A230 Deploring the Sin of Scapegoating in Politics
The historical proclamation that “all [people] are created equal” is formed from the same substance as the core Christian doctrine, proclaimed in the baptismal covenant, that God commands God’s people to respect the dignity of every human being. This universal human imperative, toward which all faith traditions strive equally, helped form the basis of systems of democratic government which proclaim, without by any means always respecting, the dignity of all people. It is therefore the responsibility of the Church, vanguard of the Jesus Movement, to repudiate the statements and actions of leaders or political movements choosing to engender resentment and fear of any group of human beings on the basis of race, language, culture, belief, immigration status, gender, gender identification, sexual orientation, or caste. Group scapegoating offends against the rootedness of democracy in the ethics respecting the dignity of individuals to which Christianity and all great faiths are pledged. It degrades politics by basing appeals for votes on fear and hate instead of hope and love. It invites comparisons to the darkest moments in human history, when race-based, clan-based, and other forms of scapegoating unleashed acts of genocide.
Explanation
The historical proclamation that “all [people] are created equal” is formed from the same substance as the core Christian doctrine, proclaimed in the baptismal covenant, that God commands God’s people to respect the dignity of every human being. This universal human imperative, toward which all faith traditions strive equally, helped form the basis of systems of democratic government which proclaim, without by any means always respecting, the dignity of all people. It is therefore the responsibility of the Church, vanguard of the Jesus Movement, to repudiate the statements and actions of leaders or political movements choosing to engender resentment and fear of any group of human beings on the basis of race, language, culture, belief, immigration status, gender, gender identification, sexual orientation, or caste. Group scapegoating offends against the rootedness of democracy in the ethics respecting the dignity of individuals to which Christianity and all great faiths are pledged. It degrades politics by basing appeals for votes on fear and hate instead of hope and love. It invites comparisons to the darkest moments in human history, when race-based, clan-based, and other forms of scapegoating unleashed acts of genocide.