Difference or Disrespect?

I hate politics. It’s not that I don’t care. I care deeply and I believe honest, moral people can disagree about issues.

What I hate about politics is that neither side can manage to disagree without character assassination.

And, if I’m candid, the people who have disappointed me most in this are Christians. Christians on both sides. And I don’t exclude myself.

How can you follow Jesus if you tear down others because they disagree with your political position?

Does the fact that it’s really clever make it ok?

If you have kids, do you tolerate name calling between them? What makes you think God does?

If we are His children, how must He feel about the way we treat each other? Do you think He smiles when you insult your opponent? Does He laugh at your snide comments? Would He give you a divine fist bump for that funny putdown?

I’m going to go with … no.

When one of my daughters was younger, she made some rude remarks to a friend on Facebook. I grounded her from Facebook for about two months and, if I remember correctly, she had to write a short paper about kindness, complete with biblical citations.

Now I read tweets, Facebook updates and blog posts from grown men and women, many of whom profess to be Christ followers, that are far more defamatory than the comments that got my daughter grounded.

Is it ok to be vicious in the name of God? Again, I’m going with the no.

Does it mean we can’t express our views and stand for what we believe? Of course not. It just means we need to separate difference of opinion from disrespect of person.

When my girls were younger, I had a three-tiered system for dealing with disrespectful treatment of siblings. If clearly one-sided, the offender was required to perform an act of service for her sister. Mutual combat warranted a team project; an unpleasant task completed together. If the problem persisted, the next step was the togetherness hour; 60 minutes spent holding hands. And, yes, that meant the bathroom. I believe I had to impose a togetherness hour once. After that time, the mere threat was an effective deterrent.

I propose a team project for the Democrats and the Republicans. Start small. Pick up trash on Capitol Hill. Get out the hammer and nails and go repair a home or two. Clean up a highway. Scrub a toilet.

Then come together and discuss the issues with that person who held the ladder for you and handed you the hammer. The one whose worries, concerns and struggles are not that different from your own. Your sibling in the family of God.

Perhaps then the rhetoric would come down a notch — or a hundred.

Otherwise, I’ll propose a togetherness hour with … ~~those horrible~~ ~~Democrats~~ ~~those nasty Republicans~~ your brothers and sisters.