Let us resolve to debate with civility

Over the past several days, we've explored our New Year's resolutions with you.

A couple of them represent goals for ourself as a newspaper:

To spark the suburban conversation. And to stand guard for the public welfare.

We take those resolutions seriously. If we do those two things well, we'll be a better newspaper. And the community will be better off for it too.

But most of the resolutions are suggestions for all of us — aspirations that we would hope everyone in the suburbs shares and that would be worthy commitments for each of us in 2011:

Be kind. Fight drugs. Toughen up. Embrace diversity.

If everyone did those four things, imagine how much better our community would be.

But there's one other thing that's an essential part of the mix too. Civility.

Let all of us resolve in 2011 to treat each other with civility.

To be sure, the lifeblood of any democracy is disagreement. The premise behind our Opinion page is integrally woven around that idea. Ideally, this page isn't a platform for our point of view; rather, it is a forum for the exchange of ideas and perspectives.

To be vibrant, it would foster vigorous and at times sharp debate. The public-comment opportunity at the end of most of the stories on dailyherald.com would too.

And in an ideal political world, as we approach the spring local elections, the discussions built around those races would be lively and thought-provoking, representing a variety of solutions to our community's problems and challenges and myriad energetic visions of what the community should become.

This is all healthy and good. Vigorous debate weeds out weak ideas and refines and enhances strong ones. It improves our intellectual capacity in the process. This is to be encouraged.

But in the process of this debate, let's strive, as the saying goes, to disagree without being disagreeable. Let's respect each other as the neighbors we are, and start from the assumption that even those with contrary points of view have hearts of good intention.

Acrimony is a destructive, cynical force. It divides and tears down. It does not lead and it does not build.

But more to the point, it does not persuade. In order for an argument to be effective, it must engage the other side, it must get the other side to listen to the argument. And who among us listens if he or she feels disrespected?

Let us be builders of our community.

Let us be skeptics but not cynics.

Let us respect each other.

Let us be civil.

Happy New Year, one and all.