Friendship across political divides

 A good friend of mine, Jim Lucas, did an online Sunday School class today focusing on the last part of 3 Nephi and on 4 Nephi. A good chunk of the lesson applied insights from the Book of Mormon to our current political divide. Jim acknowledged that the divide is a serious problem--and has grown more serious in recent years. (He showed evidence from the Pew Research Center that Democrats and Republicans have come to have increasingly negative--or as the study puts it, "cold"--feelings toward each other and have few friends of the "opposing" party.)

But Jim argued not only that it's possible to bridge the divide but that it's crucial we figure out how to do it, lest we suffer something like the fate of those in 4 Nephi who returned to old divisions and eventually to complete social breakdown. Jim used the friendship of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia as an example of such a bridging of the divide and showed video clips that revealed how warm and deep that friendship was. 

I'm going to offer a couple of clips of my own, one from Lindsey Graham and one from Joe Biden. That friendship has been challenged over the past couple of years, but there's some hope, I think, it can be restored. (As Biden says, he's not good at holding grudges.)

Here are the clips:

Lindsey Graham on Biden: https://youtu.be/kLMYW8jFPHg

Biden on Graham: https://youtu.be/5Qf40Mc3V6Q

I should explain why Biden starts by saying he's disappointed: Starting 10 months ago or so, Graham started criticizing Biden in ways that seemed hostile, that rose to the level of personal attacks rather than just disagreements. As noted, that has damaged the friendship. But as also noted, I hope the friendship can be healed.

One key is suggested by a recent letter from the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'll just quote the end of that letter, which was also referred to in Jim's Sunday School class:

While the Church affirms its institutional neutrality regarding political parties and candidates, individual members should participate in the political process. Please strive to live the gospel in your own life by demonstrating Christlike love and civility in political discourse.