Brian Miller

Civil Discourse, Religious Buildings, and a Christian Calling

Brian Miller, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology

To think further about the value of civil discourse, I want to explore a situation that can involve a whole community in conversation. 

Imagine you are a leader in a religious congregation. Your congregation wants to build a new structure on open land the congregation recently purchased. To do this, you need to present your plans to the local government for approval. 

You and your congregation hope those engaging with your plans practice civil discourse when doing so.

After you present your proposal to the local zoning or planning board, you hear some opposition from neighbors and residents of the community. They have concerns about traffic, noise, and lights. They hoped the open land near their residence would remain open. 

Local officials also discuss the relationship between your proposal and local zoning and land regulations. Does your proposed building fit the community’s vision for land use? They have some questions. 

I would guess the local actors responding to the congregation’s proposal would hope the congregation responds civilly to their feedback. 

This can be a straightforward public conversation. A congregation wants to worship. They have land and plans. As long as it fits with local zoning, what could go wrong? There are guidelines to adhere to and a process to follow.

At the same time, all the parties involved in the process – the local congregation, neighbors and community members, and local officials - have different interests in the matter of a new religious building or religious land use. 

With different interests, these discussions can turn rancorous. A religious group has a right to worship! How dare this plan disturb the current conditions? It is right next to residences and threatens a residential setting. This does not fit with our vision of the community! If the religious congregation is part of a certain religious tradition or presents a proposal unique to existing religious properties and groups in the community – in research on zoning conflict cases in the New York City region, I found proposals from Muslim and Orthodox Jewish groups can prompt more opposition – residents may have particular concerns. What do we think of this group gathering in our community?

All sides in these discussions can have deeply held beliefs and convictions. Civil discourse can help avoid poisonous discussions where the actors feel they cannot back down, they must win the discussion, and they do not show respect for the others involved. The participants can listen well. They can speak respectfully. They can share their own perspectives. They can follow the process. They can look to remain on good terms after this process. They can together seek the public good.

Practicing this kind of discourse may not lead to the outcome each party desires. But it helps ensure all can share and participate. It helps ensure civic processes can continue. 

Public process and conversations conducted in civil ways can also provide space for congregations and communities to consider bigger questions: what kinds of religious buildings can serve a congregation and the broader community in which it sits? Where does a community have space for religious congregations to meet? Who does a community envision as being part of their community? A proposal for the religious building might technically only address a property and/or structure but it can invoke important issues for congregations and municipalities as they seek their own goals and the flourishing of their community. 

Christians participating in these conversations– whether representing a congregation or living as neighbors or serving as local officials or employees – have an opportunity to practice civil discourse. They can also go further, working beyond a sense of civic duty and aspiring to American democratic ideals. Christians engaging in public processes at the local level can respond to a deeper call: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31) How might following these change local processes, conversations, and outcomes?