Responding to the AZ Shootings

The shootings in Arizona have prompted a number of responses across the spectrum of political and social commentary in our country. Certainly, American Christians should be responding to this tragedy with ongoing prayer for those affected, but what other types of responses should we be making at this time?

There are doubtless a variety of answers to that question, some of which I lack the knowledge or awareness to give, but one answer that seems clear to me is our need to be better models of civil discourse, both within our Churches and in society at large. I wish commentators in their call for greater civility in public debate could point to various Christian communities in America as model examples of civil discourse when dealing with controversial issues.

As we all know, such examples are harder to find than we would like. Sadly, many Christian denominations have become well known for their lack of civil debate (e.g. The Episcopal Church), with internal wars and dissensions mirroring the styles of discourse we see in secular politics, local and national. The frustrating thing about this reality is that there are examples of civil discourse rooted in Christ’s call to love our neighbors as ourselves across our country, though they are seldom found at the denominational level.

In my own parish, there are both Democrats and Republicans, as well as all sorts of opinions and views about what the Church’s social teachings should be, and yet overall (every family has their spats) we maintain  respectful and even affectionate relationships with each other. I do not think my parish particularly unique in this regard; the challenge seems to be bringing this sort of friendly discourse rooted in Christ’s commandment to love one another to the denominational level.

There is an old hymn I learned at camp which goes, “They will know we are Christians by our love.” This first means, by our love for each other and then second, our love for those outside of the body of Christ. How can the American Church offer any prophetic critique of American society if we behave among ourselves no differently than the culture around us?