Civility is more than being kind. It is the currency of a healthy society and a moral guardian for our character. After a week of mass shootings, I speak as one holding responsibility for the character of a community and as a witness for moral wisdom sustained across generations. The deepened recent coarsening of public discourse obligates my conscience to speak. I do not want my kindness and discretion to hide the sense of moral peril that I believe our nation is enduring.
We have grown tragically accustomed to mass shootings in our communities. Some of these events are now being fueled by attitudes and rhetoric that has been normalized by our president and embraced by a growing number in American communities. Leadership for a society requires moral rectitude.
Pejorative and stigmatizing speech may be allowable in a free society. But moral restraint and character are required for a free society to be sustained. The rebellion against political correctness has evolved into affirmations by many in our society for the acceptability of “saying it like it is” – even if there are many and various perceptions in our community about the “way it is.”
Civility creates space for differences of opinion to be aired and weighed with both conviction and care. It is wrong and morally reprehensible to demean or dehumanize a person who holds a different point of view on matters of reasonable public debate. For example:
- It is reasonable to disagree about the most appropriate immigration policy for our nation. It is morally wrong to speak about immigrants as inhuman animals [1] or to foster governmental practices that challenge international norms for human rights.[2]
- It is reasonable to disagree about the best means to assure public safety and allow for constitutionally acceptable uses of firearms. It is morally wrong to promote using the second amendment as a means to “do” something about people with whom you disagree. [3]
- It is reasonable to disagree about current consequences and remedies for our legacy of slavery and racial division as a nation. It is morally wrong to refer to those who rally, chanting “Blood and soil,” “You will not replace us,” “Hail Trump,” and “We will be back,” as somehow being “good people” on an ethical par with those who advocate a tolerant society. [4] Likewise it is morally reprehensible to broadly refer to majority African American urban centers in a manner that infers sub-human status on communities “infested” with “rodents.” [5]
As in all things, this is a matter worthy of our prayer. I support the effort affirmed by our president in his August 5 statement, “In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy. … Hate has no place in America. Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart, and devours the soul.” [6] Indeed, my prayers are for our president and all elected leaders so they might sustain their energies in support of this affirmation.
Love counters hate and is a bulwark that creates space for dialogue. I live in such a space working as Pastor for a spiritual community that is comprised of faithful citizens who hold a wide variety of perspectives about the most effective ways to live together as a society. In this daily work, I invest in spiritual practices of Christian love which create generous space for people to live responsibly and prayerfully with one another. Such space for civility allows us to share differences and disagreements in a way that helps us learn from each other while working to build a better community and society.
Like many pastors trained in my generation, I was schooled in the lessons that church leaders acquired from two significant world events impacting humanity in profound ways: The rise and fall of European fascism; and the divisions and progress of the civil rights struggle of the 1960’s. Furthermore we began our ministries confronting the ills of apartheid in South Africa, and seeing a spiritual revolution for human dignity in formerly communist lands. As a consequence of my lessons and experience, I ask my friends not to be surprised that ethical alarm bells are chiming in my conscience. Please do not confuse what I see as a civic moral peril with what is often dismissed as a pastor merging religion and politics.
I believe it is a moral imperative for responsible citizens – especially we who claim a spiritual core – to speak reasonably and with conviction to counter demeaning, dehumanizing, or hateful speech in conversations with family, friends, and co-workers. It is not a virtue to uncap the lid on inner voices fueled by hurtful resentments or uninformed presumptions. Even more, it is faithful in this age to assemble, speak, and write our elected representatives in support of leadership that confronts any coarsening of public discourse in a way that demeans or dehumanizes people of varied perspectives.
Jesus sent his disciples into the world charging them (Luke 10:5) to proclaim peace wherever they went. I encourage all whose conscience calls for civility to join me in seeking practical ways to listen and learn from one another as we seek peace and the promotion of the common good. I believe this is a moral imperative for us today.
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Postscript:
My hope is that this personal witness will be received in a spirit of prayer with an opportunity for sincere conversation. I have turned off comments because I would prefer any conversation on this issue to be face to face. As many of you are aware, social media often becomes a platform for shouting at one another instead of serving as a vehicle for genuine sharing and listening. It grieves my spirit whenever I hear of alienation among our congregation caused by aggressive social media comments. We are not immune to the tone of shunning and exclusion that currently afflicts the American body politic. I always hope we can do and be better in our witness.
It is my hope that you read my comments and understand I strongly respect a historic Presbyterian conviction that people of good conscience differ. Such a principle is inherent within the moral imperative to which I am bearing witness. Thank you for your prayerful and thoughtful attention.
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Endnotes:
[1] – New York Times, May 16, 2018. “Trump Calls Some Unauthorized Immigrants Animals in Rant” by Julie Hirschfield Davis. – And – New York Times, August 5, 2019. “How the Trump Campaign Used Facebook Ads to Amplify His ‘Invasion’ Claim” by Thomas Kaplan.
[2] – The Guardian, January 4, 2019. “US halts cooperation with UN on potential human rights violations” by Ed Pilkington.
[3] – New York Times, August 9, 2016. “Donald Trump Suggests ‘Second Amendment People’ Could Act Against Hillary Clinton” by Nick Corasaniti and Maggie Haberman.
[4] – Southern Poverty Law Center, October 10, 2017. “When White Nationalists Chant their Weird Slogans What do They Mean?” by David Neiwert.
[5] – Associated Press, July 28, 2019. “Trump attacks majority black district represented by critic” by Zeke Miller.
[6] – Transcript from WhiteHouse.gov – August 5, 2019, 10:08 A.M. EDT Diplomatic Reception Room “Remarks by President Trump on the Mass Shootings in Texas and Ohio.”
Post Image – “Conversation Abstract” by Siddesh Rane
Brian Paulson 