Were you ever told that you should never discuss religion or politics in polite company? Have you noticed that these days everything, especially politics, seems to be fair game for a heated conversation? And whether you are a politician or just an ordinary citizen expressing your views, things can quickly get pretty overheated and downright uncivil.

The National Institute for Civil Discourse recently launched an initiative aimed at reviving civility in America, aptly called Revive Civility. April 20-28, 2018 is the National Week of Conversation in the United States. It seems fitting to kick off the week by talking about these various projects aimed at reviving civility in our country. Mark Hews is the state coordinator for Maine Revives Civility. He’s my guest on the Catching Health podcast.

In this episode, Mark talks about

  • Why Maine was chosen to be one of four states to pilot the Revive Civility initiative
  • How the National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD) is trying to engage with people at all levels
  • How he became the state coordinator for Maine Revives Civility
  • The purpose and focus of Revive Civility
  • The possible effects of being uncivil
  • Definition of civility
  • The dangers of not knowing the true facts of an issue or a situation
  • What he and other state coordinators are doing at the grassroots level
  • Civility resources
  • Other NICD initiatives

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Resources

National Week of Conversation

The National Week of Conversation (April 20-28, 2018) is a project of Bridge Alliance Education Fund. NICD is one of several organizing partners. It’s designed to be “A week for mending America — one conversation at a time.”

We’re all invited to participate either as individuals or organizations, in person or online. Here are two links with more information.