08/06/2021
Bedford Together would like to make a public statement about the important distinction between civil and uncivil disagreement.
In many local public forums recently, the level of anger, disrespect, and incivility has appeared to increase exponentially. It is BT's hope that the Bedford community will recognize that it is always possible to have a civil disagreement, even when the subject is extremely charged and individuals are highly polarized.
Name-calling, personal insults and attacks, and dismissive comments are not only counterproductive, but they serve to devalue the arguer's point by providing no useful information and making the arguer look rude and uninformed.
If you truly believe in what you're arguing for, you'll likely agree that the best case scenario is for more people to believe what you do. And the only possible way to achieve that is to draw people in respectfully, empathize with them, and provide properly-sourced information*.
After all, when was the last time you were browbeat, bullied, or harassed into agreeing with someone?
If you behave negatively towards people with different beliefs, all you are succeeding at is signaling to those who agree with you that you're on 'their side,' which only serves to create more division and hate in our community.
Ridiculing and harassing 'outsiders' is a well-researched and powerful tactic for increasing the solidarity within groups, but it will never earn you a single new member. Furthermore, it makes it clear you have no intent to grow your community, and are the kind of toxic group for which immoral, disrespectful, and anti-community tactics are encouraged.
When all is said and done, we are all still Bedford neighbors and fellow Americans. As we've stated before, we make ourselves great by the strength of our integrity, our generosity, and the goodness of our character. We absolutely need to model better behavior for our children and show them that especially when times are hard and we can't agree on anything, we still find a way to stand together.
*Important note: Subjective belief and objective fact are not the same thing. Sometimes the distinction can blur, but in many cases, it does not. Everyone has a right to share beliefs and opinions, but in matters of objective fact, no one has a right to claim something as fact without ample properly-vetted evidence to support their claims.
Sharing information that has not been properly sourced not only makes you appear uninformed, but it can lead to real-world consequences for your family, friends, community, and country.
Learning to vet sources properly is an absolute must in the age of the internet, and is not always easy to do. Many websites and individuals on all sides of political, social, and ideological spectrums work very hard to present themselves as legitimate experts, when in actuality, they are very much not, and they profit or benefit in some way for spreading disinformation.
Navigating information on the internet is a skill that requires education, practice, and diligence, and is truly necessary for every American citizen. We highly recommend Crash Course's Navigating Digital Information series, https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=crash+course+navigating+digital+information+%231. Additionally, BT welcomes any questions as to the legitimacy of a source, as many of our members are trained researchers, medical professionals, and primary, secondary, and college-level educators.
And remember: People before politics, and community first. Always.
