Time to listen to inner voice once again

Conscience, civility needed over public shaming

As a country, we are facing amazing challenges. Immigration. Health care. The economy. Trade wars. Race issues. Crime. Drugs.

These are polarizing, hot-button issues, but they are not the biggest problem facing this country right now.

Instead, that honor, for lack of a better word, falls to civility, which seems to have taken a back seat to people’s tempers and baser instincts.

What happened to the ability to debate, to disagree, to find common ground, to compromise, and to move forward?

In one corner, there’s the president of the United States, who can’t resist targeting people, especially on Twitter.

In the other corner, there are people publicly shaming Trump’s staff members as they dined out — Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and advisor Stephen Miller were both recently targets. And Rep. Maxine Waters, a Democrat from Los Angeles, gave a public stamp of approval to the notion.

Where does it end? It may create change, but at what cost? Who are we becoming?

There is an escalation happening right now dictated by emotion, not logic, and it’s happening on both sides of the aisle.

There are so many more constructive ways to get one’s point across — one can peacefully protest, one can launch a letter-writing or email campaign, one can call their representatives and voice their opinions. And in that process, make the conversation about the issues, because the minute one makes it a personal attack, the recipient stops listening.

Or one can take the most democratic approach of all, and cast a vote.

Our nation is at an angry crossroads, one where civility has been brutally shoved aside for nasty antics.

Is this the only way to impact change in our country right now? If it is, we’ve fallen farther than I realized.

Change can happen, but harassment and vitriol aren’t the way to accomplish it.

Once upon a time, people had an inner voice, commonly called a conscience, that quietly sat upon our shoulders and helped us be better people.

It’s time to do some soul-searching to find that voice again — from the nation’s highest office right on down to the average person on the street.

Maybe then, we can start to see real change and progress in our country.