In a little more than a month, the American people will go to the polls to elect their president for the next four years. Sadly, the climate in the country is one in which inflammatory rhetoric, uncivil accusations, personal attacks and unrelenting questioning of others’ motives are commonplace.
How are Catholics a part of all this? How should they respond?
As brothers and sisters in Christ–members of one family, the Body of Christ–Catholics are called to think and act differently. They are challenged to approach dialogue with a spirit of love and respect.
The Old Testament book of Numbers tells about a disagreement that arises among the Israelites. They have been wandering in the desert on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land. The people have grown weary, and after Moses pleads with God for help, God bestows His Spirit on 70 leaders who are gathered in the tent so that they can encourage and help those who are weary. However, divisions arise among the leaders, even after they all received God’s spirit. (Nm 11:25-29)
How often do we “murmur among ourselves,” like the Israelites, about someone else, especially a political leader? How often do we unjustly question the motives of others, or even attack or make fun of someone else? How often do we jump to conclusions about others who may be honestly seeking to do good, but in a different way and with a different perspective from us?
Giving others the benefit of the doubt, not doubting their motives and approaching them with a willingness to listen and understand does not mean that we are saying that “everyone is right” or that there is no fundamental truth or clear moral requirement. On the contrary, we believe that God gives us a “perfect law” that we must follow. As the Psalm proclaims, “The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul.” (Ps 19:8) Thus, we do not believe in relativism, that there is no objective right or wrong.
What Catholics should believe in is examining the tone and tenor of our debate; refusing to disparage the name and reputation, the character and life of a person simply because he or she holds a different position; and refusing to spread falsehoods or half-truths about one another. Catholics must remember that the Commandment that obliges us to avoid false witness also calls us to be people who tell the truth.
We must reject the temptation to select only some facts, choose inflammatory words, spin the story or be used for someone else’s political purpose. We must recognize that although we are each individuals, we are called to live out our lives in relationship with others, in community. Catholics must always work to strengthen, not erode, that sense of community.
As Catholic people, we must always express our thoughts, opinions and positions but always do so in love and truth.
In his Epistle, James writes to an early Christian community, criticizing the divisions among them. To the owners of the fields, he writes, “Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your field are crying aloud; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.” (Jas 5:4)
We live in a society with some of these same divisions: rich vs. poor; owners vs. workers; Democrat vs. Republican; conservative vs. liberal; and social and ethnic divisions. Catholics should resist the temptation to play into these divisions in our society. We are one family of faith; we are all children of God.
The divisions among us, and the disrespect we show toward one another are a cause of scandal. When others–our neighbors, our friends, our children, people who read our comments on Facebook pages, blogs or e-mail–see us disrespecting one another, this weakens the witness of our Church.
We have many ways we choose to divide ourselves, but we have something in common: we are all children of God, and we are called to treat one another and all God’s children with respect and understanding.
How can we overcome division? How can we respect and support the dignity of others? In the midst of this election season when dialogue is often anything but civil, here are some ideas for how we can be vehicles of Christ’s love when we talk with others, including those with whom we disagree.
We should begin with respect. We should decide not to degrade the persons, characters and reputations of others who hold different positions from us; or spread rumors, falsehoods or half-truths about them. We should be careful about the language we use, avoiding inflammatory words and rhetoric. We should not assign motives to others.
Instead, we should assume that our family members, friends and colleagues are speaking in good faith, even if we disagree with them. We should listen carefully and respectfully to other people. We should remember that we are members of a community, and we should try to strengthen our sense of community through the love and care we show one another.
Finally, we should be people who express our thoughts, opinions and positions but always do so in love and truth. If we can model Christ’s love in our civil dialogue, we can begin to change the negative climate in our country during this election season, and beyond.