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Christianity Today, May (Web-only), 2008 |

Speaking Out

A Gentle Plea for Civility

Why America needs An Evangelical Manifesto.

Os Guinness, Religion News Service | posted 5/09/2008 12:05PM

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This view of civility is not a matter of niceness, or our squeamishness about giving offense, or a part of some kind of sensitivity training. Nor is it a search for interfaith dialogue or a lowest-common-denominator unity that glosses over differences.

Instead, it is a framework in which differences are taken seriously. Conflicts are debated robustly. Policy is decided civilly.

The question is now how this proposal will be received by other evangelicals, other Christians and people of other faiths. The offer itself be may be politicized and caught in the crossfire of the culture wars.

Yet Americans, it seems to me, must face up to global realities, dig deep in their cultural and historical resources, and work together for the possibility of a new birth of freedom. We evangelicals have stepped forward, and our good-faith offer goes out to other citizens.

The world watches and waits to see if this Novus Ordo Seclorum — this "new order of the ages" that is imprinted on our national seal — can live up to its promise.

Os Guinness, an author and social critic, is one of the drafters of An Evangelical Manifesto. His most recent book is The Case for Civility — and Why Our Future Depends on It.

Related Elsewhere:

The manifesto's website has the document, signatories, and should soon have video of the press conference.

See also Religion News Service's article, "Evangelicals Lament a Politicized Faith."

Coverage includes:

Evangelical leaders say their faith is too politicized (Associated Press)

U.S. evangelicals call for step back from politics (Reuters)

'Evang. Manifesto' targets stereotypes (Baptist Press)

'Manifesto' vexes evangelicals (The Washington Times)

'Evangelical Manifesto' Aims to Depoliticize Religion (Day to Day, NPR)

Manifesto aims to make 'evangelical' less political (USA Today)

Evangelicals try to reclaim their good name | Manifesto warns not to attach loaded labels to theological term (Cathleen Falsani, Chicago Sun-Times)

Interesting blog posts include:

An Evangelical Manifesto? (James K.A. Smith, Generous Orthodoxy Think Tank, part 2)

Thoughts on the Evangelical Manifesto (Joe Carter, The Evangelical Outpost)

Whither "Evangelicalism"? (Steve Knight, Emergent Village)

An seventh cackling (Jenell Paris, The Paris Project)

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May (Web-only) 2008, Vol. 52

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leeza24

Posted: May 17, 2008 12:17 PM

Just More Politics In Another Disguise The leaders did the same thing every election time at TCOTW, Jack Hayford's church. He was usually careful, but many of the other pastors on staff there weren't. I was there when one of them actually publicly stated from the platform during a service that he didn't see how anyone could call themself a Christian and be a Democrat! People were upset and some even got up and left the service. Wednesday Night prayer meetings were more of a political campaign than a spiritual gathering. Prayers were invoked for certain politicians in the running but not for others. I was there the night we were all told to hold hands across the aisles to pray for all those in the running, but when we did the pastor asked God to let so-in-so win. That was the night I walked out. I was disgusted at being manipulated and lied to to make me pray for a certain candidate to win! It was pretty obvious the Powers in charge were Republican and felt we all should be too.

Camille K. Lewis

Posted: May 16, 2008 3:20 PM

If civility does require healing and forgiveness, it should be something at which we believers excel. I must admit that I'm skeptical about the call for "civility" as such, since I connect it to modernist/platonic and Habermasian "ideal speech situations." Habermas and his ilk would eke out all religious discourse in the civic sphere as uncivil. But perhaps we Evangelicals can grab the term and privilege the repentance and healing that our culture needs. Some are trying. I see that right now at the very same time as this call for civility/forgiveness was posted. And it's about religion and race too. Graduates and former students of Bob Jones University are appealing to their alma mater to reconcile their past racist policies. http://www.please-reconcile.org/ Will it work? Don't know. Don't really care. It's not about effectiveness, I don't think. It's a beginning. And it's a beginning move toward civility, I believe.

Christina

Posted: May 12, 2008 10:48 PM

I'm grateful that someone finally had the courage to stand up and say something about this. I'm a Christian college student, and I've been so annoyed recently by die-hard evangelicals aligning themselves with a particular party ideology. We're ready to get back to a theology that we know is firm, so we know what we believe. I'm tired of people viewing Christians as intolerant and hate-mongers. We're tired of people telling us that we have to belong to one party or another, and that's what makes us good Christians. We're tired of an establishment view of Christianity, that it is the ONLY religion that belongs in America. We want good strong doctrine so that we can go out and change the world for Christ, in a CIVIL manner, with respect to other beliefs. Thanks for making that stand.

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