Opinion

Community

America Needs A Civility Campaign

Jewish Studies

which we often disagree — it is crucial
that we engage not in mud slinging,
but
rather in frank, civil discussion.
he election season has
The
stakes are too high for us to do
finally ended. Victors have
anything
but pool the best of what we
celebrated, the defeated have
have
to
offer.
conceded and we are left to clean up
Simply put, the respectful exchange
the detritus: direct-mail fliers, defunct
of
ideas is the cornerstone of a func-
posters — and the scorched earth left
tioning
democracy. It's only by seeking
by one of the least-civil election cam-
compromise
and respecting differ-
paigns in memory.
ences
that we can hope to
American political culture
build
a
working consen-
has always been spirited and
sus
on
our
shared future.
combative, yet for some time
Yet
the
first
decade
now the tone of our discourse
of
this
new
century
has
has often been downright
seen
growing
political
nasty. Smear tactics, name
and socio-economic
calling and distortion of facts
polarization, a shrinking
are the order of the day, as the
sense of common ground
art of listening is not so much
and a corresponding
lost as trampled underfoot
disintegration of the
while politicians, pundits and
rules of engagement. The
activists rush to make points,
animus spills over into
heedless to what the country
racism, anti-Semitism,
might need.
Islamophobia and other
It seems clear what the
forms of prejudice and bias.
country needs: An end to knee-jerk
Ultimately, no one is served — least
hostility and the start of something
of all the country we share.
new, something civil.
If we are to genuinely resolve the
Within Jewish culture, we have a tra-
dition of "God wrestling" — struggling issues that stand before us, we must
genuinely engage in changing the
mightily to find the truth. Robust,
political atmosphere. We must actively
vigorous debate is vital and, indeed,
seek and promote civil modes of dis-
essential in a pluralistic society. But
sincere God wrestling requires both an course and codes of conduct — and
open heart and willing ears. It requires this is precisely what the Jewish com-
munity has begun to do.
that we treat each other with respect
The process is neither simple nor
as we search together for the best path
easy. Too often, we fear that polite
forward; and that we leave open the
behavior signals unquestioning agree-
possibility that someone else might
ment or grants a victory to those we
have something worthwhile to say.
It's to be expected that deep divisions oppose, failing to understand that
will exist when concerned citizens grap- civility is neither the lack of difference
nor the squelching of debate.
ple with issues of real importance. The
Civility is the quiet acknowledgment
economic downturn, the health of the
of human dignity, even those humans
planet, America's security, the Israeli-
with whom we sharply disagree.
Palestinian conflict — each issue is
Civility is listening carefully when
emotionally fraught and each will con-
others speak and leaving open the pos-
tinue to resonate for years to come.
Yet for this very reason — the enor- sibility that we may have something to
learn. Civility is the guarding of tongue
mous importance of the issues over

Washington/JTA

T

and the rejection of false witness —
two commandments that our tradition
holds dear.
Beyond that, however, civility is also
the proactive advancement of certain
kinds of behavior. We need to speak up
when others are being shouted down;
we need to structure our public events
in such a way that no single opinion
can monopolize the conversation; we
need to carefully maintain an attitude
of respect even when faced with shouts
and accusation; and perhaps most
important, we need to not give up.
Many in our community have begun
to step up to the challenge. A state-
ment sponsored by the Jewish Council
for Public Affairs calling for more civil
discourse, as part of a far-reaching
campaign to set a new tone, is being
signed by a who's who of Jewish com-
munity leaders, including the heads
of prominent Jewish community and
pro-Israel organizations, Republicans
and Democrats, conservatives and lib-
erals, rabbis, academics, former presi-
dential administration officials and
renowned Jewish activists. This is an
important start, but it is only a start.
With the election behind us, we
stand at a crossroads. We can look to
the past months and years as a tem-
plate and continue down the same
belligerent, damaging path, or we can
choose to learn from our mistakes and
seek a new way.
"That which is hateful to you:' the
great Hillel taught us, "do not do to
your fellow:'
It's time to take that lesson and
apply it to our modern democracy, for
it is only through civil discourse that
we will be able to perfect the union
that holds us together.

❑

Rabbi Steve Gutow is the president of the
Jewish Council for Public Affairs. To sign
the JCPA Civility Covenant, go to http://

engage.jewishpublicaffairs.org/content

item/Civility.

Tolerance from page 37

ments of people like the Orthodox rabbi
in Cincinnati who proposed that it's a
mitzvah for gay teens to kill themselves.
Clint McCance, the school board offi-
cial, wrote on Facebook,"It pisses me
off, though, that we make special purple
fag day for them. I like that fags can't
procreate. I also enjoy the fact that they
often give each other AIDS and die

38

November 11 • 2010

iN

At this stage, it is no longer about the
heated and divisive issues like gay mar-
riage or "Don't Ask Don't Tell:' It is now
a matter of life and death. Teens being
bullied until they commit suicide isn't a
political issue; its a human issue.
Religious leaders across this coun-
try: Please stand up and put an end to
this national tragedy.

❑

Rabbi Jason Miller is a blogger,
technology and social media advocate,

founder of the Kosher Michigan kosher

certification agency and a Jewish
educational entrepreneur. He is rabbi of

Oakland County-based Tamarack Camps
and part-time rabbi of Congregation

T'chiyah in Oak Park.

EMU names director.

M

artin Shichtman, a professor
of English language and litera-
ture who has taught at Eastern
Michigan University for 26 years, has been
appointed director of Jewish studies.
As director, Shichtman
will create alliances with
EMU's Jewish community,
coordinate EMU's Jewish
Studies Lecture Series
and develop curriculum.
The area of Jewish stud-
ies includes classes for all
EMU students interested
Martin
in Jewish life and culture,
Shichtman
as well as opportunities for
study abroad and intern-
ships.
Shichtman has organized and participated
in EMU campus discussions and panels,
including serving as a moderator for the
2009 interfaith panel "Did God Survive the
Holocaust?" Last month, Shichtman was a
panelist at a discussion on values, respect
and hate imagery, held after The Eastern
Echo had published a controversial cartoon
invoking the Ku Klux Klan.
Jack Kay, EMU provost and executive vice
president, called Shichtman "an exceptional,
productive and creative scholar who plays a
vital and central role in campus affairs
"Most EMU students know very little
about Judaism or about Jewish culture
Shichtman said. "Many are not aware of ever
having met a Jew. It is becoming increasingly
evident that comprehensive universities like
EMU, institutions dedicated to promoting an
understanding of American diversity, also
need to provide their students with an aware-
ness of Jewish life and culture'
Shichtman earned his doctorate and mas-
ter's from the University of Iowa, and his
bachelor's from the State University of New
York, Binghamton.
Shichtman has written four books. The lat-
est, Cinematic Illusions: The Middle Ages on
Film, co-authored with Laurie Finke, recently
received EMU's annual Faculty Scholarship
Recognition Award for best book by a faculty
member.
He has held fellowships at the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum and with
Brandies University's Summer Institute for
Israel Studies. In 2008, he was chosen as a
Hillel International Summit Scholar.
Shichtman received the EMU
Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching
in 1996 and the EMU Alumni Association
Award for Teaching Excellence in 1993.
In 1990, he received a State of Michigan
Teaching Excellence Award. ❑