Oregon House leaders will discuss civility in the 2025 legislature

In an era of deepening partisan divisions and polarizing confrontation, are there any signs of hope for better stewardship of disagreement in our political institutions? What can citizens do to encourage legislators and others to improve our political culture to allow for more creative cooperation across partisan lines for everyone's benefit?

Oregon House of Representatives Majority Leader Ben Bowman and Minority Leader Christine Drazan will come to George Fox on October 7 for a public conversation on these and related questions, reflecting on their experience in the Oregon state legislature this year.

Drazan was the Republican candidate for Governor of Oregon in the 2022 election, losing narrowly to current Governor Tina Kotek in a three-way race with indepentent candidate Betsy Johnson. She is a 1993 graduate of George Fox University. She won her first term in the Oregon house in the 2018 election, and was elected as minority leader the next year, before leaving the House to run in the 2022 election for governor. She was re-elected to the House of Representative i last year and resumed serving as minority leader this year.

Bowman was first elected to the Oregon House in 2022, and was elected majority leader for the Democrats before the 2025 session. He and his co-host Reagan Knoop -- a Republican activist -- came to Fox in late 2023 to talk about their Oregon Bridge podcast, a model of inter-party cooperation demonstrating and promoting civility. Their talk here was recorded, and turned into two episodes of the Oregon Bridge.

Oregon has not been immune to the partisan polarization prevailing in the United Satates. But in Oregon, Democrats have controlled both houses of the legislature since 2013, and the Governor's office since 1987. What this long-term record of single-party control does to inter-party dynamics, and the internal dynamics within each party's caucus, will be one of the topics we'll discuss on October 7.

We'll ask our two speakers to address topics like

how much each party in Oregon is affected by national partisan dynamics,

is partisan animosity really getting worse?
what's driving polarization in Oregon?
what would the ideal political culture look like in the Oregon House?
how can that ideal be achieved?
what have you done to try to nurture a better political culture?
What would you like to do... and what has prevented you from doing this so far?
what can voters do to encourage improvements Oregon's political culture -- in the legislature, in the state generally, and locally?

To hear Representatives Bowman and Drazan converse on these topics, you are invited to be in Hoover 105 on the George Fox campus on Tuesday evening October 7 in time for our 6:30 start. Questions? Contact Ron Mock at civility@georgefox.edu.

Ten links for building community in 2025

(Each title is a link to the mentioned article or podcast.)

1. Seven things you can do

Looking for ways to help nourish connections across political, ideological, or religious divisions in your community? Here are seven suggestions.

2. The Giving Town: Improving Political Culture in our Community – with Ron Mock

This is an episode of The Giving Town podcast recorded in the weeks leading up to election day, aimed primarily at an audience in the Newberg area. Giving Town host Daniel Roberts uses the podcast to highlight efforts to improve life in the Newberg/Dundee area. He asked Ron to join him for a pre-election conversation about the George Fox Civility Project and its work in the heat of election campaigns.

3. Dealing with political stress when you disagree

A correspondent for National Public Radio's Here and Now came to George Fox to interview Professor of Writing Melanie Mock and her husband, Civility Project Director Ron Mock, about handling the stress of the 2024 election when husband and wife are not of the same political persuasion. Bonus content: a "word" from Ron and Melanie's 9-month-old grandson Colton, who was also at the interview.

4. I Don’t Want to Live in a Monoculture, and Neither Do You -- David French

David French rues our current tendency to sort ourselves into like-minded communities, isolating ourselves from those who disagree with us. He explains some of the ways this trend has impoverished our lives and our politics.

5. We Live Here Now -- Lauren Ober and Hannah Rosin

Two writers for The Atlantic put together a fascinating account of their experiences when January 6 fatality Ashley Babbit's mother moves in next door in the Washington, D.C. are neighborhood. This is a six-part podcast about what happens when you manage to build a personal connection with someone who disagrees with your politics with the intensity of a bereaved mother. But it's also a mostly hopeful window on what might be possible for our entire polarized nation,

6. Is There an American Covenant?

Yuval Levin joins a conversation about the American Constitution and its design to turn our disagreements into negotiated practical outcomes that best serve our interests. Prompted by the publication of Levin's book, American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation—and Could Again, the conversation will explore how Levin believes civility can thrive in our system if we are faithful to our constitution and its amendments.

Levin spoke about his book for the Trinity Forum on November 1, 2024. Here's a link.

7. The Intellectual Humility Test

See how well you score for the kind of intellectual humility that helps you, and groups you work with, do better at taking advantage of disagreements as a vehicle for improving your group's performance.

8. More in Common's Dignity Index

More in Common USA is a group working to build a healthier political culture in America. They've just published an article describing results of studies of partisan perceptions of their political opponents (kernel: we wildly overestimate how hostile the average person on the other side is toward us) and how politicians, media personalities, and social media influencers communicate about politics. (Gem: once the the researchers began studying toxicity in public discourse, they realized how much of their own communication about politics was also toxic! We may not even see how much we contribute the problem.) Click here to see that article, and check out more about More in Common once you reach their website.

9. Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Services (THARS)

Over three decades ago, Lon Fendall, the first director of the George Fox Center for Peace Learning, connected with young seminary graduate David Niyonzima, who had fled to Kenya after narrowly escaping being a victim of ethnic genocide in his native Burundi. Lon invited David to visit George Fox University, where David eventually became a graduate student in counseling,

David returned to Burundi to dedicate his life to healing the deep wounds in that traumatized nation. He founded the Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Services (THARS) there.

David recently give a talk at North Valley Friends Church about his work. We have called Jonathan Kuttab's efforts in Israel and Palestine the world's toughest civility project, but David's would also be up near the top of the list. Check out the link above to learn more. Would David Niyonzima be a good candidate for a Civility Project event next year?

10. Braver Angels

It's been awhile since we featured Braver Angels, the leading national civility-building group. Tirelessly reaching out to both reds and blues, BA keeps innovating new ways to encourage people to get out of their bubbles and listen to people from the other side.

Also recommended: the Braver Angels podcast featuring Monica Guzman (author of I Never Thought Of It That Way). Check it out here, and subscribe to it if you like it.

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO TO PROMOTE ROBUST CIVILITY?