Being the Future: creativefacilitating.com Blog

On Civil Discourse

January 17th, 2011

I am grateful to John McCain’s contribution to “The Washington Post” on Sunday, January 16, “After the Shootings, Obama Reminds the Nation of the Golden Rule.” I found it important to hear a voice “from the other side of the aisle”, and for it to be a senior senator from the state in which the tragedy occurred and a former fellow contender for the presidency made the statement all the stronger.

Sen. McCain allows for our human frailty in suggesting we might not always be able to refrain from some strong rhetoric, but avows we are all capable of avoiding character assassination. I would like to not let us off the hook too easily. Although we might occasionally fail, I would like us to strive for humility, for respect for others and self, and for an openness to real discourse in private and public arenas.

Peter Block, in “Community: The Structure of Belonging” (2008, Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco), cites some concepts of Peter Koestenbaum. One of those is that “choosing freedom is also the source of our willingness to choose to be accountable. The insight is that freedom is what creates accountability.” I think this has profound meaning for public discourse. If I exercise my freedom to speak on a public issue do I also hold myself accountable to speak truly and to listen openly to the speech of others?

Entry Filed under: Uncategorized