Rights and Non-rights of Civility

We believe we have the right to disagree with others.

We believe we do not have the right to use hateful, rude, angry and slanderous words and actions towards those with whom we disagree.

We believe we have the right to be angry or upset at situations we find distressing.

We believe we do not have the right to take our feelings out on others in destructive ways.

We believe we have the right to express our opinion.

We believe we do not have the right to use our opinions as weapons against those we perceive as our enemy because they don’t share our opinion.

We believe we have the right to be who we are.

We believe we do not have the right to judge others harshly in our thoughts, words or actions because they are different than us.

Civility Pledge

We pledge to:

• Speak and act with kindness and thoughtfulness.
• Seek understanding.
• Deal with our feelings in healthy ways.
• Speak our truth using “I statements”. (I feel…..,; this is how I see it…..; My experience tells me…..; this is what is true for me…..)
• Recognize there can be more than one truth in any situation.
• Listen to another with open ears and hearts.
• Seek solutions with consideration and collaboration.
• Walk away when the situation is too much to handle.
• Seek to understand someone who is different and try to see things from their point of view.
• Agree to disagree and leave it at that.