THIS might be considered a political issue itself, as
contentious as any other. But I believe we can gather enough consensus
to come out with some common rules to guide us on how to tackle
political issues properly.
Being political persons also, we cannot help but deal with
issues that affect our lives as a political society. And these issues,
with their pros and cons, can vary and multiply as our body politic
grows in size and complexity.
We have to be ready to face this challenge of resolving
these issues as best that we can, that is, in a way that is worthy of
our dignity as persons, children of God, and as a people capable of
governing ourselves properly.
Thus, it’s imperative that we know what is to be a person,
a child of God and a self-governing people. This obviously will
require that we are grounded on some clear creed. And the Christian
faith, more than any other man-made ideology, can provide that.
It’s our Christian faith that constitutes the ultimate
basis of what is good and bad for us as individual persons and as
political beings as well. It provides us with the standards to know
the distinction between things with absolute value in our life and
those with only relative value.
And especially in the parable of the wheat and the weeds
(cfr. Mt 13,24-30), we are provided with the general idea of how to
handle our human condition where good and evil get mixed up in the
world, a condition so typical in our political life.
Our Christian faith provides us with what is truly the
common good, both the temporal kind and the eternal one, for all of us
to pursue in our political life. It should be the common good that we
should aim at all the time through the twists and turns of our
political life.
Our laws, ideologies and other systems should be inspired
by our Christian faith as much as possible. They can never be perfect
in the sense that they can provide us with a completely trouble-free
condition in life. They will always need continuing updating,
refining, polishing, contextualizing, etc., which should be done in a
peaceful and approved manner.
The underlying principle in tackling political issues
should always be love, concern and compassion for one another, since
this is what assures us of bringing us to our common good despite our
political differences and conflicts.
Yes, we will unavoidably have differences and conflicts in
our political views and positions, but we should treat this condition
as an opportunity precisely to grow in love. These differences and
conflicts should not divide us, but rather lead us to a more
meaningful and enriching sense of unity among ourselves.
Our Christian faith tells us that these differences and
conflicts, and even all forms of evil, are at least allowed by God to
happen if only to derive a greater good for us. But let’s hope that we
can tackle them properly—that is calmly and cordially, with a very
sensitive concern for the others.
Thus, in arguing about political issues, we have to
distinguish between what have absolute value and what only have
relative value, between those that are clearly morally wrong and those
that are open to several different and even conflicting but legitimate
opinions.
We should be courteous to everyone no matter how sharp our
disagreements are in our views, listening to all parties involved.
Let’s avoid being pugnacious, focusing on things that can divide us
rather than on those that can offer us ground for cooperation.
Let’s try to offer solutions and ways to contain whatever
potential dangers we may see in a particular position on a political
issue, rather than engaging in purely negative actions. Let’s be
constructive always.
Let’s avoid pontificating and imposing our views on
others. Even when clearly immoral things are involved in a political
issue, let us resolve things calmly and charitably, and according to
our approved rules.
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