The Anchoress Calls for More Decency and Less Tribalism

She makes great points in discussing the partisan excesses of bloggers and blog-readers from both sides of the aisle. Get her entire reflection here! Among other things, she calls on parties with liberal and conservative loyalties to get some perspective. And some decency:

On the left, that sound is the sound of people who utterly refuse to find one positive thing in George W. Bush, or to give him the benefit of the doubt on any issue, any at all. Any charge brought against him is immediately “credible and true,” and his humanity is completely discounted. He has become so demonized that he is no longer a human being to these people. He is something to hate. And hate…as we all know…is easy.

Conversely, they utterly refuse to allow any criticism whatsoever, no matter how temperate or constructive, against the Clinton Administration. Every charge is “trumped up,” every word uttered by a “Clintonista” is “credible and true.”

On the right, that sound is the sound of people who utterly refuse to find one positive thing in Bill Clinton, or to give him the benefit of the doubt on any issue, any at all. Any charge brought against him is immediately “credible and true,” and his humanity is completely discounted. He has become so demonized, that he is no longer a human being to these people. He is something to hate. And hate…as we all know…is easy.

Conversely, they utterly refuse to allow any criticism whatsoever, no matter how temperate or constructive, against the Bush Administration. Every charge is “trumped up,” every word uttered by a “Bushie” is “credible and true.”

People, people, people…this has got to stop. I am calling for a time-out. Everyone back in the sandboxes and listen up for a second!

Admittedly, there are some - hopefully many - in both parties who have not completely absorbed the “Grunting Philosophy,” who are able to look at a news story with some small amount of objectivity, who do not immediately spring into heated rhetoric. But…I’d say most of them are not blogging. :-)

She's right. Foolish bloggers, especially Catholic bloggers, can get too caught up in the "left" and "right", "heterodox" and "orthodox" game. The nature of partisanship being what it is, we can quickly forget that the "other side" is as entitled as we are to basic consideration.

We can't lose sight of this. If we refuse to treat our opponents with civility, then we're no longer a civil people, regardless of our manners toward our friends. As Christ alludes to in the Gospel, even the unbelievers do that. What kind of witness do give Christ when we're considerate only to those that are considerate to us?

Now, some may confuse satire with personal attack. On the contrary, satire becomes an excellent tool for clarity--if that biting tool is used to demonstrate the folly of another's position. It becomes an exercise in uncharitable sarcasm if it's used at another person! Too often, however, this type of ad hominem assault greets readers and bloggers alike.

We all need to take a step back when we get to that point. If we can't tell the difference between satire and sarcasm, then we need to unplug. Read a book, play with the kids, kiss the spouse, go out on a date or chill with some friends. Gain some perspective.

The Anchoress talks at length about her email pen-pal friendship with Joel, a man whose political views she'll never share:

Not for nothing did my friend Joe Marshall once refer to me as a “glittering holy terror when annoyed.” (Friend? But Anchoress, he’s a liberal, and a really, really staunch, Bush-hating one.)

Yeah, he is. But he’s my friend, too. Politically we agree on almost nothing, and we never will, but we have found a way to respect each other, even though Joe is vastly better educated than I, and I am vastly prettier than he.

Lyle, who comments here often, keeps dropping me emails telling me that he does not understand how we can be friendly, because he disagrees with every word I write. But we’ve developed a warm and surprisingly intimate sort of emailing pen-pal relationship.

In the past few days, I have had the pleasure of corresponding with a few liberals who will never, never, never move from their positions and who disagree with me and will for ages unto ages, amen. And each time we correspond successfully, and the civility between missives holds, I pray.

I pray that simple civil discourse can somehow enter into the arena of politics, that invective will lose its charms for some, and frenzied, overwrought political theatrics - whether they involve Randall Terry hanging around the Schindler family in Florida or the agenda-movers surrounding Mrs. Sheehan, in Texas - can be shut down like the bad farces they are.

Our society desperately needs this civil discourse. How can we pretend to consider the common good if we can't acknowledge our own political perspective's limitations and the other side's potentially good ideas? How can we think like a nation if we identify only with our fellow partisans? It's simple; we can't. Thus, a house divided against itself can't stand.

Be Foolish. Be civil. Give society a chance!