By Claire Latsko | Associate Editor
This past Tuesday, the Mosaic Student Newspaper hosted an event titled The Election By The Issues, a debate led by a panel of Salve Regina students. The goal of the event was to discuss the issues of the upcoming presidential election through the lens of Salve’s mercy mission and the Five Critical Concerns of Mercy. The Five Critical Concerns of Mercy are racism, women, non-violence, immigrants, and earth.
Lily Jones and Marrissa Ballard, co-editors in chief of the Mosaic, moderated the debate. They organized questions for the panel to answer. Some of the questions were pre-constructed, while others were from the audience.
At the beginning of the event, Jones and Ballard gave an introduction about how the debate was meant to discuss the issues related to the election. The goal was to focus on the issues rather than candidates and political parties in order to avoid bipartisanship “We hope you will be inspired to think about what the Mercy Mission means to you,” Ballard said to the crowd that gathered in DiStefano lecture hall.
The panelists themselves were chosen to represent a variety of clubs, departments, and organizations on campus. The panel included Patricia Socarras ’17, Ryan Ciocco ’18, Caitlin Downing ’17, Christopher Chavarria ’19, Matthew Mascari ’17, and Julia Morisi ’17.
The Mosaic designed some of the questions for specific panelists, but the entire panel was allowed to address any of the questions that they wanted to answer.
The debate began with a general question asking about the divisive factors not only in this election, but also in the United States. The question set the tone for the evening; there was going to be a lot to for them to discuss. “This country is as divided as it’s ever been,” said Ciocco.
The other panelists agreed with him, acknowledging the fact that the United States is split up in so many different ways. Morisi reflected aloud about the role of the government and how much it should be involved in ethical issues. Chavarria mentioned that many people in the United States want to stay true to their beliefs, but lately do so in a defensive way. “Today, politics has become more about emotions,” he said. “People let their emotions get the most of them, and don’t listen to reason.”
The first Critical Concern of Mercy the panel addressed was racism. The panelists were asked about the Black Lives Matter movement, and what the All Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter movements say about the current racial climate in the United States. Socarras quickly jumped in by asking the audience to think about what “All Lives Matter” and “Black Lives Matter” do as opposed to what the phrases mean. “People are afraid to validate that Black Lives Matter,” she said.
Downing chimed in, commenting on the fact that there are people who think saying that black lives matter goes against the criminal justice system. “We need to address this,” she said.
When the critical concern of women was addressed, the two hot topics among the candidates were paid maternity leave vs. family leave and sexual assault. Downing advocated for paid family leave, in which the husband leaves work to take care of the baby as well, because it encourages equal wages and equal rights between men and women while also alleviating a lot of the stress that is put on the woman right after giving birth. She proposed a family leave tax be implemented. “It is better for everyone to contribute,” she said.
In response to Downing, Chavarria discussed his sadness about the fact that the culture in the United States restricts a father’s ability to bond with his child. He said that the capitalist system in the United States favors financial stability over family time. He also supported the idea of paid family leave, saying that the family unit would benefit from it.
The panelists were then asked what the recent Brock Turner case says about the American criminal justice system in terms of sexual assault. Downing asked audience to turn their attention away from the criminal justice system and to ask a different question: “What has sparked this increase in sexual assault, specifically on college campuses?”
Chavarria responded to her by saying that the United States needs to change its culture from one that focuses on blaming women to one that teaches men not to rape in the first place. “I hate to say this, but this is a man, man, man’s world,” he said. “Males are raised to think that they can have whatever they want.” Chavarria said that he thinks cultural changes can be made starting with the individual.
A question about abortion in the lens of non-violence came from the audience, asking about when abortion is okay and how the United States can accommodate women seeking abortion while also remaining merciful. Ciocco began the conversation by saying that every person has individual rights, and it isn’t our place to judge people because each case contains unique issues that need to be considered over blind judgment.
Downing spoke about how it is hard for her to identify as a feminist and also be a pro-life advocate. She said that she believes in human life very strongly. Chavarria agreed with her, saying that he also values human life. He wanted to make the point that saying “pro-life” means that taking any life is immoral.
Chavarria said he finds it frustrating that this issue is so heavily addressed because there are so many other issues that aren’t even being spoken about. “There is life right now that needs to be addressed,” he said. “If we can’t take care of life right now how can we take care of life in the future?”
Another non-violence issue that was briefly discussed was how the government should address gun control. Mascari answered by saying that the government isn’t trying to take guns away, but there needs to be more regulations regarding gun control. He mentioned many of the school shootings that have occurred over the past few years, and that it’s important that only people in a proper state of mind are allowed to own firearms.
When asked if the current election is addressing any issues related to the earth, and what environmental issues should be addressed, Mascari said that everyone talks about climate change, but there are plenty of other environmental issues that are hardly talked about at all. He said that fracking and the need for alternative energy in place of fossil fuels are two huge issues that get almost no media coverage.
Ciocco responded by saying that many people still have a utilitarian view of the Earth, and believe that it is disposable. He said that he thinks this is wrong and that people need to be better stewards of the Earth.
Socarras concluded this question by addressing the fact that people don’t realize that the environment is connected to everything. “The environment affects a lot more than we know,” she said. “That is not emphasized enough.”
This discussion then led to a more specific environmental question about the Flint Water Crisis. She chimed in again saying that it is bad that Flint went through the news cycle a few months ago and is now forgotten even though the water in Flint is still contaminated with high levels of lead.
Mascari responded by saying that the issue isn’t being handled due to lack of awareness. “We need to do something to better the world,” he said. “The environment is not racist, is not sexist, and does not have a political party.”
When asked what the country should do regarding immigration, Morisi answered by discussing the three points on immigration that are part of Catholic Social Teaching. First, she said that Catholic Social Teaching states that families have the right to migrate between countries. Second, nations have the right to regulate their borders. Third, she said that nations must regulate borders with mercy and justice. Morisi said that it is important to welcome immigrants into the nation in a merciful way. “It’s never merciful to separate families,” she said.
Downing responded to Morisi by saying while it is important to consider Catholic Social Teaching, it is also important to consider the fact that assimilation is hard. She said that a family goes through many struggles when trying to assimilate into the Unites States, including language barriers, stigma surrounding immigrants, religious discrimination, and so on. Chavarria chimed in commenting on the fact that it is wrong for Americans to discriminate against immigrants just because they are different. “As Americans we try to make our way the best way,” he said.
Mascari responded to the question by saying that there needs to be an easier way to become a citizen in the United States. He also spoke about the idea that immigrants are “taking jobs” away from other Americans. Socarras then emphasized that immigrants need jobs to support their families. She asked why the United States is even worried about people taking jobs when there are so many other people in the world suffering. “Where’s the mercy in that?” she said.
A question was then posed about how the idea of the United States as a “melting pot” plays a role in the concept of assimilation. Morisi said that to benefit immigrants, people need to be educated about the world and look at the source of immigration. “Some people don’t want to immigrate,” she said, commenting on the fact that many people are forced to immigrate to a new country.
Socarras followed Morisi’s point by saying that assimilation is not a “melting” of cultures. “The melting pot is something we do to make ourselves feel better,” she said. “Assimilation is not a warm, fuzzy feeling, it hurts.” She, like Chavarria, believes that Americans often try to push their culture onto immigrants.
When asked if the position of President of the United States holds a merciful role, Ciocco declined, saying that the President’s role is a cultural identifier. “Look at what defines us as a culture,” he said. “This role is inherently unmerciful.”
Mascari and Chavarria both disagreed with Ciocco, saying that the President tries to make the best decisions to benefit the most people. Although Chavarria disagreed with Ciocco, he said that the Presidential role has room to be more merciful than it is.
Socarras took an alternative route to answer the question. “The President of the United States does not have all the power,” she said. “Mercy is on you just as much as it is on the President. If we want mercy we have to be merciful ourselves.”
Other issues the panelists discussed from a general Mercy Mission viewpoint included student debt, gender-inclusive bathrooms, and homeless veterans.
Both the panelists and the moderators expressed that they hoped the debate would inspire and spark the audience there to keep the conversation going. They implored the audience to keep an open mind and to ask, “What is Mercy?” as they prepare to vote this November.
The Mosaic recorded the entire event on Facebook live, and it is still available to watch on the SRUMosaic Facebook page.
