Reviving Civil Discourse
Do you feel like civil discourse has flatlined and needs some defibrillator paddles if it’s going to survive? It feels that way to me. And considering the tenor of most debates in society today, I would argue it’s more than just a feeling. Timothy Conner, in an article for the Tennesse Journal of Law and Policy titled “The Decline of Civil Discourse and the rise of extremist debate,” wrote: Most attorneys are familiar with the adage : “If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell.” We have entered an age where, in any given debate, proponents of a particular position no longer seem to care about the facts or the law. They bypass all reason, attempt no civil discourse, and proceed straight to yelling . https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1186&context=tjlp Yep! That sure sounds like society today. His article c