Working together to rebuild a culture of true civility
By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com
On Wednesday, Jan. 10, Carmel City Councilman Jeff Worrell is inviting the public to rebuild a culture of civility in Carmel and beyond.
“Civility: We Can Do Better” will be held at the Carmel Clay Public Library, 425 E Main St., Carmel at 6 p.m. Worrell will welcome author Alexandra (Lexi) Hudson, author of the bestselling book The Soul of Civility.
Hudson
Worrell
“We are going to begin the process of defining and exploring and hopefully to rebuild a culture of civility in Carmel,” Worrell told The Reporter. “I’m not saying we are uncivil, but I am saying we can do better. By defining what civility really is – and it’s not just a matter of being polite – but I believe if we really understood what civility is, we could still disagree. We can still have really tough conversations. We can even just frankly agree to disagree, but we can do it without the intent of punishment or harm or embarrassment or any of those negative connotations.”
This event will serve as a kickoff to Worrell’s long-term project of working to rebuild a culture of civility in Carmel. Hudson’s book will guide the group and provide real-time tools to make corrections and implement a cultural shift.
“As I reflect on the recent election and the current state of our republic, clearly, trust in government is at an all-time low,” Worrell said. “I believe we have the power to reverse this trend and rebuild faith in our democratic institutions, starting at the local level.”
Worrell said he hopes to help people learn to disagree without the connotation of “I’m right and you’re wrong,” and to be able to disagree while still having respect for one another as human beings.
“I see it most frequently in social media, but we’ve had conversations about how this could be applied in our schools, in our churches, in neighborhoods, in HOAs, at the book club,” Worrell said. “Seeing everybody having just this automatic disposition that everybody is a human being that deserves my respect. Starting out from there, we can even see it in roundabouts or on the baseball diamond. It’s everywhere, and it starts with that basic beginning premise.”
Worrell said he has seen the growing lack of civility in all aspects of life.
“But the only thing I really can try and change or make an impact on is my local Carmel,” Worrell said.
According to Worrell, Hudson makes the point in her book that incivility has been around since the beginning of time.
“In politics you have the famous example of Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan being able to come from opposite ends of the political spectrum, disagree vehemently, had their colleagues mad at them if they didn’t toe the line, yet those two could get together after the day is over and have a cigar and a bourbon,” Worrell said. “That is be a great example because they respected each other, but it does occur everywhere, but we’ve always been fighting this.”
Worrell spoke about Hudson referring in her book to Ptah-Hotep, who lived from 2414 to 2375 B.C. The Teachings of Ptah-Hotep is considered by some scholars to be the oldest book in the world, first published circa 2388 B.C.
“As you go through [Hudson’s] book, there are so many quotes from just ancient authors talking about how to have a civil society how to get along with your neighbors, how to show respect,” Worrell said. “It’s probably naive of me to think that when I was growing up everything was unicorns and rainbows, but I think with the advent of social media, it’s gotten easier for my grandkids and maybe even for my children to think some acts of behavior are okay that didn’t used to be.”
Worrell said he invited Hudson to this event because her book resonated with him.
“I picked it up on a whim maybe having just come off of a campaign,” Worrell said. “I picked it up and just almost from page one it seemed to make absolute total sense as to what might be wrong and how we could fix it. So anytime I pick up a book that gives me some path forward, that’s the ‘why’ for me.”
At the Jan. 10 event, attendees can expect to get a basic understanding of civility and set the stage for more discussions and events in the future.
The layout of the talk will be to get the basics,” Worrell said. “To have Lexi [Hudson] describe what civility is, what it isn’t, and how is it different from manners or being polite. A lot of people, as I’ve been talking about this, mix those two terms up. So we will define it and then really get our arms about what it is and then we’re going to have some Q&A. I’m going to be armed with a possible plan, but we also want to get ideas from the people who obviously are interested in building a culture of civility.”
You can take a first step into a more civil world by attending “Civility: We Can Do Better” at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at the Carmel Clay Public Library, 425 E. Main St., Carmel.
You can also keep reading The Reporter for updates as this project moves forward.