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Faith's Response to Incivility
We have entered what columnist Kathleen Parker calls "a political era of uninhibited belligerence," that is finding expression in sermons, at town hall meetings, on radio talk shows, even on the floor of Congress -- especially when we differ. Why are people so angry and belligerent, and so willing to express their anger publicly? Why has our civil discourse become so uncivil? What does this public anger say about our private faith? What should we do about it?
The lack of civility in public discourse and by people of faith tempts me to incivility! I understand the quick rise to anger, the temptation toward categorical dismissal of people and their viewpoints, and the tendency to rush to sanctimonious judgment. I just find it neither appropriate, nor effective, nor faithful.
The culture of incivility and belligerence present today is explained theologically as a manifestation of the broken human condition and the need for reconciliation and healing. Hostility and collapse of all semblance of decorum is an outward expression of inner turmoil. A quick glance of news headlines shows how broken the human family remains, and how much pain people carry.
Yet while unresolved emotional pain and anxiety might be common to human experience it does not follow that anger, sarcasm and the demonization of others need be the outcome. The best of our collective religious faiths offers an alternative.
Authentic religious faith enjoins us to find meaning in how we respond to the pain we encounter in life, not in suffering and injustice itself. Faith orients us to be in right relationship with God and with humankind, to be other-centered, to live out of gratitude and to cultivate virtues worthy of the person God intended us to be. These include humility, generosity of spirit, reverence for God's creation, compassion, and the desire for reconciliation. Faith also inspires us to live integrated, whole and holy lives, where our words and behavior are in consonance, where we emulate what we advocate, where we live by example.
In the political world, as in the religious sector, when the stakes for the common good seem so high: imagine what could be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit. Common purpose binds people of different perspectives and viewpoints, contributing to the common good. Civility allows relationships to begin and develop; trust and respect allow relationships to be fruitful.
This sense of trust even in the face of stark differences was evident in the eulogizing of Sen. Kennedy over the past weeks. Kennedy, a man of deep Catholic faith, was praised ceaselessly by his political antipodes, including moving tributes from Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mitch McConnell. While these men differed immensely on several hot-button issues, they shared deep friendships and sought to work together whenever possible to further the common good. We are all better for their relationships, for their civility and for their commitment to set aside differences in favor of efforts that were life-giving.
Conviction about what is best for the common good is admirable. Fierce, angry and injurious words to convey one's conviction broadcasts that one would rather be right than effective.
Religious faith cannot eliminate the incivility endemic in our society. Anger and hatred have existed perpetually and they are symptomatic of our fractured condition. But religious faith, at its most authentic, can inspire us to inculcate qualities and habits that make us fully and truly human: respect, humility and love.
By
Kerry Robinson
|
September 16, 2009; 6:31 AM ET
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Posted by: donnwp | September 19, 2009 12:08 PM
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The christian 'faith' provided all of the justification for slavery the south needed. It is from that same line of religiously founded bigotry and racism that the 'uncivility' of the Reich Wingnuts pours onto the halls of Congress, across our TV screens and into their cup of TEA.
Why is everyone beating aroung the bush? This isn't just 'uncivility', its the call to hate crimes and race war.
Posted by: ender2 | September 18, 2009 2:06 PM
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I mean, when you are right your're right! Why and how do [you disintegrate]dogmatic extremist change?
I think it begins with humility, which is also a bedrock of the best of religious faith.
"The school of thought which was propagated more than two thousand years ago and still wittingly or unwittingly being perpetuated until now has unfortunately lead us to believe that we don't need to know more ourselves or our nature better and be able to accept that all of us are connected to one another by invisible force..."
When was the last time you went to a church, and what kind of church was it? I am reminded of this everytime I go to church. Is this another atheist/agnostic trying to 'assume' what good religion is like without having the experience? This is a secular version of the type of sectarian belligerance we are talking about. If we find the best seeds from religious experience, religion may not totally eradicate hatred (that's certainly not the Christian promise), but it can help us find, as St. Paul said to the Corinthians, "A more excellent way."
Posted by: willieyoung99 | September 17, 2009 7:06 AM
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In science, we learned that in nature there exist a pair of forces, the positive force and the negative force. This pair of forces are always together at all times but they are opposing each others. Since they are everywhere, they are also in human beings. The church calls them the Angel and the demon. And so each one of us has a dual nature because we are governed by a pair of opposing but complementary forces which we need to balance to attain our goal---equanimity, peace and well-being. Therefore we need to accept that each one of us is not perfect or complete, that each one of us has inadequacy and we need other human beings to do what we cannot do . It slso help us acquire the virtue of humility and avoid arrogance. The qualities of being good, fair and just are inherent in our nature as required by the existence of the positive force and the negative force within us which come from GOD
We need to exert effort to be well-informed and well-educated to be able to satisfy our intellect (to seek and find the truth) and our will (to be able to choose the good).
The school of thought which was propagated more than two thousand years ago and still wittingly or unwittingly being perpetuated until now has unfortunately lead us to believe that we don't need to know more ourselves or our nature better and be able to accept that all of us are connected to one another by invisible force; that we are all Homo sapiens living in one planet whose goal is unity, equanimity, peace and well-being.
Posted by: ferhab | September 17, 2009 2:20 AM
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Kerry Robinson said:Religious faith cannot eliminate the incivility endemic in our society. She is very correct.
She also said: ..religious faith, at its most authentic, can inspire us to inculcate qualities and habits that make us fully and truly human: respect, humility and love. Again, she is correct, at least for some people.
Two problems: 1. How do we get all the different groups to accept her particular definition of "authentic faith". How do we actually increase the number of people who are "fully human", that is, respectful, civil, humble, etc.
I mean, when you are right your're right! Why and how do dogmatic extremist change?
Posted by: cecilg | September 16, 2009 6:04 PM
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Thanks Kerry. Well said!