IN LITTLE WAYS

A civil tongue

President Obama pals around with terrorists.
Sarah Palin is a dangerous moron.
Nancy Pelosi is a conniving liar.
Rush Limbaugh is a fat pig.

“Respected” commentators uttered these remarks, and that scares me far more than where they stand on the political spectrum. Our divisions don’t frighten me nearly as much as the way we discuss them does.

I have strong opinions about health care, immigration, and the economy. I’m ready to fight hard to see my positions become or remain law. There’s a difference, though, between fighting hard and fighting dirty. Calling Candidate X “ineffectual” is fighting hard. Calling him “a cowardly weasel” is fighting dirty. Too many politicians and commentators are fighting dirty. I worry that worthy candidates will adopt these tactics as the only way to win. Decent men and women may abandon politics altogether.

Ugly personal attacks continue in politics because they work. A spooky photograph of furloughed murderer Willie Horton helped wreck Michael Dukakis’ bid for the presidency. Allegations that John McCain fathered an illegitimate black child probably cost him South Carolina. Lyndon Johnson won in 1964 in part because of a TV ad that suggested Goldwater would start a nuclear war.

Such tactics work because voters are more likely to become involved in a campaign if they’re outraged. If a candidate doesn’t inspire voters, he may try to alarm them instead.

Dirty tricks also work because we’re lazy. We’d rather make a quick decision from one accusation than study a candidate’s complete record. We’d rather share juicy gossip than check its accuracy. We prefer simple slogans to a reasoned analysis of a complex issue.

Our survival instinct tells us we need to be right — quickly. Once we’ve decided what’s right, we ignore any data that suggests otherwise, and we embrace any allegation that reinforces our position. Few Democrats request President Obama’s birth certificate. Few Republicans wonder about President Bush’s National Guard service.

I hope Catholics resist the temptation to attack our opponents’ character rather than their positions. When the Church takes a stand on a political issue, she has two opportunities. One is the chance to show the practical applications of Christian doctrine. The other is the chance to show how to present and defend a position with vigor and courtesy. How we fight is as important as what we fight about.

What is true for the church as a whole is equally true for individual Catholic voters. Those “Pray for Obama … to die” T-shirts didn’t come from the Republic National Committee or the Vatican. Some ordinary Christians created them, and that alarms me. I’d rather the president was every bit as bad as his worst enemy claims than find Christians praying for his death.

What we hear and what we say determines what we do. Violent words inspire violent actions. Hateful language begets and sustains injustice. It has no place in a Christian’s conversation.

It’s not enough, though, for Christians to refrain from hate speech. We must refuse to listen to it as well. We keep our children away from coarse language and violent movies, because we know kids are copycats. So are adults. We inevitably acquire the habits and attitudes of those with whom we spend our time.

We should also use our influence to banish hate speech from the political arena. We can refuse to support candidates who make or sanction personal attacks on their opponents. We can turn off broadcasters who belittle and denigrate others. We can throw those nasty flyers and emails in the trash.

We Christians are lucky to live in a country where our voice heard. Let’s make sure our voice sounds like Christ’s.