Is Civility in Politics a Pipe Dream?

Unless you’ve gone on a complete news blackout, you know the United States is about to enter its full-throttle political season. It’s a time for enough incendiary, vitriolic, and divisive language to go around with plenty left over. 

Such divisiveness is not new. History buffs will tell you, as well as anyone who has seen the play Hamilton, that in 1804 the sitting vice president, Aaron Burr, killed the former treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton, in a duel. Fortunately, such extreme behavior did not become the norm, although it's sometimes not far off.

About ten years ago, a fellow college alumnus and former Congressman was so concerned about the growing challenge of incivility in politics that he embarked on a 50-state “American Civility Tour” to raise awareness of the issue nationwide. Despite his efforts, the situation has not improved; it has worsened since then.

That former Congressman reminded anyone willing to hear that our chosen words matter. As Gary Zukav notes in his book, Seat of the Soul, “The center of the evolutionary process is choice, and the words we use are a vital part of the engine of our evolution. Words consist not only of sound but also a vibration that sets in motion our experiences and creates the reality that surrounds us.” 

This is particularly so when the words come from political leadership. They set the tone and direction of the national consciousness. Words provide permission for cruelty and bigotry and can compromise children's moral education. If we are to express and pass along the high values we are capable of, they must be lived up to by our political leaders and each of us. 

While we know that we are one in spirit, on the surface level political incivility, or incivility of any kind, reflects and contributes to a broader fragmentation and separation in our society and our world. Civility is rooted in the Latin word for "citizen" - civis - and therefore carries a shared sense of our spiritual identity. There is a weakening of that shared identity when there is a rise in incivility.

Although the Congressman's civility tour did not fix the problem, there is hope. Each of us can choose what we say so that when we speak or address others with a different viewpoint, our words contribute to our upward evolution. 

We can expedite that evolutionary engine and turn the tide on the divisive words to help bring a more civil society. One of the first things we can do is follow the advice of the mystic Saint Francis of Assisi: "Seek first to understand before being understood." When we put ourselves in another person's shoes, we can find merit in their viewpoint, even if we disagree. Imagining ourselves this way, we stop seeing people as opponents or “other” but simply as a part of the spectrum of the human/ spiritual family of which we are all part. 

Second, we can choose to challenge ideas and not attack the person. It's ok to have different points of view on a matter. At the same time, we realize that the person is not their point of view; that person's true identity is a child of God. 

Third, when dialoguing with others, we can do so to expand the field of our consciousness.  

Fourth, we can choose never to talk about how bad things are to anyone unless we're seeking to reach an agreement in consciousness about the spiritual idea or opportunity behind the appearance. 

When more and more people speak and express words that reflect 'the better angels of our nature', the most dominant voices will be those who do not shout but listen and seek to understand. They then speak or write words with the intent to bring about the greater good. When that happens, we increase people's understanding everywhere – even politics.

Peace and Blessings,

James