{"id":279,"date":"2012-09-20T20:34:14","date_gmt":"2012-09-21T01:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newunionchristianchurch.org\/home\/?p=279"},"modified":"2017-10-26T22:20:32","modified_gmt":"2017-10-27T03:20:32","slug":"a-letter-about-civility-to-other-religious-groups-congregations-and-our-fellow-citizens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.newunionchristianchurch.org\/home\/2012\/09\/20\/a-letter-about-civility-to-other-religious-groups-congregations-and-our-fellow-citizens\/","title":{"rendered":"A Letter about Civility: To other religious groups, congregations, and our fellow citizens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Fellow Citizens:<\/p>\n

We, the undersigned members and participants in the life of a small rural Kentucky church, know that our form of government \u00a0depends on open dialogue about public policies and problems confronting us.\u00a0 As the 2012 presidential election approaches, we are gravely concerned about a growing incivility in our body politic, and about a deficit of trust among our American people.<\/p>\n

In our small congregation of just 30 people, there exists a wide array of political opinions and economic convictions.\u00a0 Each of us also would express our religious convictions in diverse ways.\u00a0 Yet, we are able to come together each week as a community of trust, care, and respect for one another.\u00a0\u00a0 We know that none of us \u201chas it all together\u201d, that none of us is without mistaken notions, that none of us has all the right answers.\u00a0 We know that as we work and talk together, we are able to face our individual and social issues more responsibly that we can alone.\u00a0 It is this unique gift that we offer as a model to the political life of our nation at this critical time in our history as a nation.<\/em><\/p>\n

The teachings of our religious tradition, and that of many of the world\u2019s great religions, tell us that we should \u201cdo unto others as we would have them do unto us\u201d<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 This Golden Rule reminds us that respect for the other, no matter how different from ourselves, is essential to both individual and social well-being.<\/p>\n

We view with great alarm the increasing refusals among our elected officials to compromise with people of other political parties, and the express intentions of all political parties to stymie the attempts to govern at all.<\/p>\n

Therefore, we call on other congregations and religious communities<\/strong>\u2014be they Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or other beliefs:<\/p>\n