Look beyond partisan labels for our shared values

Liberal or conservative, religious or secular, we are more alike than we think

SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Saturday, April 01, 2006

The war in Iraq, the culture war, and the wars against drugs, poverty and terror make me wonder: Is war the only answer?

Long ago, young men were raised to be warriors. Are we doing this again with our sons and daughters? The "culture war" is perhaps the strangest, for we are warring over values and even virtues. How can we thrive in a climate infused with war talk?

Occasional visits to local coffee shops such as Café Caffeine in South Austin allow me to meet a cross section of performers and listeners who might have nothing in common other than their interest in music. Between songs, conversations wander into interesting territory.

During a recent performance at the Live Oak Coffee House, the delightful duo Small Potatoes gave an inspiring performance. They offered great music and a great message about furthering understanding among all peoples.

On a cross-country tour of coffeehouses, Small Potatoes' Jacquie Manning and Rich Prezioso became nervous about an audience that didn't seem to warm up to their message of peace and understanding through poetry and song. Though they had been assigned to a host home, they were thinking of staying in a motel instead. However, because of their tight budget, they took a chance with the host family.

To their surprise, they had a wonderful time playing music with the family and going to local venues. They enjoyed themselves so much, they stayed an extra day and have plans to meet again. Their fears had been based on the outward reserve of the audience, which also shared an inner kindness that went beyond stereotypes.

Have you ever been surprised to discover common values in people who seem so different on the surface? For example, the difference among human racial types is less than a quarter of 1 percent of all the other traits we share. Yet there is something in us that dwells on differences: religious, cultural, lifestyle and political.

We have become a nation of labelers. Puritans, slackers, hippies, rednecks, blacks, whites, police, civilians, young, old, Aggies and Okies — these labels are shortcuts to painting groups of people with a very broad brush.

There is no doubt that some of us stand poles apart on moral and political issues. In a recent issue of the Atlantic Monthly, E.J. Dionne pointed out that at least 15 percent of us are deeply religious and extremely conservative; a similar percentage are deeply secular and extremely liberal. Each group is convinced that the other is unreasonable.

The rest of us may lean one way or the other, but hold a rich mixture of secular, religious, conservative and liberal views. For example, I know deeply religious people who are liberal and deeply secular people who are conservative.

Treat everyone with respect because you, too, want and deserve respect. Let go of the desire to be right and search for common ground. Activists on both side of the abortion divide generally agree that a reduction in unplanned pregnancies serves the common good. Most people agree that education, job training and a living wage help lift people out of poverty and help them contribute to society. Most agree that health care, prescription drugs and Social Security improve our quality of life.

These issues intertwine in our family and community lives. Families are profoundly affected by access to jobs, education and the time it takes to commute to work. Communities make decisions about development that affect not only the natural environment but the integrity of neighborhoods. Parents want their children to be safe; communities want security and places of beauty.

To listen to some talk radio (rant radio, if you ask me), there's the sound of anger even if the content is full of reason. ("I'm not angry!" one woman shouted.)

You can't believe everything you hear or read, but you can look beyond liberal and conservative labels for shared values. Find a spiritual perspective from which you can take a God's-eye view of individuals, families and communities. We are more alike than otherwise.

The Rev. Kathleen Ellis serves Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church, participant in Austin Area Interreligious Ministries. Learn more about the group at aaimaustin.org.

Let rainbows bring hope to all our hearts, and love for all our families

by Rev. Kathleen Ellis
SPECIAL TO THE AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Saturday, January 07, 2006

Rainbows fill my office on sunny days like this one. Glass prisms and quartz crystals scatter welcome sunlight into colorful bands that dance across my desk and delight my eyes.

Traditional rainbows occur when sunlight shines through water droplets and is refracted into its spectrum of colors, even including colors invisible to human eyes.

Rainbows have special meaning for many of us. They can signal the passing of a storm; they represent hope for a fresh beginning.

After floodwaters receded for Noah's family and all the animals, Genesis tells us that God used a rainbow as a sign that never again would God flood the entire world at one time. That is small comfort to homes and entire cities that have been devastated by flooding. Still, we have little expectation that the whole planet will be destroyed in that way.

Rainbows have been adopted by various groups as a sign of unity in diversity. Examples include the Rainbow Coalition (racial diversity), Reading Rainbow (literacy for all ages), Rainbow Power (renewable energy), Rainbow Kids (adoption), and Rainbow Sourcebook (journalism). At the Thanksgiving service offered to the City of Austin by Austin Area Interreligious Ministries, a rainbow of clerical garments represented at least 30 different faith traditions. Despite all of our differences, we are all one human family.

Many of us have adopted the rainbow as a symbol of hope and liberation for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals. Among our hopes is the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Most parents no longer arrange our marriages. Marriage is no longer a requirement to transfer ownership of a woman from her father to a husband. Marriage does not require the rearing of children to provide care for their parents in old age. Today, people marry for love freely given and happiness shared. As a way to gauge the wisdom of entering a marriage covenant or remaining in a loveless marriage, an advice columnist used to ask, "Are you better off with or without this person?"

Children are indeed better off in an intact household into which they are born and lovingly raised. But whether their parents are male or female is not the principal factor in children's health and well-being. A loving environment has far more impact.

The legal possibilities of divorce, equal property rights for women as well as men and contraception have already redefined the ancient purposes for marriage. Social change has already occurred; Texas law and the passage of Proposition 2 attempt to reverse the social reality of contemporary society.

No religious group or clergy person will ever be required to marry any particular couple. Religious ceremonies and covenants have always varied widely from faith to faith and couple to couple. Love makes a family; loving adults will continue to make decisions about their lives regardless of the opinions of others.

However, civil marriage is a legal institution that grants hundreds of rights to people who choose to live their lives together. A civil right must apply to people of either sex in order to be equitable for all. Children are better protected in a securely established, legally sanctioned family unit. For example, marriage provides safeguards for making medical decisions for partners and children in case of emergency.

When my sons were young, their father and I gave each of them a prism to hang in the window to invite rainbows into their lives. Each facet represents a different facet of their lives — adventurer, learner, computer whiz, brother or friend. Each facet represents the hope that the boys will receive light into their lives and in turn produce metaphorical rainbows of beauty in the world.

These boys have grown into remarkable young men who are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of personality and life direction. They have generated multiple rainbows through their personal dreams of life, love and community.

May rainbows continue to bring hope to all our hearts and love for all families.

The Reverend Kathleen Ellis is minister for Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church, participants in Austin Area Interreligious Ministries. Learn more about them at aaimaustin.org.