[00:24:13] Gandhi led by example. And then finally, Jesus, his whole life is an example of choosing love over hate. When he was being hammered to a cross by his executioners, he was praying for their forgiveness. Think about the level of compassion and love that you have to have for your fellow humans. To be.

[00:24:36] Hammered to across you're in the process of being hammered to across brutally murdered and executed. And ashamed, and you're praying for the people that are doing that for you. That's an insane level of compassion and love.

[00:24:52] That's this example that we have to look to, to follow. We've got to do our best to lead, to follow those examples. [00:25:00] And to lead with action through our lives. How do we break free from these fear-based mindsets? Education and awareness. Are the beginning. Knowledge is a powerful tool against fear.

[00:25:12] Learn about the ideologies and narratives. You're being presented with question their sources and challenge their validity. Always challenge and look. To the source of things, verify. Don't blindly trust anyone or anything.

[00:25:28] Seek to understand the world and people who are different from you. Seek them out. View their world. Try to understand their perspective. This can help break down fear-based stereotypes and misconceptions. The more we engage with people that we disagree with, the more we work to understand them. The more we can develop compassion and love and empathy, realizing that they're just like us.

[00:25:50] They just have different perspectives on things. And there could be a lot of reasons why that is. But judgment and criticism will not get us there.

[00:25:59] [00:26:00] We go further by developing emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to identify, understand and manage emotions. By developing emotional intelligence, you can better handle fear and anger and respond with love and compassion. And that starts with awareness of ourselves managing our own emotional state, looking at the things that trigger us, not acting out of reactionary means.

[00:26:22] Pausing being mindful of our emotions, being thoughtful. Being aware.

[00:26:29] Which leads us into mindfulness and meditation. These practices can help manage fear and stress foster self-awareness and cultivate feelings of love and compassion. Mindfulness helps you stay grounded in the present moment and not get swept away in the fear-based thinking that's why being present and aware to our emotions, our thoughts and the things that we may be feeling in those moments of intensity.

[00:26:51] Are very helpful. That pause is so powerful. Just pausing. Can be extremely powerful when we're feeling a lot of [00:27:00] emotions instead of reacting.

[00:27:02] And then finally it's active I seek to understand the experiences and feelings of others. This not only reduces the fear of the other quote, unquote, but also promotes compassion and unity. And that's what gets us there. That's the bridge. The bridge is empathy and compassion.

[00:27:18] It's so important. To develop self-awareness and inner work to do the inner work and overcoming our own fear and anger. Self-awareness is the first step in transforming fear and anger into understanding and compassion by recognizing and understanding our emotions. We can begin to manage them effectively. We can begin to engage with them in a healthy way to accept them, to learn about them and to heal.

[00:27:42] This involves acknowledging the fear or anger, accepting it as a valid, emotional response and in working through it constructively. And that's where the understanding comes into play. Embracing it accepting that it's a valid response and then seeking to understand why am I so angry? Why am I hateful.

[00:27:59] [00:28:00] Why am I so afraid?

[00:28:02] Inner work is the process of introspection and self-improvement. Which is essential and overcoming fear and anger. It's gonna evolve therapy, meditation self-reflection journaling, or any practice that helps you understand your feeling and patterns, whatever that may be. There's no right way to go about doing this. The only thing that matters is that you do the work, whatever that is.

[00:28:24] It could be poetry. It could be music, it could be anything. However, you need to work through an experience and express your feelings. That's what it is.

[00:28:33] So a cup, some practices that we can do to promote emotional healing and growth towards a more positive outlook pause before responding. Allowing ourselves who observed our reactions before responding could go a long way in building trust and care towards one another. Take a breath. I can't tell you how effective this can be sometimes instead of just reacting.

[00:28:53] Pause for feeling all this intense, emotional, especially if we're feeling all this intention motions. Pause [00:29:00] reflect, wait.

[00:29:02] Sit with them. That's the means to go about doing it. Mindful breathing. This is a simple practice that can help calm your mind, reduce stress and foster self-awareness and involves focusing your attention on your breath. Which can help you stay grounded in the present moment. If you're feeling overwhelmed, shift your focus to your breath.

[00:29:23] And only focus on that. In.

[00:29:27] And out. It has a very powerful and profound effect on our mind and our ability to ground ourselves. Journaling is one of my favorite things to do. Writing about your thoughts and feelings can provide insight into your emotional patterns and triggers. It can often also serve as a therapeutic outlet for fear and anger.

[00:29:48] Journaling is the safest place for us because we can fully express all that. We are all that we are. And we can allow it to be.

[00:29:56] That's a very beautiful thing. That's a powerful thing.[00:30:00]

[00:30:00] Picking up a journaling habit can be life-changing. Physical activities. Another way to do this regular physical activity reduces stress and improves our mood. This can be predicted particularly beneficial for managing anger and fear. Even just getting out and walking is good. Just moving, getting the blood, flowing the oxygen, flowing through our body.

[00:30:22] It can help stabilize our moods and reduce that fear and stress. Connecting with others is another great way to do this. By building strong supportive relationships can provide a sense of security and help reduce fear and isolation. We're very isolated as a species in a society. Getting out there and being human again, connecting with people that we like and enjoy and want to be around. And even the people that we don't agree with, learning from them, having conversations about them with them.

[00:30:49] And connecting to them. And if finally. You're still struggling. None of these things are working, getting professional help. It fear and anger are overwhelming. It can be [00:31:00] beneficial to seek help from a mental health professional, a coach, a therapist. They can provide strategies and techniques to manage these emotions more effectively. They can help keep you accountable in these tools.

[00:31:11] And give you support as you're going deep into the emotional healing, which is a lot.

[00:31:16] So by doing this, we build bridges and find common ground. And the value of building bridges and finding common ground with those who hold different beliefs. Is a lot.

[00:31:26] It's how we maintain social harmony and progress. We don't progress unless we can work together. It allows for a more nuanced understanding of issues, a broader range of solutions to problems and a greater potential for innovation. That's why this work is so critical. It's alternative solutions and potential for innovation in ways that we haven't seen. That's only possible when we find that common ground and we allow our minds to be open.

[00:31:52] And free. By finding common ground, we can reduce fear, suspicion and hostility. It allows us to see [00:32:00] others, not as enemies, but as individuals with whom we share some basic human values and needs, which is true for all of us. Come back to those common things. All of us want to have good lives. All of us want to be happy and fulfilled.

[00:32:12] To live meaningful lives, to have the things that they need to be free of the pain, the struggle. All of us desire. Those things. Remember that when you're coming up against someone that may make you angry or upset, all of us share those common things.

[00:32:30] This fosters a sense of shared humanity. Compassion. And mutual respect. All of which are essential. For social cohesion and peace.

[00:32:42] Open dialogue and respectful communication bridges. These ideological divides. They're powerful tools for doing so. Because it allows for the sharing of ideas and beliefs in a nonjudgmental space. That's the key thing. We judge each other so quickly. That's one thing [00:33:00] about the internet. As we judge one another so fast.

[00:33:03] It's a very critical thing that we do. We have to move away from the judgment and open our hearts and open our minds to others to allow that dialogue to happen.

[00:33:14] Because this allows us to understand each other challenge preconceptions. And can lead to finding that common ground that we've been talking about. Being respectful to one another with respectful communication. It involves our expressing of our own views while also listening to and respecting those of others. All of us love to share our perspectives, but we don't want to listen. And that means active, present, listening, not listening for a response, but truly trying to understand the perspective of other people.

[00:33:45] If we took the time to not worry about winning arguments and to fully understand the perspective of someone else. We begin to heal the divide in our society. Because when we take the time to leverage and understand each other, that's [00:34:00] where things heal and change and shift.

[00:34:03] This requires empathy, patience, and a willingness to understand, rather than simply winning an argument. It's not about winning and losing. If we're taking that perspective in this regard to ideas, society, progress, how we treat one another, then we're already lost. This is one of those things we're not participating is the only way to win.

[00:34:26] Not participating in the aha. I got you. Aha. You're wrong. That is toxic. Man is divisive and it's not kind considerate or compassionate.

[00:34:37] When we practice this effectively, it transforms conflict and misunderstanding into opportunities for growth and unity. And that's ultimately what it's about.

[00:34:46] And there's some examples in history that have promoted understanding and unity and divided communities. The north Ireland peace process in a region historically divided by [00:35:00] religious and political conflicts. The good Friday agreement of 1998 marked a successful effort to promote peace and reconciliation.

[00:35:08] It involved open dialogue and negotiation between parties with deeply entrenched differing beliefs. So they put a practice in place. That allowed the two sides to come together on a common thing and discuss openly. That's a beautiful thing. Treat each other with respect, we're going to make a change.

[00:35:28] The truth and reconciliation commission in South Africa, post apartheid, the TRC was a restorative justice body that sought to address the injustices of apartheid through public hearings. It gave victims a voice. And perpetual up. Perpetrators. A chance to seek forgiveness, fostering, mutual, understanding, and healing. That's a beautiful thing like that. Again.

[00:35:52] Putting together spaces that people can come together and heal and share their perspectives and unify, not attack. [00:36:00] And hate each other. Hands across the Hills in the United States. This initiative brought together residents from Lecter county, Kentucky and Leverett, Massachusetts, two communities with vastly different political views.

[00:36:13] For a series of dialogue and cultural exchange programs, it is resulted in change perceptions and new found friendships. Demonstrating the power of face-to-face dialogue in bridging ideological divides. That's a beautiful thing. And then the last example that I love, this is a great movie to the freedom writers project.

[00:36:33] So the freedom writers project is a story of a teacher. Aaron grew well and our students at Woodrow Wilson high school in long beach, California in the mid 1990s. Crew well taught a class of students who were considered quote unquote at risk and unteachable. By other teachers due to their backgrounds, may many were involved in gangs, lived in violent neighborhoods and had experienced significant trauma.

[00:36:56] Instead of giving up on them grew well, use the power of education, [00:37:00] empathy, and open dialogue to break down the walls of anger, fear and prejudice that divided these students. She introduced them to the stories of individuals who had endured and resisted hatred and violence. Such as Anne Frank, and it's a lot of flip of a child who lived through the Bosnian war.

[00:37:17] The kids inspired by these stories. Started to journal their own experiences, becoming the quote unquote freedom writers. And that was a play on the term freedom writers. Activist who fought against racial segregation in the us and sharing their personal narratives. They were able to understand each other's struggles and find common ground in their shared experiences, meaning that they all had hard lives for different reasons and different.

[00:37:42] Perspectives recognizing the common struggle that they all face the terrible things that many of them have gone through the friends that they had lost to gang violence. To hatred, to all that crazy things that happened in their community. That was a common thing that bonded them instead of dividing them. Initially it brought them together because [00:38:00] they also realized that other people suffered throughout history for way worse things with way worse scrutiny and suffering that they had.

[00:38:07] And in humbled them and it made them realize, wow, wait a second. Maybe it's not as bad as we think it is. And it's hard here, but we all have that in common. And through this process, they not only improved academically, but also learn to see each other as human beings. Not as. Enemies. The freedom writer. Project is a Testament to how fostering empathy and understanding and open communication can bridge ideological divides and create unity from diversity.

[00:38:34] At the end of the day. Y'all, that's what it's about. There's so much fear-based ideology happening in our world right now, all around us, divisiveness us versus them using fear, using misinformation and propaganda about things, lying about things it's just flat out happening all around us. So being mindful of this and leading by example.

[00:38:55] Leveraging empathy, leveraging compassion, leading with curiosity, leading [00:39:00] with an open mind, understanding that by showing the world that we can operate differently, that we can extend our hands out. We can find common ground by making the effort we make the world a better place. One person, one action, one moment at a time, it all starts with us.

[00:39:17] Each of us are the leaders in this capacity. And it depends on each of us to do this work. No one can do it for us. No one is coming to save us. We are the antidote to fear and hatred by living with compassion and love. And it all begins with being open. And curious. And.

[00:39:36] Honest and authentic towards the world, around us, to other people around us, finding those common ground, that common ground that all of us share. When we take the time to listen to other people, we realize that so many of us have suffered. So many of us have faced injustices of our own kind. So many of us have had hardships. And when we recognize that and we see it in others,

[00:39:58] That common ground unites [00:40:00] us and we can build together and find solutions and innovations to build an incredibly loving, unified and compassionate society. That's. My message for this episode. So I hope you all appreciate it. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you're digging the show. I'm going to be rolling out some conversations here with other people. Very, very soon. I'm looking to start that at the end of August here. So a couple of weeks I'll have the first episode of that.

[00:40:23] I also launched my. Business brokering practice. So if you, or anyone, you know, maybe looking to sell their business and I'm talking about main street, home-based service-based businesses, boring local businesses. When I'm talking about, we do internet stuff too, but a lot of it is mostly.

[00:40:41] Main street, boring type businesses. But if you or anyone, you know, is looking to sell your business, hit me up, I'd be happy to talk to them about a potential evaluation. But I do hope you're enjoying the podcast. I'd love to hear from you. If you've got any questions, comments, thoughts, anything like that? Hit me up.

[00:40:56] At Brandon Lee ward on Twitter. My website is Brandon Lee, [00:41:00] ward.com. And you can get me at Brandon L. Ward on LinkedIn. So with that being said too, next time y'all.

[00:41:07] Thank you for listening to Order Within. If you found the episode helpful, please consider sharing, rating, and subscribing. New episodes will be released every Thursday at 11am Eastern Standard Time. Until next time, y'all.