“Against Demonization”
    I found these thoughts in last Monday’s USA TODAY to be something I hope we all can
support.  It represents a common ground for Christians.  — Pastor Dave

    “Demonization involves a shift from debating issues to attacking persons. Demonization has a deathly logic to it:  If we could just destroy (the career of) that person who is getting it all wrong, all would be well in our country.  The left has found its figures to hate:  Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, George W. Bush and even, at the time, Ronald Reagan. So has the right had its demons, beginning with Jimmy Carter, spiking with Bill and Hillary Clinton and now focusing intensely on Barack Obama.
    I myself am an evangelical Christian who thinks Roe is bad law. But I am also drawn toward any effort to find common ground, whether on abortion reduction strategies or on other issues. For this, I have been demonized. Some of these experiences have led me to reflect a bit on why, as a Christian, I am so committed to the effort to find common ground — and why I seek to resist the demonization of adversaries that I find very tempting sometimes.
    I try to start by recognizing the God-given fellow humanity of everyone whom I encounter, even those I sharply disagree with. My faith teaches that every human being is made in the image of God and beloved by him. Each shares humanity’s common pool of frailties and strengths. Every human being is worthy of being treated with basic human decency and respect. I try to do that. I remind myself that every human being is capable of error and sin. But I am also painfully aware that whatever must be said about the weakness and vulnerability of others must also be said about me.
    As Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, “The line separating good and evil passes  . . .  right through every human heart.” A society is in
trouble when people forget this and everyone begins to think that we” are “the good” and “they” are “the demonic.” Religious people might be especially susceptible. Reading history and looking around the world, it is abundantly clear that the democracy we have here in America is a huge achievement in human civilization. Christians need to celebrate this achievement rather than toying with language that comes right up to or over the threshold of endorsing violence. To play with fire in this way is unconscionable.
    I dare to think that it’s still not too late to be the kind of nation in which differences are debated honestly, the votes are cast, the decisions are made and we move forward together as one people. I would like to see Christians contribute to that kind of society, rather than to the demonization that undermines it at its foundations.”

    David P. Gushee, distinguished professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University, is president of Evangelicals for Human Rights.