by jpitney | Jan 24, 2021 | civic virtue, Civility, Democracy, Polarization, Religion
David French: On January 15, Hunter Baker, the dean of arts and sciences at Union University—a Baptist college not far from me in Jackson, Tennessee—did something exceedingly rare in our highly polarized time. He published an apology. In an essay in Public Discourse,...
by jpitney | Jan 22, 2021 | civic virtue, Lincoln, Presidency
Mitt Romney at Deseret News: My reading of history suggests what can heal social sickness. First, a great leader who “calls upon our better angels” can bring us together. Churchill rallied his nation to resist and defeat Nazism. Roosevelt elicited the endurance that...
by jpitney | Jan 21, 2021 | civic virtue, Congress, Constitution, Democracy, Elections, Electoral College, History, Polarization, US Constitution
The national anthem has seldom resonated as much as it did when Lady Gaga emphasized the words “our flag was still there” and pointed to the flag on the capitol which had been attacked just a fortnight earlier. It was all balm for America’s wounded soul....
by jpitney | Jan 19, 2021 | civic virtue, Civility, Democracy
At the Niskanen Center, Brink Lindsey writes of the Prime Directive of democratic civic virtue. And what is this Prime Directive? Let’s put in bold type: Treat all your fellow citizens, regardless of their political views, as your civic and political equals. In...
by jpitney | Jan 14, 2021 | Biden, civic virtue, Civility, Polarization, Public Opinion
From the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service Despite deep political polarization and levels of civil and political unrest not seen in a generation, American voters are cautiously optimistic about the future of our politics, according to the most recent...
by jpitney | Dec 31, 2020 | civic virtue, Civility, Religion
York Moore at Christianity Today: While my belief that civility will die a swift death in this Winter of despair, I have a hope in something greater-basic human desire. There are basic human desires that I believe will allow us to re-plant the seeds of civility once...
