Conviction Is No Excuse: An Open Letter to My Fellow Leftists

Convictions are only as powerful as your ability to explain them. Without challenging our convictions, we sacrifice progress in the name of comfort.

At first, I joined Unfortunately Not a Sound Bath because I desperately needed answers.

Answers to the unfathomable reality of a second Trump term. 

• What made him win…again? 

• Why was his narrative so compelling, especially to an increasing number of Hispanic and Black voters? 

• How did he win the popular vote while publicly running on policies that I believe make America far less free, less just. 

I wasn’t just shocked. I was paralyzed.

So, I dove into this virtual, conservative-leaning podcast listening club to analyze their messaging, tone, rhetoric, and recurring themes. I didn’t join to be converted; I joined because dismissing half the country won’t save democracy. Understanding them might.

Don’t get me wrong: I found it difficult to stomach Ben Shapiro’s defense of Elon Musk’s Nazi salute. However, I listened to the “Make America Healthy Again” narrative for the first time, and found myself agreeing with MAHA stars, Dr. Casey Means and Alex Clarks’ distrust of big institutions and advocacy for natural health — right up until they infused their arguments with Christian superiority and traditional gender roles. I was downright annoyed with myself for laughing along at Logan Paul and Paul Heyman berating Mike Awesome’s $700,000 loss on selling his home. In another episode, it was hard to ignore the parallels between Jordan Peterson and Andrew Huberman’s ideas about human motivation and Sebastian Junger’s thesis in Tribe: that human beings require feeling competent at what they do, authentic in their lives, and connected to others to survive; Tribe’s teachings inspired my purpose-driven work with The Magnet Collective. 

Did I agree with all of it? Of course not. But did I expand my knowledge of generational, pervasive, nationwide challenges: Absolutely. And unexpectedly, I discovered something else: these were not just conservative ragers riffing, but strategic and often skillful storytellers. 

While I joined UNASB to dismantle misinformation and lies being sold to right-leaning voters, I was forced to reckon with the fact that I didn’t actually understand their reality, their truth, their why. 

But these podcasters did. These podcasters were compelling. They are compelling. They’re entertaining! And most importantly, they build relationships with the listener.

The podcasts we study in UNASB don’t flip me, belly side up, with the sudden urge to agree with conservative politics. Rather, I walk away with a deeper responsibility to engage in the nuance of a reality I haven’t lived, don’t understand, and until recently, put no action into trying to learn. If we want a democracy that reflects our values, we have to move toward the discomfort, toward the tension, toward the hard, human work of understanding someone else's truth. That doesn’t mean compromising who we are, but it does mean having the courage to step into spaces where we don’t agree, and contribute to the conversation anyway. Because clarity doesn't come from echo chambers. It comes from friction. And change? Change comes from choosing the harder path…on purpose.

So, if you’re bold enough to defend American democracy, and courageous enough to choose the harder path, I’m offering two steps you can take right now: 

1. Don’t Make Convictions Your Cage

I have stronger opinions than most people I know. Some are backed in evidence, and yes, some are fueled by bias (we all have it!) The 2016 trend to block my Trump-loving high school classmates is so, well…high school.

Follow back your cousin who voted for Trump. Your childhood friend who sees Palestine & Israel differently than you, ask them out for a shared bowl of hummus. And that MAGA-hat wearing guy at your local cafe? Offer to buy him a coffee for his opinions, withholding judgment while you listen, and courageously share yours in return.

Don’t believe me? Talk to Daryl Davis - a Black man who’s inspired over 200 Ku Klux Klan members to give up their robes. What about Mónica Guzmán who developed a curriculum to cross boundaries and find common ground after her Mexican, immigrant parents voted for Donald Trump…twice. These aren’t stories of submission; they’re stories of radical courage. They’re stories of people who believed enough in their values to bring them into the batting cage. 

And there are too many resources and ways to practice out there to allow your personal discomfort, fear of the unknown, or dare I say, hesitancy of having your perspective broadened to be your excuse not to engage.

2. Own Your Poison 

You’re going to hear things that make your blood boil, ideas that insult your deepest held values, and opinions that dismiss your history, your identity, and even your existence. From my recent talks with more conservative voters, they feel the same in conversations with us. Like two sides of a mirror, we’re both convinced the other can’t see us clearly, and in turn, both stung by the reflection.

I will not be the one to determine your personal boundary. But if you’re waiting for a version of this work that’s clean, comfortable, and conflict-free, you're not looking for progress. You’re looking for what already is. And the political and social current we’re currently in won’t build a more free, just America, but rather, chips further away at the eroding foundation of our democracy. 

A conversation with a more conservative voter isn’t about abandoning your principles; it's about knowing them so well, so bone-deep, so hard-earned that you can stand in a storm and still say: this is what I believe, and here’s why. No black boxes or text messages reviewed by a dozen friends. Not social media posted in moral panic or smug dismissal. But face-to-face conversations that are grounded in openness, humility, and confidence. Because how can we say we’re building a democracy for all if we fold the second our beliefs are challenged?

And G-d forbid your "opponent" raises a point you never thought of. I urge you to have the courage & curiosity to dig deeper; to widen your capacity for the truth in the name of something greater than a political party: a multi-racial, interfaith, diverse, and just America. 

Progress isn’t made by people who avoid poison; it’s made by people who know how to taste it without letting it kill them.

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I don’t know what the next version of bipartisanship looks like; if you find someone who does, message me. What I do know is that it must be co-created by Americans who want to preserve democracy, freedom, and justice. 

And if I want an America that more closely represents my version of a free, fair, and just democracy, I am going to have to learn of, debate with, and compromise alongside right-wing voters.

We can’t afford to flatten “the right” into a single stereotype. We can’t afford to ignore the emotional and cultural resonance of their stories. And we absolutely cannot afford to believe that facts and numbers will dig us out of this manmade divisiveness we find ourselves in. 

We need to be bold, not just in speaking our truth, but in listening with the courage to understand, not convert. Real progress demands dialogue, not dominance.

This is what democracy demands of us.

Not just noise, but nuance.

Not just conviction but courage.

And if we’re serious about saving this country, saving democracy, 

We must start the conversations now.