Faces on Faith: Civility . . . where has it gone?
We’re nearing the end of a very partisan high-stakes presidential election. After listening for weeks to political speeches, my husband and I have found ourselves so disturbed over the pejorative, intimidating, insulting, and hate filled language, that we could hardly sleep.
As a WWII combat veteran, my husband worried about the loss of basic respect for the democratic institutions his service honored, when bigotry, insults, demeaning of minorities and disrespectful language toward women filled the airwaves.
Bemoaning the loss of civil discourse and feeling nearly distraught, I turned to the Bible for direction and comfort. While the word “civility’ doesn’t appear in the Bible, I did find some helpful verses, such as this one in Ephesians: “I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation whereby ye are called, forebearing one another, and endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” And from Isaiah: “Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, ‘the Repairer of the breach, the Restorer of paths to dwell in.'”
The Christian Science perspective is expressed in the chapter titled “Miscellaneous Writings” from the book “Prose Works,” by Mary Baker Eddy, where she writes: “All people can and should be just, merciful; they should never envy, elbow, slander, hate or try to injure, but always try to bless their fellow mortals.” Eddy continues: “Whatever weighs in the eternal scale of equity and mercy tips the beam on the right side, where the words and deeds of men can settle all questions amicably and satisfactorily.”
Most faith traditions would urge us to choose love over hate, inclusion over exclusion, hope over cynicism, and civility over demagoguery, in our discourse. How are we measuring up?
-June Sieber, Sanibel Christian Science Church