America on the Brink

responses and not draw on them in the work we do in the public square. Doing this will require discipline and strength that must nurtured in prayer, meditation, mindfulness, confession, and other spiritual practices that free the soul from the shackles of violence. Fourth, King insists that hate and violence only produces more hate and violence. What this implies here is that what fuels or animates our work can have a positive or negative effect. Dr. King would say that ideas, policy proposals, and analyses saturated in violence will never produce healing and vitality into our republic. Violence’s undergirding influence will always counter attempts to imagine, craft, and pass policies and laws that address the widespread violence tearing at the fabric of society. If we do not stop the cycle, violence will only produce the very thing we are trying to avoid – more verbal, emotional, and physical violence. Finally, he warns if we succumb to the temptation of using violence, it will produce an endless reign of meaningless chaos. Shouting others down, questioning the intelligence of others, and demonizing others as the embodiment of evil is not making your point and advancing your cause. It is participating in violence and only produces an endless cycle of retaliatory violence. That is partisan politics today and endemic of the broader ways we engage with one another as citizens. I worry about the chaos future generations will reap as we nurture a generation of young people on this way of communicating. It bears repeating. Our children are watching us and listening to us and what they are seeing is disturbing. What King argues here requires more than a “playing nice” but instead challenges the character and depth of a person. We need political leaders, commentators, and an electorate with enough character to find constructive ways to have difficult conversations and disagreements without resorting to the politics of violence. My Model of Nonviolent Political Discourse As I conclude, what both Jesus and Dr. King teach model a political form of nonviolence that can infuse civility into our discourse. In fact, I want to offer practical suggestions that inform my work as a scholar, minister, and leader. Paul told a young pastor named Timothy something of importance for my understanding of verbal nonviolence. “God did not give us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). You will notice that Dr. King uses the word power when talking about love and nonviolence. The word power is important. When others are exerting the force of their words against you, they are, attempting to use power against you, to overpower you. Like Paul, Dr. King understood that we have power, too. We do not have to be afraid and we do not have to retaliate or “return evil for evil.” We have power not to be overcome by abusive power and we can use power in constructive, not destructive ways. Discernment and Humility The New Testament talks about discernment and humility. Both are an

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