The idea that God guides your political values is nothing new and certainly contributed to a century of anti-Catholic bias in this country long before anti-Muslim views moved into the headlines. But there was always a counter-strain of the civility virtue active as well.
The Puritans would have come to Jon Stewart’s rally. So says a professor at Middlebury College who argues that the call to interreligious civility is built into American social and political history.Of course, so is the spirit of revivalism that infused Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor event that kicked off with a prayer fest the night before. As we’ve already noted, there’s no similar Divine Destiny event planned for Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s gathering at the National Mall on Saturday.
Instead, the “religion” of the Comedy Central hosts is sanity which appears to be code for restoring civility. To that point, Jana Riess who blogs for Beliefnet on “Flunking Sainthood,” asked religion professor James Calvin Davis, author of In Defense of Civility, his views on “the elusive art.”
First,Davis defines civility as
…the exercise of patience, integrity, humility, and mutual respect in civil conversation, even (or especially) with those with whom we disagree. American democracy depends on this virtue, and at its best I believe religion contributes to the cultivation of civility in this country. But in this latest episode of what passes for “civil discourse,” the absence of mutual tolerance has been palpable, and religion has been the pretense for demonization rather than a source for more respectful conversation.
Tags: jon stewart, rally to restore sanity, religious freedom
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
