Being Civil in a Tumultuous Time
I recently commented on a FB post that asked “is it appropriate for some of our esteemed medical journals to be political? Love to hear your thoughts.” As you may expect, the responses were deeply divided. The group that hosted this conversation was made up of physicians. Here was my response:
The bigger question is not even the question that started this thread. It’s can we disagree with each other without being disagreeable? Can we tolerate others’ opinions without hating each other? We are all docs and from the comments above there is disagreement. That’s ok. I am not sure when it became not ok. We are still a family of physicians. Can we read a comment that we don’t like without hating the other person? I really hope so. That is my prayer for the future of the human race.
Amazingly enough, there were many who hammered me for this. One doctor even stated that any physician who didn’t agree with her side is a Nazi and can be compared to Josef Mengele. My only response to that is “I hope you find some peace in life”.
I am putting this all here in Authentic Medicine for the same reason. Let’s be ok with disagreement. Let’s not be disagreeable. Let’s truly tolerate others’ opinions. This blog has 13 diverse writers who are on both sides of the political spectrum. I don’t edit them. It is fine if they are politically incorrect. In fact, I recently had a physician trying to get me to remove a comment from a post because he didn’t like what it said. Nope.
Whichever way this election goes there will be a lot of angry and depressed people. Let’s not fall into the trap of more hate. We are a family of physicians. I hope we all find some peace in our lives during these tumultuous times.
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Paragraph 2 was well done!
These days if you don’t agree with the “narrative”, you’re considered a redneck Nazi deplorable. I respect everyone’s opinions whether or not I agree. We’re letting politics destroy friendships and family. It’s pitiful.
The media has helped fuel this fire.
I would civilly disagree. We’ve done this to ourselves – blaming the media is just another way of avoiding responsibility. The media is always followers, not leaders.
My two cents.
you are so true in this statement. Hateful, and especially anonymous digital replies are ruining society and American culture. What happened to being good sports, treating each other with courtesy?
Amen.
I agree. I hold that dialogue that is civil is paramount. Freedom of speech is what is wonderful about our country. Name calling is not tolerated in preschool & a good guideline for us adults.
Well said Doug! Since some large proportion of us in the US are going to be disappointed in the results of today’s election, the concept of respectful and peaceful disagreement is even more important.