Paul’s wish for the church in Corinth is “that there be no divisions among you,” this Sunday’s second reading informs us. In the aftermath of the Arizona shootings, calls have gone out for greater civility in the nation’s political discourse. In at least a symbolic move in that direction, some 50 members of Congress have signed a letter pledging to sit with members of the other party during the president’s State of the Union address January 25. Support for the idea continues to grow.

Sens. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have been circulating a letter to other members of Congress proposing they sit together during the address. Udall said the tradition of having the parties sit on opposite sides of the House chamber is a “negative symbol of the divisions in Congress.”

Udall and Murkowski were joined Wednesday by Democratic Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin and Republican Sen. Mark Kirk, both of Illinois, who announced they also will sit together. Other legislators have said they are open to bipartisan seating but have not signed the letter or formally announced plans to sit with a member of the opposing party.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton came out in favor of the gesture Wednesday. She said politicians need to be careful not to personalize political disagreements by demonizing the people who hold different views.

Clinton also offered a mea culpa: “I think everybody in politics, as I have been, gets carried away in the heat of the moment from time to time. And maybe says things about the person as opposed to the policy that we would think better of the next day.”

Source: Articles by Daniel Strauss for Thehill.com, the Associated Press, and George Stephanopoulos for ABC News