You may find the signatories list here and the full letter is below the fold.
Dear Members of Congress,
As Americans and members of the human family, we are grieved by the recent tragedy in Tucson, Arizona. As Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders, we pray together for all those wounded, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords as she fights for her life. Our hearts break for those lives lost and for the loved ones left behind. We also stand with you, our elected officials, as you continue to serve our nation while coping with the trauma of this senseless attack.
This tragedy has spurred a sorely needed time of soul searching and national public dialogue about violent and vitriolic political rhetoric. We strongly support this reflection, as we are deeply troubled that rancor, threats and incivility have become commonplace in our public debates.
We appreciate the sacrifices you make and risks you incur by accepting a call to public service, and we urge you to continue to serve as stewards of our democracy by engaging ideological adversaries not as enemies, but as fellow Americans.
In our communities and congregations, we pledge to foster an environment conducive to the important and difficult debates so crucial to American democracy. In our churches, mosques and synagogues, we come together not as members of a certain political ideology or party, but as children of God and citizens called to build a more perfect union. We pray that you do the same.
Why does the coming of a madman, largely unconnected to any political creed (save internet conspiracy theories) call for a national soul searching on political rhetoric? Shouldn’t we be having a soul searching discussion about mental health, or maybe gun control?
I dunno, given the facts this seems precisely the wrong debate.
Thsi is typical of what liberal political leaders do. TEC is a prime example. Let’s have a listening porcess. Then search your soul until you agree with us. OK–I took a break and searched my soul. I still despise Obamacare and I think the President is taking the world to the brink of disaster by his inaction in economics and foreign affairs. I am not screaming and I have no intention of resorting to violence.
If one believes that one’s political beliefs are scriptural and reliable articulations of scriptural belief, or one’s position on the right to possess weapons is similarly a Gospel position, then conversation about this tragedy is confined to a discussion about mental health provisions. Those of us who worry about easy access to deadly weapons by disturbed or angry people must put up with being described as “liberals”. Oh well.
#3 That would be a lovely thought if that is what the article was about. I am very conservative and totally agree with you on this point. I find it curious that you would automatically assume otherwise. The clerics are decrying “political rhetoric”,which had nothing to do with these killings, not the necessity for dealing rationally with mentally ill people. In my view their statements are political not religious. By the way, I think one would have to be some kind of a nut to think the Gospel says anything about gun ownership. That would be the Constitution, and it can be changed (which the Gospel can’t).