Liz: Impeccable Speech and Bumper Sticker Politics

"President Obama is a Marxist Dictator."  This was the statement I saw on the back of a man's car a few weeks back.  I was picking up my daughter from dance rehearsal when I saw it.   Whoa.  That's a pretty serious accusation to have plastered to the hind-quarters of one's vehicle.   I saw the man getting into his car with his sweet daughter, who couldn't have been more than 5 years old.  I wonder if she'd tried to read it.  "Daddy, what's a Marxist?"  I wondered if he'd actually know the answer to that question.

It got me thinking about the prevalence of politically and religiously charged stickers on our cars. What purpose do they really serve?  Surely not to promote dialogue, otherwise we'd SAY these things in person rather than sticking them to the back part of our cars where we are unable to see the reactions they elicit from the people behind us.  Some may say they are a way to express ourselves, but is this form of expression healthy, or is it more divisive?  I thought about the humorous, yet politically charged bumper sticker I have on the back of our minivan.  Perhaps it's not the best witness I can give in today's polarized climate.

I think we've become a bumper sticker society, and to a large extent have lost the ability to argue well.  It is indeed easier to throw out a sound byte and then drive away like mad before anyone can react to our faces than it is to engage in true discussion with people who believe differently than we do.  Why is this?  I think, deep down, we are all afraid of having our minds changed.  Our statements appear perfectly formed and flawless in a vacuum, but throw in a voice of dissent and the argument can unravel quickly.
Best not to risk it; slap on a sticker and drive away.

I have recently been in conversation with many members of my denomination over our recent change in ordination standards.  Talk of it is everywhere:  in pastor support groups, on blogs, over emails with colleagues from seminary, on facebook, in coffee shops, Session meetings and church parking lots.  Some I have spoken with are in support of the changes, and some are opposed.   It is indeed a risky business to talk these matters out, but in my opinion it is necessary business.   It is only through the practice of speaking our differences with love that we will be able to overcome our bumper-sticker mentality and truly talk with one another again.

In this case, impeccability is found not in what we say but rather in how we say it.  Face to face, and not stuck to the back of the car.