Claiming a good bit of the news day, was the political pronouncements of the season – some well reasoned, some outrageous, and some infuriating. Whether you consider any position right or wrong, whatever you may think of these proposals, there is something else going on surrounding the whole discussion. That is the hate-filled rhetoric. The vile language. The embittered speech inciting loathing, intimidation and violence. And that it’s coming out of “Christian” leaders, commentators and pundits is atrocious and intolerable.

Then came this one that just “piles on” to the fracas: a Muslim registry and deportation plan. Koran-burning? I thought we had gone beyond that; learned our lessons about book burnings and their consequence in the middle years of the last Century. Does anyone think this is a goodly, righteous, and proper way to approach the dialog of faith? (Well, apparently, someone does.)

Maybe I’m reading the wrong version of the Bible. But I cannot reconcile the faith I received from the saints of the Church (parents, pastors, teachers, exemplars) with the sound bites uttered by the commentators and others who claim the title Christian.

Worse yet is that these ideas, sound bites, invectives, and bitter words are taking hold outside the TV Talking Heads. Whether reporting what was said, or actually sharing those views, these embittered words are being echoed throughout the country — and in my own community.

Which prompted the rush to the bookshelves searching for The Dignity of Difference (2003) by Jonathan Sacks. Subtitled “How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations,” it seemed just the read to offset the growing number of news reports concerning particular, and spectacular, clashes. Jews, Christians, and Muslims disagree on many things, but they also agree on some including the descent (biological and/or spiritual) from Abraham. It is there, in the theology of covenant, that we may find our basis for respecting the dignity of difference. This is not a statement of “can’t we all just get along,” homogenized religion. No, this calls for a genuine recognition of difference, and a genuine speaking from the basis of faith.

I believe that the only God that we can give our heart to is the one Jesus called Father. At the center of that faith, is a specific faith and trust in specific promises of God for Jesus’ sake: forgiveness of sin, freedom, grace, new and transformed life through Christ in baptism; all promised to us solely through the active grace of God.

And the same Jesus who speaks that word of promise to us, also spoke these words to us: “blessed are the peacemakers…;” “love one another as I have loved you…;” words calling us to love our enemy; words calling us to see as our neighbor the outsider and stranger in our midst. That’s a far cry from the basis and words being used in the comments and debates today.

Can Christians differ in their interpretation of the Constitutional provisions for the free exercise of religion? You bet. Can Christians differ in discussions of the propriety of building placement within a community? Sure. But the discussion needs to occur on an entirely different level than the one the world brings to the table.

True understanding of the other, true diversity, “true tolerance comes not from the absence of faith, but from its living presence.”

It is to the living presence of the faithful in this place and time to use the generous texts of scripture and tradition as the interpretive key to engage each other. To plunge into the depths of faith to extend our hands across the boundaries of suspicion, intolerance, estrangement or hostility. To speak from the stance of God’s gracious word of promise to and for us.

When we approach the stranger face to face, we need to approach them from the depth of our faith. Only when we cherish our own faith, can we understand the value of faith held by others. Only when we see in them a depth of faith that may be different from our own, can we accord them the dignity of listening, and the dignity of responding from the depth of our own faith. That’s the Dignity of Difference.