Purdue talk highlights problems with civility in Politics

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – In the United States’ current political climate, polarization and moral clarity should trump good manners and civility, said religious scholar and political commentator Reza Aslan at a talk on Purdue University’s campus Wednesday night.

“Civility calls for minorities to shut the hell up,” said Aslan.

Aslan, in a panel hosted by Purdue’s Division of Diversity and Inclusion at the Loeb Playhouse, said that there are some issues that may only have two sides that represent two drastically different ways of thinking. He used the U.S.’s detainment of migrant children at the border as an example.

Aslan’s fellow panelist, the Reverend Naomi Tutu, mirrored his thoughts on the negative effects civility can have on public discourse, suggesting that it is often weaponized against oppressed and marginalized people in the U.S.

Tutu then dropped her voice down to a hushed tone for a dramatic effect, suggesting that evil can be conducted very quietly.

Tutu and Aslan were joined on stage by four other political and intellectual thinkers: President Barack Obama’s former Special Assistant Melissa Rogers, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Arun Gandhi, President Ronald Reagan’s son Ron Reagan, and Michelle Obama’s former speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz. The event was moderated by “Democracy Now!” host Amy Goodman.

Each guest brought with them a unique set of religious and life experiences. Reagan, an atheist, discussed the debates he labored over with his father on christianity vs. atheism, Hurwitz described her evolving relationship with the Jewish faith and Gandhi ruminated on his grandfather’s teachings on anger and nonviolence.

“Anger is like electricity; it’s just as useful and just as powerful, but only if we use it intelligently,” said Gandhi, quoting his grandfather.

The Loeb Playhouse, which seats 1,038 patrons, was at or near its full capacity, and several audience members murmured reflective oohs and aahs after certain points were made by the guest speakers . One attendee, Edward Price, a graduate student in the Purdue mathematics department, reflected on Aslan’s insights on the political wielding of civility.

“I’ve seen that sort of thing before where people have sort of pushed civility over humanity,” said Price.

The panel event, entitled, “Religion, Polarization, and the Public Space,” was centered around the role religion and freedom of expression play in public discourse. It is part of a broader initiative by the Division of Diversity and Inclusion to engage members of the Purdue community in discussion on its central themes of democracy, civility and freedom of expression.