Throughout a Mass held the night of Election Day, the priest at St. Clement Parish in Lincoln Park in Chicago requested for God’s blessings for “our world, our church and our nation, and those who need our prayers” throughout this decisive second for the nation.
“We pray for peace and unity,” mentioned the Rev. Peter Wojcik, shortly earlier than distributing the Eucharist to roughly three dozen devoted dotting the pews.
The church was open all day for providers and personal prayer, partially to function a haven for these stricken by fear, confusion or stress in regards to the election and its aftermath.
“As anytime we feel these emotions, the best answer is to go to prayer,” states an Election Day prayer and assets information on the church’s web site. “By seeking God’s will, we ease the anxiety of the unknown and open our hearts to peace and respect.”
But unity and civility would possibly show tough to foster for big swaths of the nation. Though the election is over — and Republican Donald Trump has begun the transition to his second presidential time period after defeating Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris — a lot of America remains to be grappling to heal after a turbulent marketing campaign season marked by vitriolic political rhetoric and violence.
The American Psychological Affiliation report “Stress in America 2024: A Nation in Political Turmoil” paints a stark image of the nation’s heightened anxiousness, political polarization and strained social relationships.
Greater than three-quarters of American adults polled mentioned the way forward for the nation is a supply of great stress and 69% reported worrying in regards to the end result of the election, in line with the report. The survey, which was carried out by The Harris Ballot and launched in October, confirmed that greater than half of People “have very little to no trust in the United States government,” and 41% mentioned the state of the nation has even prompted them to contemplate shifting to a different nation. Almost two-thirds of those that responded felt their rights have been underneath siege.
These divisions have additionally sown discord in relationships: Half of these surveyed reported that rigidity round social and political discussions made them much less inclined to attach with different individuals and practically 30% imagine they don’t have anything in widespread with these with opposing political beliefs; 46% mentioned they might refuse thus far somebody with contrasting political beliefs.
The upcoming vacation season may additionally be tough for some politically break up households: About 30% of respondents reported curbing time with members of the family “because they don’t share the same values,” in line with the report. Roughly a 3rd of these polled mentioned political polarization has strained relationships with kin, and the odds have been increased for males, Latino respondents and members of the LGBTQ+ group.
“For nearly a decade, people have faced a political climate that is highly charged, which has led to the erosion of civil discourse and strained our relationships with our friends and our families,” American Psychological Affiliation CEO Arthur Evans Jr. mentioned in a written assertion in regards to the findings. “But isolating ourselves from our communities is a recipe for adding more stress to our lives. We must remember that the most extreme voices are often the loudest, and that the majority of adults share similar values and concerns.”
At St. Clement on Election Day, 63-year-old Joan Younger mentioned she took consolation in praying alongside her fellow parishioners throughout such an anxiety-ridden time. The photographs of saints that crammed the church additionally served as a visible reminder that a lot historical past has handed and far more will transpire, she mentioned.
This second for humanity is “like a blink of an eye historically,” she added.
Jeannine Cleary, 70, mentioned she got here to ask God for “peace in our country — healing,” whatever the election’s end result.
“That we can grow from it and survive,” she mentioned. “That there’s peace and stability.”
Reassessing the political divide
Psychotherapist Jeanne Safer presents glimpses at how political feuds and rising polarization have strained American relationships in her ebook “I Love You, but I Hate Your Politics: How to Protect Your Intimate Relationships in a Poisonous Partisan World,” which got here out in 2019 throughout the first Trump presidency.
The introduction depicts Thanksgiving meals reduce quick to keep away from political arguments. Extra family members unfriending or unfollowing each other on social media as a consequence of ideological disputes. Partisan media rising in prominence as dialogue throughout the political aisle amongst family and friends members concurrently “becomes rarer and rarer,” she lamented within the ebook.
“Now, in the Trump era, it has disappeared entirely: the political has become the personal, making lovers and friends with different party affiliations a vanishing breed,” the ebook concludes.
But Safer believes individuals can disagree politically and nonetheless love each other. She cited her personal marriage of many years as a liberal to a staunch conservative. And her ebook attracts from interviews with dozens of others who’re in politically blended relationships of every type, making a sensible information to preserving respect and love even amid political or ideological disagreements.
“People don’t realize you can have a difference of opinion with somebody, even somebody you love and care about, and the world doesn’t end,” Safer mentioned throughout a latest interview with the Tribune.
Whereas Safer attracts the road at racist, abusive or perpetually hostile habits, she mentioned usually there’s normally widespread floor and room to study that folks will be completely different politically and nonetheless love each other.
One take a look at she presents is to think about you’re sick or hospitalized: Who will come look after you? And do their political ideologies actually matter then?
“When you’re ill, do they come and help you? That’s what matters to me,” she mentioned. “I think when we lose that, we start thinking of politics rather than of love.”
Two researchers from the College of Illinois Chicago co-produced a video intervention that has been proven to scale back poisonous political polarization amongst its viewers.
For the mission, Democrat and Republican voters have been filmed making guesses about what supporters of the opposite celebration thought of them and coverage points. Then they have been instructed the precise responses members of the opposing celebration gave to those self same questions, which regularly differed vastly from their expectations: Views about of us from throughout the aisle tended to be far more optimistic than anticipated; opinions given by Republicans and Democrats on political points have been extra intently aligned than predicted.
“People’s subjective perceptions of American politics, of partisans from their own party and the other party, are often wildly inaccurate,” mentioned one of many researchers, Michael Pasek, assistant professor of psychology. “We sometimes make assumptions that people who are opposing party members disagree with us more than they actually do and view us with more animosity — even dehumanize us — more than they actually do. And psychologically, when we misperceive those things, it can lead us in turn to embrace our own darker instincts and create this kind of race to the bottom.”
The Democrat and Republican voters ranged in age and demographic teams, mentioned researcher Rebecca Littman, assistant professor of psychology.
“To really show that this is happening to all of us,” she mentioned. “That we’re all having these misperceptions and we’re all surprised, to some extent, when we realize we have more in common and that … we have less animosity toward the other group than we might think.”
The individuals’ reactions to their misperceptions have been filmed in actual time and used to create the video intervention.
Then the researchers studied the impression that watching the movies had on viewers, together with measuring attitudes towards members of the opposite political celebration in addition to help for undemocratic practices and political violence.
A examine revealed final month within the journal Science discovered the video intervention diminished animosity throughout celebration strains in addition to antidemocratic attitudes and help for violence amongst viewers.
“Sometimes our two-party system doesn’t empower us to assemble around the common ground because it literally serves as a magnetic tool that pulls us to the side,” Pasek mentioned. “This is a moment where Americans that do share core democratic ideals really do need to figure out where that common ground is. Because our power to protect our country against really dire threats to democracy relies on us realizing that there are people who belong to different parties we can work together with.”
‘Reconnecting with humanity’
Stress will be widespread throughout elections and other people typically really feel depressed afterward, in addition to anxious in regards to the future, if their most well-liked candidate misplaced, mentioned Christopher Ojeda, assistant professor of political science on the College of California at Merced.
These affected by a way of election loss and unhappiness ought to “feel free to take some time to themselves — to step away from politics and tend to their psychological well-being,” mentioned Ojeda, creator of the upcoming ebook, “The Sad Citizen: How Politics Is Depressing and Why It Matters.”
However as soon as people really feel able to re-engage, political participation can really be empowering, he mentioned.
“Participation can give us a sense of control over the future,” he mentioned. “Activism can also shape what policies ultimately get passed by the Trump administration or by state and local governments.”
Ojeda added that having conversations with individuals who have completely different political beliefs or backgrounds may work to quell political polarization.
“This doesn’t have to be about persuasion as much as it is about sharing your story and helping others better understand people like you,” he mentioned. “Of course, you should only have these conversations if you feel comfortable and safe doing so.”
For these combating unhappiness and anxiousness within the election’s aftermath, some coping methods can embody journaling, meditation and spending time with buddies, in addition to taking breaks from information and social media, mentioned Dr. Nina Vasan, scientific assistant professor of psychiatry at Stanford College Faculty of Medication.
She is aware of some of us who plan to take an extended hike with buddies as a method of immersing in nature and forsaking the barrage of political information and social media posts.
“It’s reconnecting with humanity. It’s reconnecting with, not who we are in terms of what policy positions we think make best sense, but who we are as people who love each other, support each other, and being able to connect on those levels,” she mentioned. “Taking politics out of the discussion for a bit, I think, is actually very healthy.”
Vasan additionally really useful dedicating a bit of time for gratitude.
“I try to begin the day, or perhaps reflecting on the previous day, pondering ‘whom am I grateful for,” she said, adding that she often then takes a moment to thank the individual or people for what they’ve finished.
Whereas each day gratitude gained’t resolve the state of the nation or restore frayed relationships, she mentioned it might reframe a person’s perspective.
“It changes the way you feel about the world,” Vasan mentioned. “Instead of seeing all of this negativity, this us-versus-them and all of that, you’re able to connect and value the good things you do have.”
Candles, reflection and hope
In Park Ridge, a dozen native clergy members circulated a pastoral letter to the group a couple of days earlier than the election.
“It may feel like our society has become more polarized, more divided than ever before. We are all experiencing tension in the air,” the letter mentioned. “We would like to remind us all that we are still neighbors, and what we have in common is always stronger than the policies, opinions, and even politicians that might separate us.”
Among the many signers was the Rev. Kyle Severson of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Park Ridge, which held a prayer vigil throughout polling hours on Election Day. The pastor mentioned he wished to supply the church sanctuary to the group for prayer, candle-lighting and reflection.
“For me, it was just watching how many people were holding so much during this time of worry and concern. And that feels so different,” Severson mentioned. “People have disagreed about candidates every time. But the amount of worry people are carrying this time around felt so much heavier. So this was just to give people space for that.”
He additionally famous that the sanctuary was freed from screens, offering a respite from social media and the 24-hour information cycle. Lighting a candle could be a seen signal of a prayer, an typically cathartic follow amid anxiousness or uncertainty, he added.
“The lighting of a candle in prayer is a way to take what’s weighing on my heart and give it some external representation, so I can do something with it,” he mentioned.
The church supplied those that attended a sheet with a sequence of prayer recommendations, together with supplications for probably the most weak in society, these with out housing, racial minorities, LGBTQ+ of us, immigrants, first-time voters and people who can’t vote.
“Pray for families and friends who politically disagree,” the sheet mentioned. “Ask God to grant them the courage to hear one another out, the strength to treat one another with kindness, and the hope that they can continue in formative relationship with one another, despite today’s outcomes.”
Carolynn Joesten, 83, of Park Ridge mentioned she got here into the church on Election Day “with a lot of anxiety.”
“And I am leaving with much more peace that God will be with me,” she mentioned. “God is bigger than the whole thing.”
Joesten lit two candles at church: She mentioned one was for peace and mutual respect for many who aren’t on the identical aspect politically.
The opposite candle was for the youth of the nation and future generations.
“Especially for my grandchildren,” she mentioned. “That what they inherit will be a good world.”
eleventis@chicagotribune.com
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