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Pastor's Perspective Article
from the Olympian December 11, 2004
We learned from the recent
national election that moral values are important to people in choosing a candidate.
It's an insight that, once asserted, seems so obvious we think, "Well,
yuh!"
We become distressed when people behave immorally because we view morality as
integral to our humanity and essential to the health and welfare of society.
So, we want to vote for leaders whose morality we believe most closely aligns
with our own.
It should not surprise us that moral values figure into our choice of candidates. I become concerned, though, when it appears that the term, "moral values," is assumed to be synonymous with conservative values.
When, for example, a person who opposes gay marriage or abortion votes for a candidate, we're likely to be told their choice was based on moral values. Yet, while moral values also might underlie other people's support for same sex couples' right to marry or a woman's right to choose, it's far less likely for that association to be made by the media. It's as if we can only assign moral standing to one perspective at a time.
Yes, life becomes more complicated when we grant that others' opposing views also might be informed by moral values. If we lived in a theocracy, our public life would be much simpler, for there would be agreement on the nature of our society's moral values. In a democracy, however, we sustain a vital public life only to the extent we tolerate and attend to our differing, often conflicting values. This prerequisite for democracy is threatened when only one view is granted moral standing, for then, any opposing views must be regarded as immoral or amoral, at best, and therefore, less legitimate.
It's no accident that at this time in our nation, conservative moral values increasingly are viewed as normative.
For the past 40 years, conservative leaders have done a masterful job learning how to articulate their values so they can increasingly influence the national dialogue on every major issue.
In his book, "Don't Think of an Elephant," linguist professor George Lakoff describes how conservative leaders reversed conservatism's decline in the 1960s by investing in think tanks, media centers and universities to learn how to bring their values into the American mainstream. They have been extraordinarily successful.
Our nation's conservative leaders have learned how to win friends and influence people by framing their moral values in ways that suit many people's conceptions of life.
There's nothing sinister about this, although it becomes so when they falsely represent their views and values.
The greater danger exists in the possibility of one politico- religious perspective attaining such prominence and power that it believes itself to represent our nation's sole, legitimate truth.
At 7 p.m. Tuesday, a group will gather for the first of several discussions at the Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation to learn more about Lakoff's analysis of our country's political discourse.
If I am concerned that a conservative politico-religious view is coming to define our nation's moral values, then I have a responsibility to learn how to bring balance by more effectively sharing my liberal religious values. If you wish to participate in such a discussion, you are welcome to come.
The Rev. Arthur Vaeni is minister of the Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Perspective is coordinated by Interfaith Works in cooperation with The Olympian. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by Interfaith Works or The Olympian.
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