Disturbed by the problems of violence and the erosion of our democracy, Bishop David Bard urges us to consider how we might cultivate civic friendship, a virtue and practice that is beneficial for our churches and our world.
BISHOP DAVID ALAN BARD
Michigan Conference
In my July blogs, which come as they do near July 4, I often reflect theologically on our nation’s history and present reality. Preparing for this essay, I reread my July blogs from the last four years. In those essays, I celebrated much that I love about being an American — baseball and baseball cards (Willie Mays died just one year ago), our literature (I had dinner recently near Walloon Lake where the Hemingway family had a summer home), music (jazz, rock, country, blues, folk), and the values that are at the heart of our history (even when we have not lived into them fully). I continue to celebrate and enjoy these elements of American life.
I have also consistently used this July essay to remind us of our more complicated history as a nation, encouraging an honest look at how the legacies of our past continue to reverberate through the present. I have written about important but neglected moments in our history, racism, voting rights, law enforcement, and violence. In a New York Times essay from 2022, psychologist Mary Pipher wrote, “Life is so beautiful and terrible at the same time. Do I have the capacity to hold it all in my heart?” I encourage us to complicate our thinking and enlarge our hearts so that we can minister God’s grace more effectively and authentically in our world.
Reflecting on our current situation and some of our challenges, my thoughts quickly turn to the issues of violence and the well-being of our democracy. Last year, I mourned the shooting at a splash pad in Rochester Hills and the deaths of law enforcement officers in the Detroit and Hillsdale areas. Just days ago, violence again reared its ugly head in the city of Wayne as a young man, armed with an AR-15-style assault rifle and a semi-automatic handgun, approached a church while shooting. He was quickly stopped by a person hitting him with their vehicle, followed by church security engaging him. The most recent reports indicate that the young man may have been experiencing a mental health crisis. And he had ready access to weapons.
About a week prior, deadly political violence erupted in Minnesota when a gunman shot two Democratic state politicians and their spouses, leaving two dead. The shooter apparently had additional targets in mind, including other Democratic politicians and health care facilities that may provide abortion services. The shooter may have tied some of his actions to his version of Christian faith (Stephanie McCrummen, The Atlantic, June 17, 2025). We may find out more about the thinking behind his political violence during his trial. Last summer, President Trump, while campaigning for the presidency, was shot at and wounded in Pennsylvania.
Political violence is deeply troubling and should have no place in our democracy, though our history is marked by it. Four presidents have been assassinated: Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy. I am also concerned, for other reasons, about the well-being of our democratic politics. I see undemocratic and authoritarian threads weaving their way into our national political life. The current administration’s denigration of the judiciary and its frequent threats to ignore legal precedent or judicial rulings disrupts the balance of power in our democratic polity, for example, refusing to spend funds already allocated by Congress. It is one thing to disagree with the courts vigorously; it is another to demean and denigrate.
The consistent denial of the 2020 election results, despite losing court case after court case challenging those results, unnecessarily undermines confidence in our voting system. To date, no credible evidence has been presented that challenges the overall validity of that election. If such evidence were to come forth, I would gladly change my viewpoint and apologize. Claiming that elections are unfair or rigged when one loses is more typical of authoritarian governance than of healthy democratic governance. The New Yorker recently profiled Curtis Yarvin, a thinker influential among tech elites in Silicon Valley, and one occasionally cited by Vice President J.D. Vance. Yarvin has argued for “the liquidation of democracy, the Constitution, and the rule of law” in favor of “a national CEO.” The erosion of much of our political discourse into denigrating and demeaning language is also not conducive to a healthy democracy. It is both a symptom of and a contributing factor to political polarization.
And we can do better. I believe we are called to do better. In Jesus, we are invited not only to experience newness in our personal lives but also to participate in the creation of new community, both within the church and in the world. We are called to be salt and light. Part of being a disciple of Jesus is to be part of a community that nurtures people who care about the world, who feed the hungry, who do justice, who promote peace, who care for creation, who are kind and compassionate, who build relationships, and who create beauty.
Our problems of violence, political violence, the erosion of our democracy, and polarization are complex, rooted in historic trends and the tendencies of the human heart. And we are not powerless to change. I invite us to consider how we might work toward developing “civic friendship,” a virtue and practice that can be beneficial for our churches and our world.
“Picking up the thought that true friendship involves a commitment to another’s good despite harboring no illusions regarding his or her flaws, it can be said that democracy requires among citizens a special form of friendship — civic friendship . . . . To acknowledge that our political animosities and divisions are at least partly the result of a debilitating syndrome to which we all are subject is to begin to reestablish the capacity to regard one’s political rivals as one’s equals. Once we recognize that our perception of the depth of and severity of our political divisions are due to a dynamic that afflicts us all, and once we follow that recognition with cooperative engagements that reaffirm the humanity and civility of those whose politics are unknown to us, we can begin to admit that our political conflicts are not necessarily the result of our opposition’s depravity and corruption. Hence we will be able to affirm that, despite their being severely misguided, wrong, and ignorant when it comes to political things that matter most, our political opponents are nonetheless our equals and therefore are entitled to an equal democratic say. Civic friendship is the capacity to manifest that Janus-faced disposition toward others . . . . The civic friend acknowledges others as political equals even though she may also regard them as advocates for injustice and other forms of normative error” (Robert Tallisse, Overdoing Democracy, 150, 165, 167).
Apologies for the long quote, but it is insightful. Might we work to reaffirm the humanity of those with whom we disagree politically, even when our disagreements are significant? Might we start exploring ways to do this within our faith communities?
One tool for fostering civic friendship is the Dignity Index. The Dignity Index is a way to measure the level of contempt or dignity in a passage of speech. It is premised on these ideas: (1) Contempt causes division; dignity eases division. (2) If we put a spotlight on dignity and contempt, we will use more dignity and less contempt. (3) If we show Americans how they can help ease our divisions, they will jump on it. I invite you to check it out. Affirming the dignity of others and avoiding contempt seem important to Christian love and care.
If you have read all this, thank you. I care deeply about the church, our nation, and our world, and ponder how, as a disciple of Jesus, I might make a difference. You may disagree with some of my descriptions of the things that ail us, and I believe you also care deeply about our church and our world and want to make a difference. Let’s nurture this shared desire for a better world together, embracing dignity and civic friendship.
And don’t neglect to enjoy goodness and beauty — watch a ball game, read a good book, take a lovely walk, swim, bike, enjoy the laughter of children and grandchildren, listen to music, dance. In the words of Sister Mara Eichner, “Everywhere grace awaits.” Celebrate that.
Last Updated on July 8, 2025