The rhetoric and the actions of the leaders of ISIS focus on what divides them from everyone else. With heartless cruelty, they lash out and destroy whatever is different from themselves. If everyone in the world acted like that, the human race would selfexterminate in a very short time.
Here in the United States, we are in an election year. It seems that this election year is bringing more than the usual supply of mudslinging in political speech, with some candidates finding ever-more colorful ways of speaking ill about their opponents. This happens at all levels – local, state, and national. Yet, while ridiculing or demonizing the opponent is a frequent tool of certain politicians, it is not the proper way for a Christian to behave.
It is important for us to speak out against injustice and correct error. However, our choice of words can sometimes do more harm than good. In Ephesians 4:15, St. Paul encourages us to “speak the truth in love.” He does not say to speak the truth with cruelty or with animosity. The social teachings of the Catholic Church state that we should seek the common good, in solidarity, respecting the dignity of every human being.
Solidarity is an attitude that focuses on how we are connected to others, no matter how far away or different they may seem. If we are living in a spirit of solidarity, whenever someone else is suffering, anywhere on the planet, it matters to us.
A person who lives out Catholic social teaching is a person who defends the dignity of every human being, from the untouchable Indian in the gutters of Calcutta, to the teenager in Honduras who is threatened with violence if he doesn’t join the local gang, to the young black man in the U.S. who gets shot because of the color of his skin, to the Yazidi girl in Iraq who is sold as a sex slave because her religion is different from her powerful neighbors, to the tiny child in the womb who seems to be inconvenient for us.
As Catholic Christians, we are called to live out our faith with courage, gladly willing to give reasons for our beliefs and practices. We must seek ways to collaborate constructively on matters of common interest with those of other faiths and cultures, respecting the differences between ourselves and them, and celebrating what we have in common.
In an increasingly interconnected world, unity in diversity is the strategy of those of us who would like the human race to thrive and survive.
Adults have a responsibility to give good example to the young, by what they say and what they do. Observing how we act, children will imitate the way we treat those with whom we disagree.
Our discourse should be marked by civility and respect, using words to heal rather than to destroy, to encourage rather than to degrade. Our humor should not elicit laughter at the expense of another person’s dignity. Jokes that are racist, misogynistic, or cruel have no place on the lips that receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
Disrespectful words lead eventually to disrespectful actions. Violent words lead eventually to violent behaviors. Divisiveness is a sign of a situation that is closed to the action of the Holy Spirit. Unity is a sign of a situation where the Holy Spirit is active.
In this Year of Mercy, we will do well to choose our words wisely. St. Paul gives good advice in Ephesians 4:29-32: “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”