Civility in discourse
by Jean Martin
I believe that many of us are beyond tired of the political ads that are coming to the house through the US Mail and email. Still more are spilling onto the living room carpet from the television.
This comes to us from the Franciscan Action Network. www.franciscanaction.org/
Currently in our national conversations on policy we are experiencing a great degree of inflammatory language. It is language which exaggerates differences and hardens positions and language which is provocative in nature and uses violent imagery at times.
Take a quiet moment then recite the following out loud or to yourself:
I commit to:
— Respect the dignity of all people, especially the dignity of those who hold an opposing view.
— Audit myself and use terms or a vocabulary to unite or reconcile rather than divide conflicting positions.
— Neutralize inflamed conversations by presuming that those with whom we differ are acting in good faith.
— Collaborate with others and recognize that all human engagement is an opportunity to promote peace.
— Identify common ground such as similar values or concerns and utilize this as a foundation to build upon.
— Support efforts to clean up the provocative language by calling policymakers to their sense of personal integrity.