Civility: A thing of the past?

Every Memorial Day, my thoughts are with several of my friends whose lives have been forever changed by the most recent incursion into Iraq.  This holiday is set aside to remember and honor those who have died in military service...yet it is also, blamelessly, associated by many Americans with the start of summer, or the opening of camping season.  

As the decades pass, and the generations that fought in the World Wars dwindle, the relevance of those wars also seems to recede.  And today, despite the great availability of armed conflict around the world, many who bother to think about such things would suggest that the upcoming requirements for global cooperation in matters like climate change, water and food shortages, and borderless trade will submit large-scale wars forever to the past.  Me?  I don't presume to know too much about anything.  However, I do know that Memorial Day was originally enacted to commemorate soldiers who served the Union army in the American Civil War.  Given the ideological divide in our country today, and the persistent economic challenges down the road, I cannot rule out the possibility of a second Civil War in our future.   

Such a war would be the product of us essentially destroying ourselves.  The first Civil War, however, was rooted in the pursuit of decency toward our fellow men.  That concept is the lesson I think we should consider, if ever so briefly, as we enjoy some time off this weekend.  We all have our own varying standards of decency, but I'm convinced that this variation is not good enough.  Our stubborn self-righteousness renders a beauty queen a bigot, or an impoverished mother an animal.  Our culture of relentless greed and self-importance values success over honesty, and turns even friends into rivals.  I'm convinced this is not good enough. 

Perhaps we can hold ourselves to a single standard where in all situations, regardless of whatever perception or personal gain may hang in the balance, we are just a little kinder or more decent than absolutely necessary.  I can certainly try.