April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
PERSPECTIVE
Let's have a Week of American Unity
Yet that is exactly what happened earlier this year during the Week of Christian Unity, when Rev. Victorson welcomed Rev. George Brennan to First Lutheran Church in Albany.
One can only wonder what this nation would be like if our political leaders had made as much progress over the years.
There was a time, back when both of these ministers were boys, that the issue of electing a Catholic president was a cause of much strife between Catholics and Protestants.
A number of factors can account for the subsequent change - not the least of which was the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s and the willingness of Catholics to engage Protestants as followers of Jesus rather than as heretics.
Now, we work together as pilgrims on the same journey. We no longer treat each others' congregations just as sources of potential converts; we work together to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless and bring about fair laws regarding immigration.
But we also can disagree on such hot-button social issues as abortion, same-sex marriage and women's ordination. We join forces when we can and agree to disagree when we must.
It is a shame that many of our politicians cannot do the same. They seem stuck in the same situation that Christians were in decades ago when, too often, we saw each other only as foes and rarely as friends.
For example, a recent study by Harvard professor Gary King reports that modern members of Congress spend more than a quarter of its time just taunting each other.
"It's jarring and surprising," Prof. King told reporters, adding that it is probably counterproductive if we want Congress' members to trust one another enough to make deals.
Prof. King also noted that this tendency to taunt seems to show Congress distracting itself from its most basic mission: to find common ground to solve national problems.
Compare that to the way that members of various faiths act during summer programs at the Chautauqua Institute near Jamestown, as described by Rev. James McKarns: "The Episcopalians freely offer their chapel for our daily Masses. The Presbyterians give free coffee and pastries each morning. Hundreds attend a common worship service to the start the day."
Perhaps it's time for our political leaders to offer similar cooperation and less antagonism. Perhaps it's time for a national "Week of American Unity," during which we can have events that highlight the things we share in common, rather than focusing on things that drive us apart.
The current climate of political attacks is one that we have allowed to develop and which too many of us have not just tolerated, but encouraged. We can be better people, and we can elect politicians who are better.
Maybe the Holy Spirit will encourage people to step forward at this critical time to lead us in a new direction. Maybe one of those people is you.
(Deacon Ayres is assigned to St. Mary's Church in Albany.)[[In-content Ad]]
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