Conviction and Civility
The scriptural admonition to pray for those in political authority is more than a religious duty, it promotes good civic behavior. It is more difficult to hate someone when you are praying for them. Jesus' commandment to love our enemies, including those with whom we politically disagree, is even more challenging and defies the ideologies of both left and right.
These commitments are as demanding as they are necessary to the integrity of the faith community's witness but also, in their secular forms, to the working of democracy. Therefore we call on all citizens to model better behavior in the public square—in word and deed.
This could, and should, become a moment of reflection for the nation. The only redemption that might come from the horror we have seen in Arizona, and some of our worst partisan reactions to it, would be a renewed civil character in public discourse, and more restraint and respect in the halls of government and our media channels, moving us toward a kinder and gentler public square. That would be a fitting tribute to those whose lives have been lost or forever changed by this tragedy.
Jim Wallis is president and CEO of Sojourners and author of Rediscovering Values.
Chuck Colson is a former aide to President Nixon and the founder of Prison Fellowship and the Colson Center for Christian Worldview.
Copyright © 2011 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Related Elsewhere:
Earlier Christianity Today articles on civility include:
Putting Faith Over Politics after Tucson Tragedy (Jan. 14, 2011)
Civility Project Disbands after Low Interest in Congress (Jan. 11, 2011)
'Civility May Not Be Sexy' | Amid a call for civility, Christians trade political jabs. (Oct. 8, 2010)
Assemblies of God Leader Bows Out of Civility Statement | Signatories included nonevangelicals and people who support gay marriage and abortion rights. (Apr. 14, 2010)
Blog Comments and Christian Courtesy | Some otherwise loving believers could use a remedial course in table manners. By LaVonne Neff (Apr. 21, 2009)
A Gentle Plea for Civility | Why America needs An Evangelical Manifesto. By Os Guinness (May 9, 2008)
An Open-Handed Gospel | We have to decide whether we have a stingy or a generous God. By Richard J. Mouw (Apr. 3, 2008)
Attack Dogs of Christendom | Is this how to bring grace and savor to a crumbling civilization? David Aikman (Aug. 27, 2007)
Streaming This Weekend, May 24, 2013
Boy Scouts' Membership Change May Grow Christian Youth Clubs
You Can't Think Your Way to God
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Mark S
A couple of books really opened my eyes to what Modern Liberalism has devolved into: "Radical Son" by David Horowitz (a former 60's left-wing radical) and "The Socialist Phenomenon" by Igor Shafarevich, a Solzhenitsyn cohort. Shafarevich's book is one of the most comprehensive compediums of socialist failures throughout history. The book is a little hard to read because of tranlation difficulties, but Shafarevich actually sees the socialist impulse as rooted in a subliminal desire for self-destruction. These books point out that some of the biggest enemies modern society has are: 1)ignorance in general, but of history in particular; 2)apathy and 3)materialism (which can lead to #2).
Dan H
Read Animal Farm, 1984, Brave New World for literary visions of what we see today in politics and religion. Every time I hear the political animals in DC talk, I can't help but think of Huxley's quote: "FOUR LEGS GOOD, TWO LEGS BAD". (Animal Farm)
Roger McKinney
Mark S, Yes, my first experience with theological liberals was when I went to a "Presbyterian" college and took some theology classes in the 1970's. The profs were totally unbelieving liberals, yet the used the same terminology as evangelicals. Terms like salvation, God, Son of God, love, even truth meant the opposite of what evangelicals mean by them. Yet when you call them on the blatant deception they charge you with lacking love and tolerance. Later I studied economics and found the same bag of tricks among socialists. It's no coincidence that theological liberals are flaming socialists, too. Again, they deceive. They say they aren't socialists but liberals or progressives or communitarians or believers in a third way between socialism and capitalism. But their ideas are no different from socialism at all. Of course, they define socialism as what the USSR practiced, but that was an extreme version of socialism. European socialism is the oldest and most common version.