Are you feeling the weight of political tensions? You’re not alone!
This week on Here’s What We Know, we’re joined by Elliot Sands, Executive Director of Live Faith First and host of the Live Faith First podcast. We unravel the emotional divide that’s gripping America during election seasons and explore how it impacts personal relationships—even within families.
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In this Episode:
- Navigating the Election Cycle
- Understanding Political Polarization
- The Impact of Loneliness on Politics
- Questioning Our Political Affiliations
- The Importance of Love, Respect, and Kindness
- Finding Common Ground in Divisive Times
- The Power of Positive Thinking
- Emotional Health During Elections
- The Importance of Gratitude, Resilience, and Perspective
- Navigating Contentious Issues
- Conversations Beyond Winning and Losing
- Faith and Trust in Leadership
- The Future of Political Discourse
Quotations:
“That’s been part of who we are. We mock the other side. What’s weird now, though, and what’s different now is that we are as Americans; we are emotionally more divided than ever.” ~ Elliot Sands
“The irony of it is that both sides see the other side equally evil.” ~ Elliot Sands
“How do we humanize people on the other side is a, is a really big deal. and just realizing that for the most part, we’re all just trying to get home every day, and have a little bit of peace. get up the next morning, make sure our kids make it to school, and like just survive.” ~ Elliot Sands
“Write down five good things or think of five good things that the other side is doing well. Like, and what that starts to do is it actually starts to bring this kind of realistic.” ~ Elliot Sands
“Every side is getting a little bit, right? Every side is getting a little bit wrong. And so realizing that should humble us a little bit, should make us go, okay, let me not get so riled up because maybe my, maybe my side’s wrong there and that’s okay. That’s okay. Because we know that. not one side is gonna get it perfectly right.” ~ Elliot Sands
“We’ve gotten to this place where we define people by their political affiliation.” ~ Elliot Sands
“Our loneliness plays into this political polarization, our tribalizing around our political parties.” ~ Elliot Sands
“For every other divide in our society, whether it’s ethnic or socioeconomic divides, we make so many assumptions about people we don’t know because we don’t know them. And if we took a moment to talk to somebody from whatever other side it is for you, you might be surprised about how much you have in common, there will be differences, but there will also be a commonality. And when we bridge those gaps and find that commonality, now all of a sudden the gap that we thought we had because of your political affiliation or your ethnicity or your socioeconomic whatever it is, it fades away.” ~ Elliot Sands
“My core definition is not my political affiliation. That is not who I am.” ~ Elliot Sands
“In this election season, we must do better.” ~ Elliot Sands
“No matter a person’s political opinions, no matter their affiliations, their background, whatever it is, we need to treat one another with love, respect, and kindness. Everybody deserves that. Whether or not you agree with them or whether or not you vehemently disagree with them, we still need to treat people with love, respect, and kindness.” ~ Elliot Sands
“Commonality is such an important part of how we navigate these conversations because we have to look for it. It’s there. It’s there. And when we find it, we got to call it out.” ~ Elliot Sands
“So these elections aren’t so emotional, again, not that we agree on everything now, because that will never happen. But that it’s not driven by these negative, contentious, contemptuous emotions that we have towards one.” ~ Elliot Sands
Bio:
Elliot Sands is a dynamic leader with diverse experiences across multiple sectors. He is the Executive Director at Live Faith First, where he takes on the challenge of addressing division in society head-on, refusing to choose the easy path. As COO of The SHP Foundation, Elliot supports churches and homeless initiatives, meeting incredible people along the way. He was also a co-founder of CirrusMD, one of the fastest-growing telehealth companies in the nation, connecting thousands of patients to live physicians within 60 seconds—no bots, no AI, just real doctors.
With roles ranging from Executive Pastor to School Principal, Elliot’s leadership has touched lives in profound ways. His career began in sales and customer service, with early lessons learned during his time as a Sales Rep at FCPA and as a Customer Service Rep at PG&E. Elliot’s education includes a Masters in Divinity from Western Seminary, where he grew immensely, and an MBA from San Jose State University, where he formed lifelong friendships.
Guest Contact Info:
Website: https://www.elliotsands.me/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliotsands/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliot.sands/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livefaithfirst/
Live Faith First: https://www.livefaithfirst.org/
Love, Respect, & Kindness: https://mustdobetter.org/