Letters to | the Editor

To the Editor:

I am disappointed. I have come to expect civility at community meetings. But recent Shenandoah TPPI (Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Initiative) forums and rallies have marred my image of an Iowan community. I recognize the passion that beliefs engender, but for a representative government to work – to create workable solutions to serious problems, requires listening past one’s preconceptions, dialogue where everyone’s voice is heard and nobody’s ignored, and most importantly – civility.

The Institute for Civility in Government defines civility as “claiming and caring for one’s identity, needs and beliefs without degrading someone else in the process.” Somehow in Shenandoah, we lost sight of that and rude democracy entered the scene. If we are ever going to put a dent in the rise of teenage pregnancies and STD’s in Page. Montgomery and Fremont counties, we must return to the table of dialogue.

Shall we lay aside the name-calling and demonizing that only produces fear and hysteria? A fear that has led many - what we might call the silent - majority to bow out of the discussion for fear of reprisals. We cannot afford to lose their ideas. I urge the silent majority to step forward and begin a fresh dialogue drenched in civility, for as Don Wolfensberger has stated, “civility is the glue that holds relationships and community together so that important work can be done.”

Edward Kelly Jr

Nurse and former Pastor