Being unmindful of the words we use or worse—refusing to see the import of the words that we use—destroys lives.
Consider the vitriolic nature of words used around our differences of political opinion, the demonizations of the other camp, and the out-and-out name-calling of the opposition. Intolerance of any kind must be rebutted. Careless words and images cannot go unchallenged.
Categorizing anyone who disagrees with us as being more than a person with a different opinion is a slippery slope. Saying they are not American, Christian, or patriotic (or fill in the blank) because they have a different opinion than ours places a strange god before any God. The more we see our neighbor as “other” the more likely we will lose our own humanity. Please. Speak up for tolerance. Please, risk kindness.
This message is excerpted from “Words Matter” by Inez Torres Davis from the March 19, 2012, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today is Flag Day. Today we commemorate Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea, 379; Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, c. 385; Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop of Constantinople, c. 389; and Macrina, teacher, c. 379.
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