On the Death of Civility

We all know the events of last week; there's no need to rehash those. We do need to think about them. I do not write to eulogize the dead; I do not write to speak ill of the dead. I write to speak ill of the living and to call out a warning.

It's always a tragedy when people die young. We should grieve with and pray for the young wife and her children who will grow up never knowing their father. For the parents who have to bury their son. For the father who had to turn in his son. We should also pray for our society, because it seems clear we have not learned a blessed thing.

Political violence is nothing new in human history, and the United States has certainly not been immune to it. Perhaps it's the 24-hour news cycle that makes it seem like it's becoming so much more common than it used to be, but one thing has clearly changed: We can hardly stand to be in a room with people who don't share our political opinions anymore. "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"¹ is a thing of the past. In the early days of the internet, people would say vile things to you online they would never say in person; now they'll say them to your face. Everyone who disagrees is an enemy who must be destroyed.

The rhetoric intensifies, emotions boil, and fragile people snap. Again and again. Wicked people will do wicked things. Unstable people will do unstable things. But we don't have to help.

Over the last few days I've tried to determine if some of my more politically enthusiastic friends will admit that their side owns any part of this tragedy or the overall situation. Nope. Everyone is 100% convinced the other side is 100% responsible.

And therein lies the problem. We will not change if we do not recognize any responsibility in ourselves. If our troubles are entirely inflicted by outside forces, what can we do but whatever it takes to survive?

Which is what some on both sides now threaten. Whatever the other side has done (in our perspective) we must now copy only harder. And so the vitriol, and with it the violence, will continue. Recently published numbers show

over a third of “very liberal” students (36%) and “very conservative” students (37%) believe that violence is at least rarely acceptable. Where 29% of female students think violence is at least rarely acceptable, 38% of males surveyed believe the same. This rises to 46% among gender non-conforming students.²

In politics the motto seems to be "do unto others as they have done to you". We need to remember this is not Jesus' motto. He did not give us the option to strike back. He told us to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who persecute us. We're told, "as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone" (Rom 12:18). This is the life to which we are called.

One politician famously said, "When they go low, I go lower." That is not the Jesus way, and it cannot be our way. Whichever side of the political divide you fall on, you still represent Jesus. The only question is whether you will turn in a performance that shames him or honors him.


1 People debate the original source. Doesn't matter who originally said it; we used to believe it.

2 "Third of US students say violence is acceptable response to speech"

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