To the Editor:
With words, we are at odds. We impose silence at dinner tables/pulpits about politics. Let’s all just get along, let us be civil with one another, above truth and justice seeking. Advice that leads us to be in moral complicity with violence in the People’s House.
Is not a family gathering in church or home an occasion of sin when the silence enables hatreds to fester?
Can we spend some time learning? About hatred? About lying? About stupidity? About dictators? About naming an enemy that we must love but not become? We are sharing a repast with relatives who may be white supremacists or who despise immigrants. All are members of our human family. All sinners, they for their hatreds, we for giving them the silence to feed the hatred.
Dare we speak and name our evils? Enablers at family gatherings or congregations. Another way beckons: to be truth seekers and speakers.
To speak truth to power requires examples, even homilies. To speak truth to our relatives and loved ones requires courage and a sense of humor.
Our scandal in Iowa, in our homes and pews, in 2021, is our embrace of civility over truth speaking.
Clara Oleson
West Branch
