My campaign is built on the principles of ‘Unity’ and ‘the Common Good.’ These aren’t just words on an inspirational poster, but they are the core of my moral compass. I’m not always perfect at this either, but it is the ideal I aim for everyday.

I believe the ‘us vs. them’ anger that defines our politics is failing all of us. We are being trained by algorithms and partisan media to see each other as caricatures, as ‘enemies’, not as the neighbors we are. We used to be able to be cordial in our conversations about religion, politics, or other deeply held beliefs. But as I described in Why I’m Running as an Independent, we have been conditioned to see people outside of our personal groups as subhuman. I believe this is the root of the gridlock and hate that we’re all tired of. We no longer seem to view each other as people who should be respected and loved for who they are, and not just who we wish they were. The uncivility and political violence should not be the ways we handle our differences.

As a teacher and a person of faith, I believe we don’t have to maintain peace by avoiding tough conversations and situations, nor by trying to force someone to see the world the way we do. I believe there is a ‘third way.’ It’s a path that doesn’t avoid conflict but refuses to use the weapons of pride or condemnation. It’s a path built on listening, on compassion, and on the radical idea that we can disagree without dehumanizing each other. It doesn’t necessarily mean we stop believing our core beliefs, but it does mean we need to learn a little more humility and love.

The post below is adapted from a religious lesson/sermon I recently shared. It is the personal, moral, and spiritual ‘why’ behind my entire campaign for a better, more united Arkansas. While the message is religious in nature, I believe it is presented with universal, broad application in all walks of our lives. It shares the message of becoming peacemakers, when the world tells us to become the opposite.

 

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Blessed Are the Peacemakers: The Savior’s “Third Way”

Adapted from a sermon originally shared on October 26, 2025 

Introduction: The World We Live In

Have you ever been in a conversation where you could feel the mood change? Maybe it was at work, maybe it was online, maybe it was at your own dinner table. Someone mentions a political candidate, a social issue, or even just a news story… and suddenly, the air gets tense. You can feel the shields go up. Maybe you have heard (or felt) teeth grinding or maybe even the actual rattling of swords and shields in defense of deeply held personal beliefs.

Over the last few years, I have thought a lot about the reason for the increase in division and hatred I see and hear about in the news. My reflections peaked and became much more personal during my last campaign. As I went door to door, I was usually treated fairly and respectfully, but on occasion, I was yelled at and cursed by some, before I could even talk. It was exhausting and demoralizing, knowing I was nothing like the person they believed me to be. It was clear that to them, I was the enemy, their enemy. But why?

I wasn’t given a chance to talk because of preconceived ideas they had formed because of a political label and caricatures of people they have seen on tv. I foolishly thought I could make a difference against decades of growing political divide. Maybe I did. Maybe I didn’t. But in the end, too few were willing to listen to anything I had to say and would rather label me as an outsider, someone not to be trusted, an enemy to their way of life…just because of a label. This didn’t feel like peace. It was anger. It was vitriol.

Through my campaign, I realized just how divided we are as a nation, which led me to ponder a lot about how we got here and question if it can ever be fixed. For a time, it felt hopeless. But there is hope. I hope that the words I share today will show that hope isn’t lost and that we can heal a divided family, community, nation, and world.

We live in a world that feels deeply divided along social, cultural, or political lines. We have become so entrenched in our views that a simple “difference of opinion feels like a personal attack.” Often, the way the opposing message is delivered doesn’t help, with sharp words and personal attacks. We don’t take the time or make the effort to actually understand the other person’s reasoning because we are hurt and defensive. We rationalize they are misled or beyond reasoning. We feel the only way to win is to defeat them and their world views. We’ve all felt this. It’s why the old adage is “don’t discuss politics or religion” feels true. We’re afraid of the conflict…and we would rather maintain the peace.

And yet, into this exact world of conflict, the Savior gave one of His most defining commandments. He didn’t say, “Blessed are those who are right.” or “Blessed are those who use my words to condemn others.” or “Blessed are those who force others to follow me.” He said, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9).

This morning, I want to explore what it truly means to be a peacemaker. It is not “peace-keeping.” The world has two conflicting, and contradictory, ways of peace-keeping. But we don’t need peacekeepers. As President Russell M. Nelson said in a conference talk a couple of years ago, Peacemakers [are] Needed.

The World’s First Failed Model: The “Peace-Keeper as Avoider”

The first way the world tries to “keep peace” is through avoidance. This is the person who says, “Let’s just not talk about it.” Their main goal is to avoid discomfort. There is no attempt at understanding. There is no respect. There is only the desire to maintain the peace by avoiding tough conversations.

This model isn’t motivated by love; it’s motivated by fear. Fear of a fight, fear of being disliked, fear of awkwardness. Avoiding conflict is not even truly keeping the peace. It is ignoring the reality that there are deep-seated differences between the people involved. And if these are allowed to fester, it prevents us from understanding and loving our neighbors for who they are, not just who we want to pretend they are.

It is true that we are avoiding immediate conflict, but at what cost? The division grows in the silence. This isn’t peace; it’s just a temporary, unvoiced truce. It never heals. Keeping the peace through avoidance is more about protecting you and your feelings than it is about understanding the other person and their feelings. This is not peacemaking.

The World’s Second Failed Model: The “Peace-Keeper as Enforcer”

The second way the world “keeps peace” is the complete opposite: by force. This is the Pax Romana, the “Peace of Rome.” It’s the model that says, “We will have peace when you are forced to comply. Once you finally do as I say, then and only then, can there be true peace.”

This feels very much like Satan’s plan than God’s plan. Satan’s plan isn’t about love and understanding. It doesn’t help us become the children of God. It is purely motivated by pride, control, and the need to win. That is not God’s version of peace.

But Satan’s plan is exactly the model we see all around us in our political and social divides. It’s the spirit of “willing to condemn,” “willing to create laws that limit rights of others,” and “willing to use force and violence for a righteous cause.” This is not what God wants. This is the spirit of contention.

And what does this model produce? As we’ve all felt, it produces resentment. It builds walls. You can’t heal or change someone who is in a state of fight-or-flight, defending themselves from real or perceived threats to their beliefs. You may be able to force a person “back into the closet, so to speak,” but you will never bring them to your side, and you will certainly never bring them to Christ’s side. It creates an environment where neighbors become enemies. Brothers turn against brothers. Children against their parents. And once seen as enemies, we justify defeating them at all cost. They become less than us…less human…less worthy…not in God’s eyes, but in our own. This is not peacemaking.

Both of the world’s models fail. One is rooted in fear (avoidance), the other in pride (enforcement). Neither one can change a human heart. The world’s methods may bring silence or surrender, maybe even short-term compliance…but only the Savior’s way will bring healing and lasting peace.

The Savior’s “Third Way”: The Peacemaker

Jesus showed us a third, higher way. He was not a peacekeeper by avoiding conflict. He did not avoid sinners, tax collectors, or lepers. And He was also not a peacekeeper by force. He did not force devotion. He never used His power to coerce or condemn.

The perfect example of peacemaking comes to us in the form of the story of the woman caught in adultery. But before we examine what the Savior does, we must first understand what the enforcers were trying to do.

This story isn’t just about a woman caught in adultery; it was a carefully laid trap, and it’s built on deep hypocrisy. Here is the trap… if Jesus had said to “stone her”, He would have defied Roman authority of capital punishment; and if He said “let her go,” He would have appeared to dismiss the law of Moses.

But let’s also ask ourselves a question about an often overlooked part of the story: Why is only the woman here? The Law of Moses, which the Pharisees claimed to uphold, was clear: both the adulterer and the adulteress were to be punished to death by stoning.

The fact they “caught her in the very act” but didn’t bring the man proves they had zero interest in justice or maintaining peace. It’s clear they were “protecting their own” while condemning “the other”, someone not on their level or of their status. They intentionally targeted the person with the lowest social status. This woman wasn’t a person to them; she was bait for their political trap.

And so we must ask ourselves: Do we do this today? Do we sometimes hold up the “obvious” sins of “the others”—people in a different political party, or a different social group, people we see as “less than us” or “not worthy” of our respect? Do we, at the same time, quietly ignore or excuse the same sins in our own camp? Do we sometimes “protect our own” while condemning the others? Do we try to remove the beam in our neighbor’s eye before we remove the mote in our own?

It is in this brazen display of hypocrisy, that Jesus shows us the “third, and only way” to generate and maintain peace…through peacemaking. But let me be clear about something. His way is not a tactic nor a manipulation to “win” people to our side. It is motivated by a pure, unconditional love. It is seeing, understanding, and loving the other person despite our differences. That is the motivating factor.

A peacemaker’s first duty is to love, understand, and defend a person’s agency. This doesn’t mean we don’t hope they will change. It means we don’t stop loving them if they don’t. Peacemaking is the “mutual respect, love, and understanding that despite our differences, we don’t have to be enemies.”

How exactly did Christ react when the scribes and Pharisees present the woman caught in adultery to him? He doesn’t play their game. He doesn’t call for her death. He doesn’t ask, “Where is the man?” That would be validating their trap. He does something remarkably and radically different than how the world tells us to do.

First, He defends the person. He stands with her against the enforcers, the attackers, the people condemning her. He disarms them with a simple, profound truth: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.” He protects her from their indignation and creates a safe space where she does not have to continue to live in the state of “fight-or-flight.”

Second, He connects with compassion. He waits until her attackers are gone. He does this part in private. He is the only one who could have condemned her, but instead, He is the one who sees her. “Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?”

Third, He invites change without condemnation. After showing her this profound, unconditional love and safety, then and only then He upholds the truth by invitation. He says, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” It is an invitation. It isn’t coercion. It is giving her the chance to follow His example. But it’s an invitation born from love, with no strings attached.

Jesus did not compromise the truth. He did not say, “Sin is no longer sin.” But He proved that you can only invite someone to the truth after you have shown them they are safe in your love. He separated the person (whom He defended) from the sin (which He invited her to leave). He showed her a better way. He showed us a better way. This is peacemaking.

Conclusion: Our Call to Action

Brothers and sisters, this is our call. We live in a world full of polarizing beliefs on a myriad of issues: social, cultural, and political. The world tells us our only options are to avoid the fight or to win the fight.

But the Savior offers the “third way” of the peacemaker:

Not to avoid the person, but to love them. Not to enforce the truth, but to invite them to it. To be the person who stands with them against the world’s condemnation, all while gently pointing and leading the way to Christ. By not attaching strings to our love, only then can we love as Jesus did, and become His true disciples.

The simple, powerful invitation that Jesus offered then is the same one He asks us to offer now: “Come, follow me.”

I testify that Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. As we follow His example—refusing to use the world’s weapons of avoidance or enforcement, the fake versions of peace, and instead, leading with pure, unconditional love—we can become His peacemakers. And in doing so, we will earn that highest of all blessings: to be “called the children of God.”