Cricket White

The Richmond Times-Dispatch asked Hope in the Cities to run a series of seven round table discussions on issues relating to the Presidential election.  Each discussion was reported in a full page article.  The final one, on the theme “Faith and Politics” on October 6, was featured in the Sunday edition of the Times-Dispatch on October 12.

The discussion explored how faith guided decision-making in terms of the election by gathering a diverse group of people who are deeply rooted in their faith.  Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism were represented along with an age range of 25- 62. Times-Dispatch staff who attended all of the discussions believed this to be most substantial of the series. Participants talked about their identity and the extent to which their faith informs them as to who they are and the choices they make.  “The level of discussion and depth of peoples’ expressions were the best and deepest of any dialogue that I have moderated,” said Cricket White, Hope in the Cities’ director of training and facilitation, who moderated 6 of the 7 discussions.  Many participants maintained objectivity and acknowledged that the President must serve people of all faiths or world views and not merely one group, and that therefore there would be some issues on which they might not agree with him.  The Times-Dispatch is considering inviting faith leaders to talk about political issues on a cyclical basis.