This week on The Open Door we discuss political extremism and its sources. Our guest is Patrick Tomassi. He teaches math and science at Trinity Academy in Portland, Oregon, and his work has appeared in Public Discourse and America. Tomassi is also a contributing editor at Veritas Journal and helps organize the annual New York Encounter. Of special interest to some listeners: he was off and on homeschooled and belongs to Communion and Liberation, founded by the late Msgr. Luigi Giussani. Our questions include the following. Feel free to send us your own!

1. How did you come to interview people in Portland’s ongoing protests?

2. Did you find many “haters” among them?

3. What shapes their social and political views?

4. How does race come into play?

5. Are Americans increasingly accepting of political violence?

6. Does America really have a legacy of tolerance? What about utopianism?

7. To what extent is the current pandemic exacerbating social unrest?

8. Can you give us examples of real dialogue in today’s upheavals?

9. Why, in your estimation, has homeschooling been historically blinkered?

10. Could you tell us about the focus of Communion and Liberation?