Our country is at a moment of great risk. The rank polarization that has been evident for too long has accelerated into frank hostility and even into violence. Citizens on both sides have lost faith in the ability or the will of our leaders to seek or accept compromise. Hence it falls on us, the people, to join together to try to retain the democracy that has undergirded the blessings of liberty on our beloved America.

We the undersigned, of different political parties and from different points on the political spectrum, join to support peaceful and legitimate elections and an orderly transition of power. This in no way compromises our intentions to advocate for the candidates and policies we believe will best address the challenges facing our country. We disagree about many things, but we are united in our hopes for a healthy democracy and a less-fractured republic.

We are affiliated with Braver Angels, a national organization dedicated to depolarizing America, which is providing structure and support for these efforts. If you share our commitment to keeping our country together and in our care for each other as fellow citizens, we urge you to sign Braver Angels’ letter, “What We Will Do to Hold America Together” (braverangels.org/hat). And talk to your neighbors (even those whose yard signs annoy you!), find what common ground you can, and commit to being part of the solution in these difficult times.

Gerald Whelan, MD
Wyndmoor

Jennifer Livingston
Chestnut Hill