What happens when you sit a former Air Force chaplain down for a conversation with a former evangelical Christian who left the church? In this case, a budding friendship.
Central Florida Public Media, in partnership with StoryCorps, is bringing together strangers with differing political views for a guided conversation.
Brevard County resident and lifelong Republican Tom Unrath sat down to talk with fellow Brevard County resident Dani Combs. Unrath is retired from the Air Force as a chaplain, and is a retired pastor, while Combs identifies as a former evangelical turned agnostic.
“I feel like human connection is really struggling these days,” Combs said. “I am the parent of a pre-teen and a teenager, and I feel like all the time we spend on screens and texting and on social media and one-sided algorithms has made it really hard for people of all generations just to connect.”
Unrath agreed.
“I've seen the divisions that are happening within the world, and in so many ways, I want to help people to understand that we need each other,” Unrath said. “We need to work together.”
Meet Tom Unrath
Tom Unrath was born into a military family.
He ultimately went to seminary and was an Air Force chaplain for 22 years. He’s also passionate about conservation.
The biggest influence on his life? His daughter Nicole Unrath.
She died in a car accident on the way from Tampa to Melbourne in 2003.
“The things that she taught me are to love without withholding anything, to care for everybody, to always smile, to hug people as often as possible,” Unrath said. “She taught me that love lives on among people, well beyond death.”
Meet Dani Combs
Dani Combs was born and raised in South Louisiana, but lived all over as part of a military family.
Her husband retired from the Air Force in 2021, and she lives in Melbourne with two kids. She’s a personal trainer, podcast host, actor, bartender and book review blogger.
Like Unrath, her life was affected by loss: Her father died by suicide when she was 11 years old. She said that taught her to really pay attention when she asks how people are doing, and to be involved in mental health awareness.
“He was really extroverted, and he had a huge personality,” Combs said. “I get a lot of my personality traits from him. He was a great masker … of his internal battles.”
The takeaway
Ultimately, Unrath and Combs realized that the way they describe their political values matches up.
Unrath said people should take care of each other - “whether coming at it from a Libertarian point of view or Green Party point of view, or Republican or Democrat, whether a person considers him or herself conservative or liberal.”
Combs said whenever she goes to vote, she thinks about how this will impact the greater good and the most vulnerable.
“It's interesting, because before we started our interview, we were told we have different political views,” Combs said. “The way you are describing your personal views is kind of the same. That kind of brings us full circle to how we started this conversation and to why this is so important.”
Unrath said this conversation has taught him that he has a “new friend.”
“We all live in the same space, we all breathe the same air,” Unrath said.
StoryCorps’ One Small Step and the Radio Station Hubs are made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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