Forum: With Malice Toward None, With Charity for All
In our polarized and often poisonous politics, it can be challenging to even talk to someone who has different beliefs. Our relationships are strained, loving our neighbor feels impossible and we’ve lost a sense of empathy for each other. Together with Wesley Theological Seminary and the Wheatley Institute at Brigham Young University, the Cathedral will explore how to repair the breaches in our civic life. You’re invited to join us in-person or online for this special forum.
Republican Gov. Spencer Cox (Utah) and Democratic Gov. Wes Moore (Maryland) will dig into Gov. Cox’s initiative to “Disagree Better,” followed by a conversation of leaders, including ABC’s Donna Brazile, attorney Rachel Brand, legal scholar Ruth Okediji, and activist Tim Shriver, who are trying to model a new kind of politics. Columnist Peter Wehner will join Joshua DuBois, Director of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships for the Obama Administration, to uncover how to aim higher and do better.
This event is in partnership with the Wheatley Institute at Brigham Young University and Wesley Theological Seminary, and sponsored by Deseret Magazine. See below for more information about the participants.
Free and open to the public, but please register in advance for both in-person and online attendance. Tickets will be checked at the door. Your pay-what-you-wish contribution helps support the Cathedral and its programs.
about the forum participants
The Honorable Spencer J. Cox is the 18th Governor of Utah and 2023-24 Chairman of the National Governors Association. Gov. Cox has a long track record of public service, serving as a city councilmember, mayor, county commissioner and state legislator before being appointed as Utah’s lieutenant governor in 2013. He was sworn in as governor on Jan. 4, 2021.
The Honorable Wes Moore is the 63rd Governor of the state of Maryland. He is Maryland’s first Black Governor in the state’s 246-year history, and is just the third African American elected Governor in the history of the United States. Moore is a proud graduate of Valley Forge Military Academy and College, where he received an Associate’s degree in 1998, of Johns Hopkins University, where he became the first Black Rhodes Scholars in university history, and of Oxford.
Dr. Timothy Shriver leads the Special Olympics International Board of Directors, and together with 6 million Special Olympics athletes in more than 200 countries, promotes health, education, and a more unified world through the joy of sport. Shriver joined Special Olympics in 1996.
Rachel Brand is Walmart’s executive vice president of global governance, chief legal officer, and corporate secretary. She oversees the company’s global legal, compliance, ethics, corporate governance, digital citizenship, aviation, investigative, and corporate security functions, including Walmart’s Emergency Operations Center.
Ruth L. Okediji is the Jeremiah Smith. Jr, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and Co-Director of the Berkman Klein Center. Professor Okediji has advised inter-governmental organizations, regional economic communities, and national governments on a range of matters related to technology, innovation policy, and development.
Donna Brazile is a veteran political strategist, New York Times bestselling author, an Emmy and Peabody-award-winning media contributor. She became the first African American woman to serve as the manager of a major party’s presidential campaign, running the campaign of former Vice President Al Gore. She previously served as interim Chair of the Democratic National Committee and of the DNC’s Voting Rights Institute.
Joshua DuBois is Former Special Assistant to President Obama and Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. One of President Obama’s longest serving aides, Joshua previously served in then-Senator Obama’s legislative office, and he led the Religious Affairs Department for the 2008 Obama presidential campaign.
Peter Wehner is an in-residence Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum, a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, and a contributing editor for The Atlantic. He has written for numerous other publications—including Time, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Financial Times, The Weekly Standard, National Review, Commentary, National Affairs, and Christianity Today.