Can we disagree with courtesy?

Prairie dogs.

Recently one of our local TV stations wrote a Facebook post about 500 prairie dogs being in danger of a new transportation project. The station asked for people's opinions on whether or not people cared about the plight of the prairie dogs that would be affected.

Holy cow.

Maybe I have not been paying attention, but when did it become OK to write such disgusting things about people you happen to disagree with?

I honestly couldn't believe some of the responses. As I read them, I realized that any conversation around prairie dogs had long been dismissed.

I wonder how often this happens. I wonder how this became acceptable.

Because it's not. It's certainly not how I ever want to be, and how I hope people who try to be a voice for the voiceless are not either. There is no good that comes out of disrespect towards other people simply because they have an opinion that is different than mine, or our.

So how can we change? Or can we? I definitely believe that we can change this. I believe that if we kindly call folks on their responses and always be a beacon of courteous comments, even when we disagree.

Please understand that I am not saying that we become passive with our beliefs and around what we fight for. I'm simply saying that we can disagree with people and honor our cause or whoever we are fighting for. Being mean in a public forum does no good for the voiceless we are trying to be the voice for.

This is something I continually work on. Simply put, discourse can by polite. Who knows, people's minds have changed over much less than being greeted with kindness.

Thanks for reading!