What Happened to Civility?

I thought it rather ironic that a friend of mine phoned me to let me know of an article that appeared in USA Today this past week. The headline read, "What Happened to Civility?" The events of this past week of public personalities (Kanye West, Serena Williams and Rep. Joe Williams) displaying angry and childish behavior that is so un-civil it decries all logic and reasoning, just underscores the issues that I have been observing for several years.
What follows is an excerpt from that article:
"American society is among the most informal in the world, and often that informality crosses over into incivility," he says. "Now, you add the informality of the Internet to this culture, and all bets are off. It's an age of total disclosure and total expression, with very little concern for the feelings of others."
The ability to comment about others from a distance and with anonymity is the Web's hallmark and its poison, says Jerry Bowles, co-founder of SocialMediaToday.com, which keeps tabs on the impact of social media on society. Bowles' recent blog post lamented the recent erosion of civility.
"The Web seems to turn most people into adversaries, and in doing so, we tend to lose the ability to really talk to each other," he says. "This is particularly true for politics on the Web, where the comments tend to run to the extremes and sometimes can be downright seditious. I find it scary."
Is there any antidote to such venom?
"It starts with an apology," Forni says. "That is what restores the bones of civil society."
As someone who writes articles for a blog, I am part of this whole grand experiment in cyberspace. Never before have we had the access to information and written material as we do now. The whole idea of using a phone book to find a phone number is almost obsolete. Whenever I have a question, I almost always search out the answer on the internet with both speed and efficiency.
The rise and use of the internet, especially among young people, has given way to more and more concerns I have for Christian children and teenagers. The unbridled access to information which has no "age appropriate" filters to guard the eyes is even more alarming. But I guess the most disturbing trend of all is exactly what this article refers to as the death of civility, especially the trend of "incivility" I am observing in young people towards others, especially adults.
One doesn't have to go back very many years to remember the unwritten rule that young people were to respect their elders, even if they disagreed with them. There were just some things you would never say to an adult no matter how mad or angry they made you. The older the person was, the more respect they were to be given in spite of your own personal feelings, understanding that you might not know everything you think you knew!
My goals in writing articles for this blog have remained the same since I started. I wanted to provide encouragement to other like-minded fathers while at the same time being encouraged by others who found value in what I wrote. I have never believed that everythng I have written or believe would be adopted our espoused by others but sought to provide ideas and present what I believe the Lord is saying to me in certain areas of my family life. You can well imagine that I have recieved some very interesting comments, but what I find most interesting is that all of what I would term "negative" or "disrespectful" comments have come from anonymous sources."Hiding behind anonymity has unfortunately become the norm. There are things that people say "anonymously" that they would never have the courage to say to a persons face. The internet is spawning a whole new wave of incivility to the point where it will soon be difficult to define respect.
If I could encourage fathers in any way, it would be to encourage your children to interact with other vocally and less over the internet. Even in my own business, I am constantly encouraging those who work for me to use less email and more interaction. It is through face to face interaction with others that we learn the very hallmarks and rules of civility. Social networking 20 years ago was something we did with each other in our families and with friends. Let's not lose the very fabric of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindess, brotherly love to this thing we call the internet. The more we use the internet as our means of communication and teach our children to do the same, the more at some point we will have to all learn how to actual speak with each other as it becomes foreign to us to do so.
God Bless You,
Steve R.