LEADD Blog

Recent controversies surrounding the proposed building of mosques continue to pop up around the country—most noticeably in Murfreesboro, TN and New York City. In the press, in public hearings, we’ve seen the best and worst of our politicians and fellow citizens. As is often true when strong religious beliefs clash in the public sphere, tempers flare and civility seems in short supply. How should our elected officials, candidates for office, and citizens model debates about religion and politics in America and why? What impact does the current process have on future religious liberty issues in the US?

When I was six years old I told my father I was going to be the first female president of the United States of America. Fourteen years later, I’ve learned to be a little more realistic with my goals. Children all over this country dream of making a difference, dream of being the President or the Mayor or Governor of their state. These kids need role models, politicians who stand for something other than just getting elected. One of the great mottos of the U.S. is “E Pluribus Unum,” translated from the Latin to “Out of many, one.” It represents that as American’s we come from many different backgrounds, faiths, and cultures, but that we are all Americans. It is on the seal of the President, Vice President and the US Congress.

I am from Vermont, a state so small that politics have to be civil. It’s much harder to run an attack ad against your opponent when most of the voters in the state will have met that opponent, and seen first-hand that he or she is not actually a monster; it’s much harder to believe an attack ad when the person being attacked is your neighbor, coworker, or friend. I believe that a large percentage of the incivility in today’s political environment comes from a sense of disengagement. The average voter will never get to meet the candidates for president, so why shouldn’t we believe what we hear about them in the media? The media is, after all, the only contact we have with presidential candidates.

But in Vermont – and other small communities – we get to meet the candidates for political office, have conversations with them, and decide for ourselves whether we agree with their positions. In 2006 both candidates for the House of Representatives seat, Democrat Peter Welch and Republican Martha Rainville, vowed to never launch a personal attack against one another. They kept that vow, and their campaign was more engaging and substantive than any other campaign that I’ve followed. I ended up respecting both candidates more than I ever would have if they had been uncivil to one another.