Slurring candidates harms our nation’s sense of wholeness and decency.

I have been appalled of late at the language being used at the end of this political season. “Kill him,” “traitor,” and the vilest of racist slurs are aimed at Sen. Barack Obama. And lest we imagine this slide into abhorrent language is strictly partisan, consider the names directed at Gov. Sarah Palin – I wouldn’t say them aloud sitting alone in a room.

This language has moved far beyond expressing dislike of a candidate’s policies and practices, or even dislike of the candidates themselves; it has crawled into the grossest depths of racism and misogyny. In no way do the words being used reflect the human reality of the candidates.

Rather, they reveal the fear, hatred, and prejudice of those who use them.

The language we hear today has always, to our shame, been a part of our national landscape. Bullies learn early on that “sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me” is, in most cases, a lie.

Words are a favorite, and potent, weapon.

But I had hoped that we, as a nation, had at least moved beyond the point where such language was issued tacit approval by our leaders. In this country today, it should go without saying that when such language is used – in public, no less – everything should come to a screeching halt while those in charge adamantly refute the language and the sentiment behind it. It should go without saying, but apparently it doesn’t.

While there have been few meager attempts to have people tone it down, I have yet to hear a refutation emphatic enough to be taken seriously. Where is the moral outrage? Where is the insistence that we, as a country, must no longer tolerate, never mind revel, in ignorance and prejudice? It is nowhere to be found.

And it’s not hard to imagine why – fear of alienating “The Base.” Our leaders don’t refute this language because they need the support of those engaging in it. They don’t want to upset or disenfranchise them. Too much is at stake.

I would feel much more self-righteous about this conclusion if not for my uncomfortable awareness of how often we, in our lives, are faced with the same basic choice, and how often we too choose not to rock the boat. I suspect many of us have found ourselves in this position at one time or another: someone we trust, love or rely upon says something offensive or inappropriate. And because we value them and our relationship, we keep our mouths shut.

We do not say what needs to be said. Instead, we allow the moment to pass, and along with it the opportunity to remake the world in some small way.

But it was Edward Burke who said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing.” It matters that we speak out when offensive language is used in our presence, and it matters that our leaders do the same. Because every time a slur goes unchallenged – at a rally, on television, or in our own living rooms – we, as a nation, slip a notch closer toward becoming a society where hatred is given free reign and love, compassion, and respect become virtues of convenience.

Choosing safety over virtue is perhaps instinctive and certainly understandable, but it is not sustainable – not if we are seeking to regain the moral footing we have lost these last years. It has become habit in many ways to betray the best of ourselves and honor the worst. The cost of that habit has been a fractious society that fails over and over to honor the sacred humanity of its members, choosing instead to shatter itself into jagged shards of “us” vs. “them.”

A different future requires that we walk a different path – one that insists upon respect and care even for those with whom we disagree. It would demand we trust the ties that bind us enough to risk making it clear that we neither welcome nor support hateful language – or the sentiment behind it.

Speaking this truth is undeniably less comfortable than remaining silent. But if we, as a nation, hope to reclaim any sense of wholeness, we must expect better of ourselves.

And we must demand better of our leaders.

The Rev. Dr. Jodi Cohen Hayashida serves the First Universalist Church, Unitarian Universalist of Auburn.