Humanity is not red or blue

Because churches are the venue I know best, it is there - where incivility is most astounding - that I have witnessed America's polarization. Congregations of all denominations nationwide are deeply divided over this election. Accusations fly back and forth. In some cases I've seen, faithful church members have canceled financial support, and some have moved to different congregations. If the pastor preaches peace, he or she is heard to be anti-Bush. If the pastor expresses grave concern about terrorism - and the need to protect ourselves - it's seen as anti-Kerry.

I know one pastor in the heartland who has left the ministry because he felt he couldn't be faithful to the gospel message calling for justice and peace. In this highly politicized atmosphere, such a sermon would draw severe criticism from Republicans in his congregation because they hear it as taking sides in this political atmosphere rather than preaching the Gospel.

Congregations and ministers - indeed, all Americans - need to allow each other to have passionate views and to express them. But no one has a right to impose views upon another.

We all have the right and the responsibility to speak the truth, as we see it, in love. The key is to show respect for one's adversary even when there is deep division.

But how do you do that?

If we are committed to the unity of humankind, then we must be willing to continue talking to people whose views we abhor. And it's the commitment to unity that allows us to rise above our baser instinct.

Theologically, if we recognize that all are made in God's image and all children of God are worthy of our love, then the door to civility is opened.

So in a divided nation where passions are running high over war, a tight presidential race, joblessness, and antagonistic media, let us remember the common good.

But being civil to an adversary does not mean sacrificing core principles, because in challenging an adversary, you can separate what that person says from who they are.

Peace comes only when we treat even our adversaries with respect and love. And even scientists now tell us that those who live this way live longer and more productive lives.

Nelson mandela summarized it well when I asked him why he was not bitter after years of unjust confinement: "They imprisoned me for almost 30 years. If I now come into the bright light of freedom filled with hate and determined to get even, then I will be their prisoner for the rest of my life."

A word to the wise: Reserve your passions for loving, speak forcefully to what you believe, and always reserve for yourself the possibility that you might just be wrong.

This will enable you to receive wisdom from unlikely sources. To declare that some are evil closes the potential for redemption. It may be politically sellable in the short run, but it is a fatal and destructive long-term strategy.

• The Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, former general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, is the director of the department of religion at the Chautauqua Institution. She is also the chair of the Global Women's Peace Initiative, where she works for peace between Israeli and Palestinian women.

Page: 1 | 2