Mean-spiritedness

“Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but everyone for those of others.”

Philippians 2, 3-4

“The saints are what they are, not because their sanctity makes them admirable to others, but because the gift of sainthood makes it possible for them to admire everybody else. It gives them a clarity of compassion that can find good in the most terrible criminals. It delivers them from the burden of judging others, condemning other men. It teaches them to bring the good out of others by compassion, mercy and pardon. A man becomes a saint not by the conviction that he is better than sinners but by the realization that he is one of them and that all together need the mercy of God!”

Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation, “Solitude is not separation”

In some ways I am glad I am not in the US now. From what I have read on the internet about the health care reform discussions it appears that there is a new viciousness, a lack of civility in the debate. People are calling others names, especially the epithet “Communist.” Truth seems to get lost as emotions are manipulated by talk of “death panels” and the other lies or half-truths.

I noted this also in some discussions on Facebook and on blogs in regard to the situation here in Honduras. There was an awful lot of name-calling and demonization. The charge of “communism” was thrown around.

But what really affected me was the mean-spiritedness of many of the commentators, mostly against the deposed president. It became so bad in at least one Facebook discussion that I wrote “Basta Ya” – enough already! Also, I decided to fast for at least one day from reading that person’s blog for it seemed to incite the worst reactions from people.

But a journalist friend had sent me a statement that came out two days before the June 26 coup from two Jesuit-sponsored ministries in northern Honduras. It warned of the polarization in the country and, in its first sentence, noted

“As soon as we can, we need to create an environment of calm and civility and it is necessary that reason takes its place in the present environment of passions and political and ideological confrontations.”

Further on they wrote:

“To advance toward a stage of minimum consensus there is the need for the action and presence of other forces which contribute to breaking the logic in which both sectors demonize each other and seek to crush each other.”

Polarization, demonization, intemperate speech are not Gospel values. They are also not political values that can help promote real steps forward. They just separate people into camps and make pursuit of the common good nearly impossible.

Though I have seen this from all parts of the political spectrum, I think it is most utilized by one more than others.

But what we need in Honduras - and in the US - is a real commitment to what Saint Paul and Thomas Merton point to in the quotations that begin this reflection – looking to the good in others and pursuing the common good.