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Author: James Calvin Davis
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 0664235441
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 214
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Book Description
"James Davis provides helpful insight into controversial issues facing twenty-first-century Americans. Even those who disagree with his conclusions will find this a splendid contribution to a more civil public conversation."---Rev. J. Philip Wogaman, Professor Emeritus of Christian Ethics. Wesley Theological Seminary. Washington. DC. and author of Moral Dilemmas: An Introduction to Christian Ethics "A gentle and penetrating reminder of the role that religion can play in helping us think through deep problems."---Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet "This broad-minded and intelligent book is a must-read for all who are interested in finding common ground amidst our nation's divisive political, cultural, and religious conflicts."---Dr. David P. Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics. Mercer University. Attanta, Georgia "Davis combines just the right amount of accessibility, historical knowledge, and depth to make this book an excellent and significant contribution to the cavernous collection of literature on religion and public debate."---Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty, Associate Professor of Theology. Bellamine University Louisville. Kentucky, and coeditor with Rebecca Todd Peters of To Do Justice: A Guide for Progressive Christians From abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, and stem-cell research, to war, poverty, and the environment, this timely book considers religion's impact on moral debates in America's past and present. James Calvin Davis argues for religion's potential to enrich both the content and the civility of public conversation. This book will interest all concerned citizens yearning for more careful thinking about the role of religion in public debate.
Author: James Calvin Davis
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 0664235441
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 214
Get Book Here
Book Description
"James Davis provides helpful insight into controversial issues facing twenty-first-century Americans. Even those who disagree with his conclusions will find this a splendid contribution to a more civil public conversation."---Rev. J. Philip Wogaman, Professor Emeritus of Christian Ethics. Wesley Theological Seminary. Washington. DC. and author of Moral Dilemmas: An Introduction to Christian Ethics "A gentle and penetrating reminder of the role that religion can play in helping us think through deep problems."---Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet "This broad-minded and intelligent book is a must-read for all who are interested in finding common ground amidst our nation's divisive political, cultural, and religious conflicts."---Dr. David P. Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics. Mercer University. Attanta, Georgia "Davis combines just the right amount of accessibility, historical knowledge, and depth to make this book an excellent and significant contribution to the cavernous collection of literature on religion and public debate."---Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty, Associate Professor of Theology. Bellamine University Louisville. Kentucky, and coeditor with Rebecca Todd Peters of To Do Justice: A Guide for Progressive Christians From abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, and stem-cell research, to war, poverty, and the environment, this timely book considers religion's impact on moral debates in America's past and present. James Calvin Davis argues for religion's potential to enrich both the content and the civility of public conversation. This book will interest all concerned citizens yearning for more careful thinking about the role of religion in public debate.
Author: Robert G. Boatright
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351051962
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 245
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Book Description
The state of political discourse in the United States today has been a subject of concern for many Americans. Political incivility is not merely a problem for political elites; political conversations between American citizens have also become more difficult and tense. The 2016 presidential elections featured campaign rhetoric designed to inflame the general public. Yet the 2016 election was certainly not the only cause of incivility among citizens. There have been many instances in recent years where reasoned discourse in our universities and other public venues has been threatened. This book was undertaken as a response to these problems. It presents and develops a more robust discussion of what civility is, why it matters, what factors might contribute to it, and what its consequences are for democratic life. The authors included here pursue three major questions: Is the state of American political discourse today really that bad, compared to prior eras; what lessons about civility can we draw from the 2016 election; and how have changes in technology such as the development of online news and other means of mediated communication changed the nature of our discourse? This book seeks to develop a coherent, civil conversation between divergent contemporary perspectives in political science, communications, history, sociology, and philosophy. This multidisciplinary approach helps to reflect on challenges to civil discourse, define civility, and identify its consequences for democratic life in a digital age. In this accessible text, an all-star cast of contributors tills the earth in which future discussion on civility will be planted.
Author: Alex Zamalin
Publisher: Beacon Press
ISBN: 0807026549
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 186
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Book Description
The first history of racial injustice to examine how civility and white supremacy are linked, and a call for citizens who care about social justice to abandon civility and practice civic radicalism The idea and practice of civility has always been wielded to silence dissent, repress political participation, and justify violence upon people of color. Although many progressives today are told that we need to be more polite and thoughtful, less rancorous and angry, when we talk about race in America, civility maintains rather than disrupts racial injustice. Spanning two hundred years, Zamalin’s accessible blend of intellectual history, political biography, and contemporary political criticism shows that civility has never been neutral in its political uses and impacts. The best way to tackle racial inequality is through “civic radicalism,” an alternative to civility found in the actions of Black radical leaders including Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin, Malcolm X, and Audre Lorde. Civic radicals shock and provoke people. They name injustice and who is responsible for it. They protest, march, strike, boycott, and mobilize collectively rather than form alliances with those who fundamentally oppose them. In Against Civility, citizens who care deeply about racial and socioeconomic equality will see that they need to abandon this concept of discreet politeness when it comes to racial justice and instead more fully support disruptive actions and calls for liberation, which have already begun with movements like #MeToo, the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, and Black Lives Matter.
Author: Amy Olberding
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019088097X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 201
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Book Description
In a time of fractious politics, being rude can feel wickedly gratifying, while being polite can feel simple-minded or willfully naïve. Do manners and civility even matter now? Is it worthwhile to make the effort to be polite? When rudeness has become routine and commonplace, why bother? When so much of public and social life with others is painful and bitterly acrimonious, why should anyone be polite? As Amy Olberding argues, civility and ordinary politeness are linked both to big values, such as respect and consideration, and to the fundamentally social nature of human beings. Being polite is not just a nicety--it has deep meaning. Olberding explores the often overwhelming temptations to incivility and rudeness, and the ways that they must and can be resisted. Drawing on the wisdom of early Chinese philosophers who lived through great political turmoil but nonetheless avidly sought to "mind their manners," the book articulates a way of thinking about politeness that is distinctively social. We can feel profoundly alienated from others, and others can sometimes be truly terrible, yet, as the Confucian philosophers encourage us to see, because we are social, neglecting the social and political courtesies comes at perilous cost. The book considers not simply why civility and politeness are important, but how. It reveals how small insults can accumulate to damage social relations, how separating people into tribes undermines our better interests, and how even bodily and facial expressions can influence our lives with others. Many of us, in spite of our best efforts, are often tempted to be rude, and will find here tools for fighting that temptation.
Author: William Keith
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271088591
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 255
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Book Description
From the pundits to the polls, nearly everyone seems to agree that US politics have rarely been more fractious, and calls for a return to “civil discourse” abound. Yet it is also true that the requirements of polite discourse effectively silence those who are not in power, gaming the system against the disenfranchised. What, then, should a democracy do? This book makes a case for understanding civility in a different light. Examining the history of the concept and its basis in communication and political theory, William Keith and Robert Danisch present a clear, robust analysis of civil discourse. Distinguishing it from politeness, they claim that civil argument must be redirected from the goal of political comity to that of building and maintaining relationships of minimal respect in the public sphere. They also take into account how civility enables discrimination, indicating conditions under which uncivil resistance is called for. When viewed as a communication practice for uniting people with differences and making them more equal, civility is transformed from a preferable way of speaking into an essential component of democratic life. Guarding against uncritical endorsement of civility as well as skepticism, Keith and Danisch show with rigor, nuance, and care that the practice of civil communication is both paradoxical and sorely needed. Beyond Civility is necessary reading for our times.
Author: Ann Hartle
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess
ISBN: 0268202311
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 240
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Book Description
What is civility, and why has it disappeared? Ann Hartle analyzes the origins of the modern project and the Essays of Michel de Montaigne to discuss why civility is failing in our own time. In this bold book, Ann Hartle, one of the most important interpreters of sixteenth-century French philosopher Michel de Montaigne, explores the modern notion of civility—the social bond that makes it possible for individuals to live in peace in the political and social structures of the Western world—and asks, why has it disappeared? Concerned with the deepening cultural divisions in our postmodern, post-Christian world, she traces their roots back to the Reformation and Montaigne’s Essays. Montaigne’s philosophical project of drawing on ancient philosophy and Christianity to create a new social bond to reform the mores of his culture is perhaps the first act of self-conscious civility. After tracing Montaigne’s thought, Hartle returns to our modern society and argues that this framing of civility is a human, philosophical invention and that civility fails precisely because it is a human, philosophical invention. She concludes with a defense of the central importance of sacred tradition for civility and the need to protect and maintain that social bond by supporting nonpoliticized, nonideological, free institutions, including and especially universities and churches. What Happened to Civility is written for readers concerned about the deterioration of civility in our public life and the defense of freedom of religion. The book will also interest philosophers who seek a deeper understanding of modernity and its meaning, political scientists interested in the meaning of liberalism and the causes of its failure, and scholars working on Montaigne’s Essays.
Author: James Calvin Davis
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725271311
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 187
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Book Description
How can celebrating the “holy days” of American culture help us to understand what it means to be both Christian and American? In timely essays on Super Bowl Sunday, Mother’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and other holidays of the secular calendar, James Calvin Davis explores the wisdom that Christian tradition brings to our sense of American identity, as well as the ways in which American culture might prompt us to discern the imperatives of faith in new ways. Rather than demonizing culture or naively baptizing it, Davis models a bidirectional mode of reflection, where faith convictions and cultural values converse with and critique one another. Focusing on topics like politics, race, parenting, music, and sports, these essays remind us that culture is as much human accomplishment and gift as it is a challenge to Christian values, and there is insight to be discovered in a theologically astute investment in America’s “holy days.”
Author: Teresa M. Bejan
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674545494
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 285
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Book Description
A New Statesman Best Book of the Year A Church Times Book of the Year We are facing a crisis of civility, a war of words polluting our public sphere. In liberal democracies committed to tolerating active, often heated disagreement, the loss of this virtue appears critical. Most modern appeals to civility follow arguments by Hobbes or Locke by proposing to suppress disagreement or exclude views we deem “uncivil” for the sake of social harmony. By comparison, mere civility—a grudging conformity to norms of respectful behavior—as defended by Rhode Island’s founder, Roger Williams, might seem minimal and unappealing. Yet Teresa Bejan argues that Williams’s outlook offers a promising path forward in confronting our own crisis, one that challenges our fundamental assumptions about what a tolerant—and civil—society should look like. “Penetrating and sophisticated.” —James Ryerson, New York Times Book Review “Would that more of us might learn to look into the past with such gravity and humility. We might end up with a more (or mere) civil society, yet.” —Los Angeles Review of Books “A deeply admirable book: original, persuasive, witty, and eloquent.” —Jacob T. Levy, Review of Politics “A terrific book—learned, vigorous, and challenging.” —Alison McQueen, Stanford University
Author: Joel Stein
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 1455591467
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 267
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Book Description
From Thurber finalist and former star Time columnist Joel Stein comes a "brilliant exploration" (Walter Isaacson) of America's political culture war and a hilarious call to arms for the elite. "I can think of no one more suited to defend elitism than Stein, a funny man with hands as delicate as a baby full of soft-boiled eggs." —Jimmy Kimmel, host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! The night Donald Trump won the presidency, our author Joel Stein, Thurber Prize finalist and former staff writer for Time Magazine, instantly knew why. The main reason wasn't economic anxiety or racism. It was that he was anti-elitist. Hillary Clinton represented Wall Street, academics, policy papers, Davos, international treaties and the people who think they're better than you. People like Joel Stein. Trump represented something far more appealing, which was beating up people like Joel Stein. In a full-throated defense of academia, the mainstream press, medium-rare steak, and civility, Joel Stein fights against populism. He fears a new tribal elite is coming to replace him, one that will fend off expertise of all kinds and send the country hurtling backward to a time of wars, economic stagnation and the well-done steaks doused with ketchup that Trump eats. To find out how this shift happened and what can be done, Stein spends a week in Roberts County, Texas, which had the highest percentage of Trump voters in the country. He goes to the home of Trump-loving Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams; meets people who create fake news; and finds the new elitist organizations merging both right and left to fight the populists. All the while using the biggest words he knows.
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004417583
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 283
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Book Description
In Civility, Nonviolent Resistance, and the New Struggle for Social Justice, Amin Asfari brings together scholarly contributions addressing the causes of injustice in its many forms. Predicated on the idea that violence and injustice are systemic and historical, this collection includes chapters that examine the antecedents and effects of prejudice, state-sponsored violence, policies of exclusion, and the social forces that shape and solidify their existence. Moving beyond ad-hoc, ahistorical, and descriptive explanations of violence and injustice, this volume provides a scholarly, multidisciplinary approach to confronting them. Contributions reflect the many ways in which injustice manifests, and civil, nonviolent means of engagement are emphasized, challenging the very systems that give rise to these notions.
