Civility in Public Discourse

Despite the variety of ways in which CRC members in Canada understand justice, there is a strong consensus that doing justice is an important – even essential – part of Christian faith. This suggests that it should be fairly easy to find points of agreement with fellow congregation members regarding how we understand justice and how justice is related to faith. These significant points of connection on the basics are reassuring when we talk about justice, and certainly provide a solid common foundation for further discussions about what justice means and how we pursue justice together.

I'm no expert but over the years we have met a few of our Members of Parliament (MPs).  Maybe because we have lived in the ridings of backbenchers and they are happy to interact with their constituents. Maybe part of it was that we lived in towns where they had easily accessible constituency offices.

No one is born an MP so they all have to start somewhere. They are the most easy to communicate with when they are seeking election. 

Everyone's story is different, but maybe there are some general principles that can apply in many situations.

On our Salaam Project Facebook page, the post that has received the most views is one called “We are Iraqi, we are Christian.” The article describes Muslims standing alongside Christians in Baghdad protesting together the persecution of Christians in Mosul by ISIS or Islamic State. This parallels the #WeareN hashtag that is spreading over social media and that was recently highlighted in a post by Phil Reinders.

I’m driving down a dirt road somewhere in Western Kenya. It has been raining heavily in recent days, so the consistency of the surface of the road is something like semi-melted butter. I’m with my friend and colleague, a pastor at a local church. His church has recently facilitated a business training program designed not only to improve the economic bottom line of the businesses within his congregation, but also the social, spiritual, and environmental impacts of the business.