The announcement comes after he fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk during a Turning Point USA speaking event at Utah Valley University.
The organizations hope the effort shows the state’s commitment to meet the moment “not with division, but with a promise to build peace together,” Marianne Viray, executive director of the Disagree Better nonprofit, said in a statement.
“Now is the moment to choose to turn toward each other, for us to come together as a community, a collective pause to help us align our responses to the tragedy,” Viray said during a news conference at the Utah State Capitol on Friday.
The website features a collection of tried resources to have more productive conversations, including a list of “dos and don’ts for communicating in response to violence,” and workshops on how to interact constructively on social media.
“There are courses you can take in how to navigate major conflict, suggestions on how to talk about gun violence with your children, and the list goes on,” she said. “They may not seem like big actions some people are calling for at a time like this, but there are many small things we can each do to turn toward each other more in conversation, in relationship and community.”
Participating organizations include Better Angels, Disagree Better, Living Room Conversations, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, Waymakers, Wheatley Institute, and The Dignity Institute.
Among the people at the Utah Capitol were Zac Wilson and Jack Davis, who attended Brigham Young University at about the same time but ended up in opposite political spaces on the Utah County campus. Wilson went on to chair the Utah Young Republicans for a time, while Davis led the Young Democrats of Utah.
“It’s sad when a tragedy is the catalyst for people coming together and talking through some of these things, but I hope this is a wake-up call,” Wilson said on Friday. “We can root out some of the ideology and the rhetoric and tone that went into what happened two days ago.”
For Davis, the moment was also a reflection of what happens when people get off social media and talk to their neighbors and community members.
“Zac and I would probably have a different relationship if we only communicated on social media,” Davis said. “And I think that this is a time for people to think about what it means to actually have relationships with the people around them.”
Wilson praised Kirk’s debates that, while at times confrontational, he said allowed everyone to have a voice. As a direct result of Kirk’s effort, Wilson said, Gen Z was brought into political processes and standing for freedom of speech.
“In the coming weeks and months. We need to move beyond the platitudes and figure out what’s going on. What’s the root cause of what killed Charlie. Our country is an inspiring and beautiful place, one that has survived a civil war, one that, in the 1960s, survived rioting, unrest and the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy,” Wilson said. “We can and we will overcome this.”
While Davis may disagree with Wilson most of the time, he said he couldn’t be in a greater agreement at this moment, since everyone in the country has the promise of freedom of speech.
“The brutal attack that we witnessed this week wasn’t just an attack on a man and a family, though it was,” Davis said. “It was also an attack on that fundamental right of free speech that we enjoy and that lets each of us engage in our communities in the way that we wish.”
Davis also urged all young Utahns to reject violence as a means to try to accomplish something.
“Political violence is a corrosive evil that we cannot allow in our state. It cannot take root here, because that is the destruction of the political system that we know and love,” Davis said.
Now, the two men have plans to meet and discuss how to go from here and turn the idea of encouraging young people to engage in political processes amid turmoil into action.
On Friday the Utah Department of Health and Human Services also reminded that Utahns feeling scared, anxious, or overwhelmed due to traumatic events like this can call or text 988, which will connect them with a crisis worker at the Utah Crisis Line 24/7 for free.
“They can help work through your feelings and make appropriate connections to other mental health resources across the state. Our team is here around the clock to support Utahns in need,” Rachel Lucynski, director of Community Crisis Intervention and Support Services at Huntsman Mental Health Institute said in a statement.
This story was originally published at UtahNewsDispatch.com.
