HEARTS OF THE CITY / Exploring attitudes and issues behind the news : A rotating panel of experts from the worlds of philosophy, psychology and religion offer their perspectives on the dilemmas that come with living in Southern California.

Today’s question: “Many people have decried bitter, ‘demonizing’ verbal attacks made on opponents in political and cultural disputes , most notably the hate rhetoric that preceded the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Looking at the U.S. scene, do you see anything that might reduce the harshness of these debates?”

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Richard J. Mouw: President of Fuller Theological Seminary and author of “Uncommon Decency, Christian Civility in an Uncivil World.”

“We can’t deal with the rhetoric problem without acknowledging that some of our debates do get at issues that are of life-and-death importance. The temptation to ‘demonize’ is very real. The remedies must come from within the very value systems we are trying to defend. We ‘people of the Book,’ for example, should remind ourselves that we do have a perverse tendency to put ourselves in the best light and our opponents in the worst light. We can guard against this with the constant reminder that we too are sinners and that those whom we debate are also created in God’s image.”

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Miriyam Glazer: Head of the Department of Literature at the University of Judaism.

“America suffers not primarily from harsh rhetoric, but from a moral and social crisis rooted in economic upheaval and a commercialism debasing every corner of life. Public life has decayed because the discourse of decency has a more modest profit margin than sensationalism. The more numb we become, the greater the assault on our senses necessary to keep us going and keep us buying. . . . To wring our hands in despair at the social order now is to eventually have to face the question Leah Rabin posed to her fellow Israelis: ‘Why did you wait so long?’ ”

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Donald E. Miller: Professor of religion at USC and author of “Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide.”

“Demonizing verbal attacks often issue from the lips of people who feel that their values or lifestyle are threatened. To address this problem, I suggest the following: First, the political system needs to be as open as possible so that individuals can give voice to their frustrations rather than brooding on them, and, in worst cases, engaging in senseless acts of violence. And, second, there need to be public forums for discussion. . . . It is in these direct, face-to-face experiences that it is difficult to demonize the ‘other,’ because in these situations our common humanity, especially as we share our hopes and ambitions for the future, become evident.”

* Compiled by JOHN DART, Times Staff Writer