Reply #206: civility could have prevented wars

[earthlover]

I am getting a LOT annoyed. Yes, Falwell and his ilk were divisive, hateful, and dangerous to our liberties. Nobody is arguing that point.

Some Democrats, including myself, have pointed out that the excesses in the "celebrations" during the day of Falwell's death have been counterproductive, ie, they have helped the radical right instead of hurt it. Because they make us look hateful and do nothing to focus on the hatefulness that Falwell lived for, in fact it distracts attention away from this.

I reiterate if all it was was stating how Falwell's preaching had been hurtful, hateful, etc I don't think any of us would have objected. What HAS drawn some fire was the juvenile ranting of some posts that quite frankly crossed the line and showed beyond doubt that Falwell's crowd does not have a monopoly on hate.

We COULD have been having discussions about Falwell's evil legacy, and how we can confront it. Instead, much of the discussion was between people who just wanted to vent, use profanity, call names, talk about excrement, etc and those who thought this sort of thing was counter-productive before someone is buried.

You go to great lengths trying to talk about the American Revolution. I think the clear implication is to use it to justify the lack of civility in public discourse. You're not going to get me to argue against the American Revolution, and I would not argue against several reform movements during our history either. However, there are essential differences between the American Revolution and our opposition to Falwell's clan.


I DO think civility is essential and history bears this out. How many wars did we get in that could have been avoided with diplomacy? Iraq is the example of this that comes to mind. How many lives could have been spared if Bush had used diplomacy and civility instead of taking the tack that his cause was just and Saddam was as evil-- as we think Falwell is-- and violence was the logical method of action from his view? I think we have reached a point in our society where civility is on a wane, and this hurts all of us. Much of this has been caused by the radical right. However, it is not just the right.

We know this. We know that being uncivil on discussion boards is a problem. That is why there are rules against flaming, etc. I also think it is true that we can be a LOT more effective on discussion boards, and in life in general, by being civil than by being uncivil. Uncivility turns people off, gets them angry, and just raises their defenses instead of leading to dialogue.