Republican Mark DeMoss and Democrat Lanny Davis recently launched The Civility Project. Their goal is simple but lofty: To get Americans to agree to disagree without being disagreeable.
Jim Daly, president and CEO of Focus on the Family, spoke with Citizen magazine about his take on the project.
This sounds a lot like what you've been talking about for a while — about having a cup of coffee with those who oppose what we do. Explain what you mean by that.
It means that we have to get to a point, not only as Christians but as a country, where we can disagree about important matters without being disrespectful. I love coffee, some might even say I’m hooked on it, so I use that expression as a real-world way of saying: "Let’s have a conversation, face-to-face, get to know each other and what informs our worldviews. And when we hit a subject on which we don’t share the same values, let’s talk about those issues with boldness and passion, yes, but with mutual respect, too."
God calls us to stand up for our convictions when they are rooted in His truths. But He also calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Those are not mutually exclusive exhortations.
What makes you excited about this project?
Mark DeMoss is a friend, and I know this initiative is just an extension of how he’s tried to live his own life in the political and policy spheres. Mark is a devout Christian man who will not back down one iota from his belief that all human life is sacred and that the only true way to define marriage is as the union of one man and one woman. But he also believes, as I do, in the biblical teaching that each one of us — including those who don’t share our values or our faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior — is created in God’s image. Every human being deserves dignity and respect; that’s a point we’ve been making as a pro-life community for decades. Unfortunately, we haven’t always lived it out in our interactions with those who disagree with us.
The Civility Project, from the perspective of those of us who are Christians, calls us to remember that we are followers of Christ first, members of a political party or ideology second.
What can Focus on the Family, and conservatives in general, learn from this project?
How we stand for what we stand for is just as important as the stand itself. Christ is not honored when we stand on His word in a way that is less than Christ-like.
What practical steps can people on both sides of the political aisle take to increase civility?
Remember that we all — liberal or conservative — are more than the sum of our positions on policy issues. It’s easy to find things to argue about with someone who shares a different worldview than you do. Let’s not take the easy way out. Let’s look for common ground where it might be found, even if all we can do is say, “You know what, we’re both created in God’s image. That means we deserve each other’s respect.” I think we’ll be amazed by the ways the Lord will use our acting on that simple truth in our policy debates.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Read more about The Civility Project in Citizen magazine.
Check out Jim Daly's blog. And follow him on Twitter.
(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the Family is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)
