Just Announced! Bishop Budde and Tim Shriver

Our Baptismal Covenant calls us to respect the "dignity of every human being." That isn't always easy, but perhaps Tim Shriver's Dignity Index can help.

Spearheaded by Special Olympics Chairman Tim Shriver, the Dignity Index is an “eight-point scale for measuring how we talk to each other when we disagree.” It operates around three core beliefs: 

• Contempt causes division; dignity eases division.

• If we put a spotlight on dignity and contempt, we will use more dignity and less contempt.

• If we show Americans how they can help ease our divisions, they will jump on it.

The effort got underway in 2021, and in the 2022 elections in Utah, the Dignity Index was used to score candidate speeches. Shriver learned that dignity begets dignity: The more people see it, the more they like it, and the more they will demand it from our public leaders.

The project has an audacious goal: “Inside 10 years, ‘dignity’ will be seen as a winning strategy in politics and policy-making, and how we treat each other will be seen as a mark of patriotism, a measure of our well-being, and a key indicator of the future.”

Shriver will join an evening conversation with Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde — yes, the same bishop who directly challenged President Trump to treat people with “mercy” — on May 22 at 7 pm to discuss how to instill dignity into our fractured public life. It’s part of our A Better Way initiative to help Americans listen to each other, learn from each other and find our way forward as a nation.

We’re expecting a full house and tickets are now available on a pay-what-you-wish basis. We hope to see you there!