随着我们全速迈向2020年的选举，我们可以感受到政治中分裂、统治和报复的吸引力。我们写这篇文章是因为两位美国文化战争的老兵害怕这一轮战争会导致我们走向暴力。
作为政治活动家，我们都知道如何试图弥合政治分歧。1998年，琼·刀片目睹了我们的国家因弹劾总统而两极分化。她共同创立了MoveOn.org两党共同努力推动国家走向康复，远离分裂。同年早些时候，居住在马萨诸塞州的部长里奇·塔夫尔目睹了极左和宗教右翼之间日益残酷的文化战争。他在1993年发起了小木屋共和党人，以此来弥合分歧。
二十多年后，我们作为民主党人和共和党人联手再次弥合分歧。里奇现在是一名牧师，领导着佩珀代因公共政策学院的美国项目，该项目寻求为保守运动找到健康的道路。琼共同创建了一个开源的、可扩展的左右对话模型，叫做客厅对话，它被用在信仰社区、学校、图书馆，通过视频，是的，在客厅，来连接全国各地的人们。
今天，我们正努力通过寻求所有主要信仰的核心教义来对抗分裂和仇恨。"按你希望别人对你做的去做。"
去年11月，国家公民话语研究所组织了一个周日，致力于将黄金法则带入我们的政治生活。全国各地的教堂都在宣讲信仰之家如何通过运用同情心、好奇心和宽恕来弥合我们国家的分歧。
简单地提醒我们自己，在我们的政治生活中，我们应该像希望别人对待我们一样对待别人，这是一个很好的开始。
上个月，来自不同政治领域的领导人齐聚一堂，进行一场虚拟的“客厅对话”，超越党派之分，深入我们所有传统的教义。有信仰的人不仅被召唤去爱对方。他们还被提醒，我们都是按照上帝的形象创造的。信仰团体有一种独特的能力为所有的声音提供一个避难所。
在我们的政治中如此普遍的仇恨言论和不尊重可能诱使我们选择退出和放弃，但是信仰的人，植根于在全人类中看到神圣的实践，能够在我们最需要的时刻帮助我们的国家走向一个治愈和尊重的地方。政治正导致越来越多的美国人将对方视为敌人...越不聪明，越不善良，越不像人类。在历史上，极端政治两极化一直被用作为不可想象的暴行辩护的工具。我们必须为我们的部门承担责任，改变我们的方向。信仰团体通过要求团体看到每个人的神性，在这种变化中显示出领导作用。
凯瑟琳·杰弗斯·肖里主教和弗雷德。约翰·克罗斯林反思道:“与一个以上帝形象塑造的人会面，应该会产生一种深深的尊重感，以及一种期望，即使我们一开始意见不一，我们也会从这次会面中成长起来。因为我们都是上帝的孩子，共同的利益包括相互尊重。关键是尊重，而不是同意。”
这不是我们国家第一次面临内部挑战。在此之前，我们已经经历了严重的分歧，我们可以再次这样做。关键是呼吁我们本性中更好的天使来帮助引导我们——在我们相互关爱、为我们的国家应对这一紧急情况时，记住我们共同的人性。马丁·路德·金牧师大约60年前在伯明翰监狱写给我们的话是在这一时刻说的:“我们都被困在一个不可逃避的相互关系网络中，被绑在一件命运的外衣里。任何直接影响一个人的东西，都会间接影响所有人。”
乔治·华盛顿称之为伟大实验的东西两个世纪以来一直是希望的灯塔。作为世界上最古老的现代民主国家的成员，我们需要做得更好。好消息是，悠久的传统指引着我们——教我们如何对待别人，就像我们希望别人对待我们一样。
琼·布雷德是MoveOn和客厅对话的联合创始人。理查德·塔夫尔牧师是圣城教堂的牧师&木屋共和党人的创始人。
这篇文章中表达的观点是作者自己的。
IN 2020, OUR BITTERLY DIVIDED AMERICA NEEDS TO RECOMMIT TO THE GOLDEN RULE | OPINION
As we move full speed into the election of 2020, we can feel the pull toward division, domination and revenge in our politics. We write this as two veterans of America's culture wars who fear that this round of battle could lead us toward violence.
As political activists we both know something about trying to bridge the divisions in politics. In 1998, Joan Blades, watched our nation polarize over the impeachment of the President. She co-founded MoveOn.org as a bipartisan effort to move the nation toward healing and away from division. Earlier that same decade, Rich Tafel, a minister living in Massachusetts saw the increasing brutality of a culture war between the far left and religious right. He jumped in to bridge the divide by launching Log Cabin Republicans in 1993.
More than two decades later, we have joined forces as a Democrat and Republican to bridge the divide again. Rich is now a pastor and leads the American Project at Pepperdine School of Public policy that seeks to find healthy path for the conservative movement. Joan has co-founded an open source, scalable, left-right dialogue model called Living Room Conversations that is being used in faith communities, schools, libraries, by video and yes, in living rooms, to connect people across the country.
Today we are working to fight the pull toward division and hatred by looking to a core teaching of all the major faiths. "Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you."
This past November, the National Institute for Civil Discourse organized a Sunday dedicated to bringing the Golden Rule into our political life. Churches across the country preached on the ways houses of faith could lead in bridging the divide in our nation by employing compassion, curiosity and forgiveness.
Simply reminding ourselves that in our political life we should treat others as we would want to be treated is a great start.
Last month, leaders from across the political spectrum gathered for a virtual "Living Room Conversation" to go beyond partisan affiliation and get to the deeper teachings in all of our traditions. People of faith are not only called to love one another. They are also reminded that we are all created in God's image. Faith communities have a unique ability to provide a sanctuary for all voices to be heard.
The hateful rhetoric and disrespect so prevalent in our politics may tempt us to opt out and give up, but people of faith, rooted in practices that see the divine in all humanity, can help lead our country to a healing and respectful place in this moment when we need it most. Politics is causing more and more Americans to perceive people on the other side as the enemy...and as less intelligent, less kind, less human. Extreme political polarization has been used as a tool to justify unthinkable atrocities throughout history. We must own our responsibility for our division and change our course. Faith communities are showing leadership in this change by asking communities to see the divinity in everyone.
Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Fr. John Crossin reflect, "Meeting with someone who is made in the image of God should produce a feeling of profound respect, and an expectation that we might grow from the encounter, even if we begin in disagreement. Since we are all children of God, the common good involves mutual respect. Respect, not agreement, is the key."
This is not the first time our country has faced internal challenges. We have come through serious divisions before this moment, and we can do it again. The key is to call on the better angels of our nature to help guide us—to remember our common humanity as we meet this emergency with care for each other and for our country. The words of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, written from the Birmingham jail almost 60 years ago, are addressed to us in this hour: "We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
What George Washington called the Great Experiment has been a beacon of hope for two centuries. As members of the oldest modern democracy in the world, we need to do better. The good news is that long tradition guides us—teaching us to treat others as we would like to be treated.
Joan Blades is a Co-founder of MoveOn and Living Room Conversations. Reverend Richard L. Tafel is Minister at Church of the Holy City & Founder of Log Cabin Republicans.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own.
