Seeing the Unseen: Beyond Prejudices, Paradigms and Party Lines | Book Club with Bishop Mark M. Beckwith

Streamed live on Aug 27, 2023

Bishop Mark M. Beckwith was the tenth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark. He currently serves as the Bishop Liaison for Bishops United Against Gun Violence, a network of 100 bishops he co-founded after the Newtown, Ct. killings in 2012. He is also the co-founder of Faith Leaders for Ending Gun Violence, a national ecumenical group of diverse religious leaders. He has been part of the leadership team for Braver Angels, a national movement that seeks to depolarize America. Beckwith's book, "Seeing the Unseen: Beyond Prejudices, Paradigms and Party Lines" (Morehouse Publishing, 2022) offers a way forward from opposing viewpoints. Instead of dismissing those whose views and experiences are different from our own, he argues that we must look directly at them and see the goodness that is inherent in all things. From the language we use to the imperative to understand and include, we have a duty to work through opposition and build community. Bishop Beckwith describes "Seeing the Unseen" this way: “We are trained to think, yet the cultural emphasis on thinking has not be applied to our ability to see . . . We are not as well trained in seeing the world’s fullness―pain and joy, compassion and cruelty. We regularly receive glimpses of pain and joy, but they are often presented in such a way as to reinforce our thinking.”

 

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