A Gentle Plea for Civility

I wrote yesterday about An Evangelical Manifesto.

Os Guiness, one of the drafters of the statement, writes a great article in Christianity Today: A Gentle Plea for Civility.  He reviews how " ... the statement addresses the confusions about evangelicalism within and the consternation without, and re-affirms what "evangelical" means and who evangelicals are."  But this is no inward looking docuemnt:

Starting with an urgently needed internal reform, it then sets out a vision of civil public life that is just and free for people of all faiths and those of no faith. Herein lies its promise — but only if adherents of other faiths (or no faith) embrace the offer and join hands to work together for a restoration of civility at a critical moment in history.

The core problem is not simply an American problem but a global challenge: How do we live with our deepest differences, especially when those differences are religious, racial, and ideological? It sounds more abstract than, say, global warming or terrorism, yet it remains a titanic problem to which no nation in a global era is immune.

Looking at the standoff between the extremes of secularism ("the naked public square") and politicised faith (most usually "the Christian Right") he claims:

The answer to these extremes lies in the restoration of a civil and cosmopolitan public square. Such a place would allow citizens of all faiths or not faith to freely engage public life on the basis of their faith, but within a framework of what is agreed to be just and free everyone else.

This view of civility is not a matter of niceness, or our squeamishness about giving offense, or a part of some kind of sensitivity training. Nor is it a search for interfaith dialogue or a lowest-common-denominator unity that glosses over differences.

Instead, it is a framework in which differences are taken seriously. Conflicts are debated robustly. Policy is decided civilly

This is hopeful. Writing as an evangelical Christian, who is so often deeply ashamed of so many of my fellow Christians actions, and who is deeply committed to dialogue which is not just the endless revoving talking shop form that he laments but which leads to understanding and action, I am encouraged. May many hear and act.

I believe we are called to civility -- and dare I say it engaging niceness!

Comments

[Joy Helmer]

I read with interest your blog on civility, which fits in so closely with my passionate committment to creating a world that works for everyone. I live in the US so there may be cultural differences in what I am saying here, vs the UK. What I find in the US, is that in public discourse people tend to get emotionally triggered and to fly off the handle whenever someone says something they don't like. There seems to be something in the American culture which leads people to want to be right about everything, to have everyone agree with them, and if someone disagrees, the issue becomes personal. It is very hard to have a civil discussion when you have such a high degree of emotionality and when people take umbrage and personal offense so easily. At least in the US, I think people have forgotten, or perhaps never even had the experience of true civility. I paused a bit when you used the phrase "robustly debated" because in the US debate deteriorates into argument very, very quickly and soon people are making derogatory remarks and smearing each other. My sense is that at least here, we are sorely in need of learning some new ways, or building in some structures that keep this kind of emotionality out of bounds. Or perhaps we just need to see true civility modeled for us a lot more frequently, whether in films, television programs or live political debates. I know there are cultural differences about what is acceptable in public discourse in various parts of the world. I would love to see us develop new ways of honestly encountering each other as human beings, inquiring deeply and thoughtfully togehter into the subject at hand---no matter what country or culture we live in. We all have a lot to learn.