Week 15

Q1a. What is courage? (NE203)

A1a. Jesse Kirkpatrick:“…courage is characterized by the following jointly necessary conditions:” 

1. It must be for a good end (i.e., a just cause);
2. Right intention must be present;
3. The presence of risk to the individual which is known to him or her.

Q1b.  How do we distinguish between physical and moral courage? (NE203)

A1b. In many ways it depends on how we define and categorize risk .

Q2. What is civility? What positive example of civility have you witnessed lately? (NL110)

A2.  Civility is the sum of the many sacrifices that we are called to make for the sake of living together; it’s closely tied to dignity and is fundamental to interacting with others. The 5 tenets that we teach in NL110 are:

1. Civility doesn’t depend on whether we like others or not;
2. Civility requires that we sacrifice for strangers, not just those we know;
3. Civility requires generosity, even when costly, and trust, even when risky;
4. Civility requires we listen to others with the knowledge that they may be right, and we may be wrong;
5. Civility requires that we act in ways that demonstrate our respect for others.

John McCain’s website has some great acts of civility that you can try:

• Re-engage with a friend or family member with whom you disagree.
• Learn about an issue from a different perspective.
• Pledge to listen before responding to a viewpoint different than yours.
• Find an issue on which to agree with someone with whom you frequently disagree.
• Allow someone else to be in control of entertainment or food choices for the day.
• Express your appreciation for someone else's service -- especially public service.
• Help make someone else's day a little brighter through an act of community service.