Every now and then, a convergence of similarly noteworthy news events highlights something we have already known but perhaps not brought forth for much reflection. We live in a culture of increasingly uncivil discourse. I have noticed this on the highly politicized fringes of the church, and have assumed that many Christians have simply taken their cues from the culture.
With many, I noted more than passing coincidence in the recent and very public displays of incivility by some influential cultural figures. South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson shouts “You Lie!” toward the President during his address to a joint session of Congress. In a semi-final match at the US Open Tennis Championship, Serena Williams explodes in an obscenity-laced tirade against a line-judge. Rapper Kayne West runs up on stage at the MTV Music Awards Show to interrupt an acceptance speech of country singer Taylor Swift and announce that in his esteemed opinion the artist Beyonce was more deserving of this particular award. MTV is not exactly known for thoughtful public discourse or meaningful cultural engagement, but even for this network, West’s display seemed offensive and rude.
I searched some Christian journals and blog sites to see if anyone else found noteworthy these episodes that all occurred within one week of each other. Perhaps some will be forthcoming shortly. I did come across the blog entry below that cautions Christians from succumbing to the deadly sin of anger through thoughtless outbursts of verbal wrath. Angry Christians never win souls for Christ. http://www.everysquareinch.net/2009/09/kanye-west-joe-wilson-serena-williams.html.
Of course there is righteous anger, and we are not to confuse anger about sin with the sin of anger itself. St. Paul wisely reminded the early churches that they needed to be careful lest they allow their anger to dictate their actions (Colossians 3:8 and Ephesians 4:26). Instead he urges them to deal with anger so it can be set aside and the more holy virtues dictate action.
Nevertheless, I have wondered that the increasingly course nature of public discourse in our society has less to do with a failure to deal appropriately with our anger than with deep divisions over cultural assumptions around a host of bedrock matters. In a society with such deeply felt (if not always thought through) notions over the nature of human life, the essence of freedom, the supposed autonomy of the self, the highest role of government, etc. perhaps it is not surprising that so many of us seem unable to sustain respectful public discourse.
Theologian and philosopher Dallas Willard, a Senior Fellow of the Trinity Institute, recently spoke to a gathering there arguing that “we live in the midst of a politics of contempt.” People today often think it is okay to deal contemptuously with one another “because they do not have a common point of reference in truth and knowledge from which they can speak to one another.” If anyone has ever seen Pro-Life and Pro-Choice advocates scream at each other across picket lines outside of an abortion clinic, this point is graphically illustrated. These opposing groups root their cause in radically different values and not being able to connect, they simply shout.
Rep. Joe Wilson, Serena Williams, and Kayne West may have done a service after all: calling us to deeper reflection on the wide gulf in cultural and religious assumptions that divide our society and the need to name this divide in more civil and respectful ways.
The link to a mention of Dallas Willard’s on our “politics of contempt” talk is posted here:
http://www.ttf.org/index/update/july-2009-2/.