Following the Tucson shootings, our Ridgefield Clergy Association, of which I have been an active member for thirteen years, unanimously supported the idea of publicly taking a civility pledge. We extended this at yesterday’s town Martin Luther King celebration where we invited individuals of the public to stand and join us in this pledge, as seen in the photo above.

Please also join us in this pledge as well:

I pledge to conduct myself in a way that is civil, honest, and respectful toward people with whom I disagree. I value people from different cultures; I value people with different ideas; and I value and cherish the democratic process and understand the importance of mutual respect in civic meetings and wherever citizens engage each other.

You can read an excellent newspaper writeup of the occasion by clicking here. (It was me who fed the reporter the content of the first two paragraphs…) The children (photographed below) singing “This Little Light of Mine; I’m Gonna Let it Shine” and reading from Dr. King’s speeches brought tears to my eyes. We’re making progress with so much more to go.