Civil Discourse

Three topics to always avoid: sex, religion and politics. No matter how even-handed you try to be, someone will always be genuinely offended by your words on either of the three. So I did religion for my last topic. I might as well do politics for this one.

I started college in Chicago the same week that the Democratic Convention began in 1968. The year that the anti-war movement hit it’s prime. The year that the Chicago police and the Illinois National Guard rioted and jeopardized an entire city with their rage . The year that civil discourse crumbled due to the Left’s disruption of every gathering, from the Convention to college campuses, to Sunday School classes, with their angry chants and fiery rhetoric. And that rhetoric continued to build, and hatred was spewed from every platform, from both the left and from the right in equal measure. Hatred spread throughout this country, and we learned to dismiss and loudly condemn those who disagreed with us. We called down the wrath of God on one another, and claimed the almighty honored only our own view, whatever it was. We gave the green light to vile behavior in support of moral principles, and celebrated our uncompromising righteousness --- until the Ohio National Guard took it upon themselves to open fire on the unarmed students at Kent State University and killed kids in cold blood, on National TV for everyone to see.

Then and only then, in 1970, did the nation sober up and step back from its self-righteous zeal. For the next 25 years we kept our self-righteous bad behavior in check, realizing that civil discourse is our only chance at making this nation work. Ronald Reagan on the right and Tip O’Neil on the left, showed us that we could disagree, yet still share a drink, a story and good fellowship, even friendship. Things were going pretty well.

Then Newt Gingrich decided to become Speaker of the House and re-animated self- righteous anger as the horse he rode to glory. We quickly forgot our hard won lessons, and for the past 15 years civil discourse has crumbled; giving way to angry chants, fiery rhetoric and denial of the other’s basic humanity and nobility. The only difference from 1969 is that this time around, the nastiness is led by the right not the left. Limbaugh, Hannity, Palin, Beck and their ilk have replaced Jerry Rubin, Abby Hoffman and their ilk. The same self-righteous rage just spit from the opposite side of the fence.

Then a misguided nut job pulls a trigger and a congresswoman takes the Kent State kids place on the ground.

This is the kind of thing that happens when we forget the humanity of those with whom we disagree. It is a central reason why civil discourse is a must in the public realm. When you create an environment of violent rhetoric, violent action is a tiny step away.

And the worst offenders are folks who cling tightly to their Bibles and claim to be defending the faith. Christians have a long history of this kind of “defense of God” thinking. The problem is that the rhetoric of rage is about as un-Christian as you can get.

God the Father Almighty; the creator of the universe, the alpha and the omega, doesn’t need our puny help, or protection. To suggest otherwise is to deny His omnipotence and diminish His grandeur. And when I read the New Testament, I fail to see a Christ who condemns, belittles or dehumanizes anyone – not even the soldiers who nailed him to a cross. All I see there is acceptance and grace.

So where does the Christian Right get the notion that decidedly uncivil discourse is doing the will of God? And if it’s not following the will of God, then who does all the thunder and lighting serve? I could be wrong about this, but I’m thinking it might just be playing into Satan’s hands. He’s a sly devil, he is. He also loves the irony of the defenders of the faith destroying the faith. And we stand around with egg on our faces.

Of course, I could be wrong. Joe Anderson, author
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1 This was the official assessment of the Walker Commission. Dan Walker, who chaired the commission, became the governor of the state of Illinois.

DISCLAIMER: The Spirit Porch is a St. Stephen Lutheran Church community platform for ideas and conversations about faith and life. Because of this the views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of St. Stephen Lutheran Church as an institution, or those of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.