Rules for Christians in a Political Season

Rector’s Rambling-June 2012

We are in the midst of a political season, both in the church and in the state. This summer, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church will meet in Indianapolis to debate issues and pass resolutions which will be misunderstood by many, held to be prophetic by some and un-godly by others, and ignored by far more. In November, the people of the United States will elect a president, a congress, and one third of the US Senate. The process and its results will be misunderstood by many, hailed as an answer by some and mourned as the end of the world by others, and life will go on in some form for most of us. In the mean time, many of us will have conducted ourselves in ways which will divide us from friends, hurt the feelings of many, and effectively shut down the probability of real communication between people for some time to come. Politics can be a ruthless game. If we accept the practices of many and allow ourselves to believe that “the ends justify the means,” or that we must “win at any cost,” we break our covenant as Episcopalian Christians to “respect the dignity of every human being.”

In this month’s Rector’s Rambling, I offer some ideas for civil discourse that just might help us to preserve our friendships and lay the groundwork for ongoing cooperation between people of differing views. This list is of course incomplete, but I pray that it will help us to think twice before speaking once, and help us to develop a framework for peaceful co-existence and mutual respect.

1. Keep your language respectful. Tone can mean as much as words when we speak of others. I once knew a cleric who referred to a former bishop as “_______, our Bishop” when she was upset with him. The form, drawn from the prayers of the people, is perfectly respectful, but as she used it, it was filled with scorn. I would suggest never speaking of the principals in the debates which surround us with adjectives or by employing their first names. The phrase “President Obama,” or “Governor Romney,” or “Bishop Jefferts-Schori” can be delivered in a respectful tone which is much more rational and healing than “Barry,” or ”That Mormon,” or “Herself.” When we start with a pejorative or with mocking, there is no real possibility that respectful and rational discussion of the issues will follow.

2. Check your facts and stick to the facts which are relevant to the issue being discussed. Far too many people are too quick to forward or tweet or post to my-space. The result is that at best inaccuracies are spread, and at the worst, vicious lies are circulated. The commandment is clear that we are forbidden to bear false witness against our neighbor. Forwarding false things is breaking the ninth commandment. It must be repented of and correction must be made if we value our souls. Verify your facts and state them as part of a clearly reasoned argument. Believe half of what you hear or read, about a quarter of what you see, and delete anything which constitutes a personal attack on anyone. As inspector Joe Friday used to say on Dragnet, “Just the facts ma’am.”

3. Insist that your conversations be limited to issues and verifiable facts. If someone starts attacking a person without evidence or if they jump from factoid to factoid or issue to issue in a way which excites emotion without addressing substance rationally, say something like, “I really don’t want to get involved in this kind of discussion. I’d be glad to discuss a single issue at a time with you after we have both had a chance to marshal and verify our facts.” It may seem rude at first, but it will preserve more friendships and enable more good citizenship (and more good churchmanship) than just going along with what most people do.

4. Avoid the talking head shows on both left and right. They set a tone of loudness and a precedent of talking over each other which debases public discourse. Don’t let them be your example of how to argue or debate.

5. Beware any speaker who employs sophistic rhetorical tricks over well reasoned and organized arguments. Such people are often expert at moving the heart, but they seldom inform the mind. Their method has been regularly employed by demagogues and tyrants throughout history. This is not to say that a good debater should not try to move the heart, but he or she ought always to appeal to reason over emotion. To do otherwise is merely to incite the mob.

6. Never cast the person with whom you disagree as “evil.” There are evil people in the world, who after a pre-meditated fashion seek to dominate or hurt others. Most people do not fall into that category. Be willing to give your political adversary the benefit of the doubt for the sake of a respectful argument. Once you have called them evil, or assumed them to be so, your relationship is probably over forever, as is the real possibility of your living together successfully.

I hope these suggestions will help us all to survive yet another political season, and to fulfill our covenant made with each other before God that we will “Respect the dignity of every human being.”

Faithfully,

Bill+