Reflection
There was a time when habitual rudeness was never acceptable. Generally, there was respect for one another. We valued etiquette and politeness. Under pressure someone might be impolite, but now it seems that civility is dying. We are aware that we are more ill-mannered than we used to be. Recent surveys have shown that Americans think manners and behavior have deteriorated in the United States. However, we don’t need surveys to prove what we encounter in our daily interactions and in politics. Rudeness, name calling, and bullying are not tolerated in the schoolyard and yet it is a daily occurrence on news reports now. If we are offended by this then why do we accept it? Or, what is worse, condone it? It is a situation that requires some soul searching as to what we really see as mature and acceptable.
Prayer
May I treat others with sensitivity and respect.
Action
Do you agree that we are less civil as a nation? If you do where do you encounter this? Is it something you are willing to accept as “the way things are”. If not, what can you do? Where can you begin?
Suggested Reading
And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
Luke 6:31
Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.|
Romans 12:10
Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding..
Proverbs 17:27-28
We need, for example, to recover a certain sense of deliberateness and calm. This calls for time and the ability to be silent and to listen. We need also to be patient if we want to understand those who are different from us.
Pope Francis
A spoonful of honey attracts more flies than a barrel full of vinegar.
St. Francis de Sales
Political civility is not about being polite to each other. It’s about reclaiming the power of ‘We the People’ to come together, debate the common good and call American democracy back to its highest values amid our differences.
Parker Palmer
My hope is that we would begin to have a dialogue in this country about the importance of civility. We can have strong differences, but it does seem to me that most of the country believes it’s gone to critical mass in what I would call the professional class across the political spectrum – left and right.
Tom Brokaw
If we want to live freely and privately in the interconnected world of the twenty-first century – and surely we do – perhaps above all we need a revival of the small-town civility of the nineteenth century
James Gleick
When once the forms of civility are violated, there remains little hope of return to kindness or decency.
Samuel Johnson
It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.
Albert Einstein
We have a choice about how we behave, and that means we have the choice to opt for civility and grace.
Dwight Currie