Call for Truthful, Open-Hearted Communication

We promise to never cease raising our voices on behalf of the common good. ~ Leadership Conference of Women Religious, August 14, 2019

By Susan Flansburg

Catholic Sisters took a public stand yesterday against President Trump’s divisive rhetoric, sending him a letter from which the above quote is excerpted. I applaud them.

We absolutely must cease using language of hatred and fear, language that divides and enrages us.

Because, in the words of President Abraham Lincoln, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

The Sisters go on, saying, “We are outraged and heart-broken when our political leaders appeal to our basest instincts and stoke the fires of fear that threaten to tear the fabric of our nation apart. We cannot, we will not, let the voices of hatred and fear carry the day. …

“The people of this pluralistic nation form a diverse polity characterized by a wide variety of beliefs, experiences, and interests. Disagreements and differences have the potential to challenge all of us to abandon easy certainty and seek a fuller truth. The problem is not our many differences or passionate disagreements. Those differences are our greatest strength; those disagreements are opportunities for growth. It is how we handle those inevitable conflicts that spells the difference between building the common good and destroying the bonds that bind this nation.”

The call to honest, truthful, clear-headed, open-minded and open-hearted communication is particularly born by those of us who make a living using the written and spoken word.

I pledge always to do all I can to uphold that sacred good … and call on all others in my profession to do the same.

Thank you, Catholic Sisters, for your clear Gospel stance.