California Freemason - December/January 2015

Recently, the small community of Ventura,
California was divided against itself. Insults
were hurled. Reputations were tarnished.
Names were called. “It was vitriolic,” says
Grand Master Russ Charvonia, who is a resi-
dent there. “And it was over whether or not
to build a Walmart.”
The same thing happens every day in
communities, and lodges, across the coun-
try. When a topic is emotionally charged,
the first casualty can be common courtesy.

Charvonia hopes to find a better way. Last February, he presented an idea at the Conference of Grand Masters of North America: that Masons lead a movement for civility. He gained the support of grand lodges across the U.S. and Canada. This team is now in the process of collaborating with the Nationality Civility Center, and has begun developing tools to help lodges and communities approach divisive topics with a little more empathy, and a lot more decency.

Hot topics, cool heads

At the Grand Family orientation in August, Charvonia presented one such tool to his officers, leadership training facilitators, and Lodge Support Committee members.

When the officers and families filtered into the meeting room that day and took their seats in the audience, they saw five chairs in a semi-circle facing back at them. Two representatives from Arizona State University were waiting.

The brothers were about to take part in a training led by the University’s Institute for Civil Dialogue. As the Institute describes it, the training is intended to help participants face “hot topics” with “cool heads.” It is structured as a moderated discussion, which centers on a prepared statement about a polarizing topic.

The chairs in the semi-circle each represent a position: “strongly disagree,” “somewhat agree,” “neutral/undecided,” “somewhat agree,” or “strongly agree.” The volunteers in these chairs each have the chance to express their viewpoints in an opening statement and then in an ensuing dialogue. An impartial facilitator keeps the discussion moving and clarifies important points. A fact-checker is on hand to immediately confirm or refute any statements offered as facts. The audience’s job is to observe, ask questions, and reflect on their own reactions. All told, the discussion and debriefing for one topic takes about an hour.

The first topic at the Grand Family orientation was on the subject of school vouchers (although any divisive topic would have served). Five individuals took a seat in the semi-circle of chairs, which had been scooted so close together that participants’ knees were almost touching. Before they began, the facilitator reminded them of the rules of conduct: Be passionate but not hostile. Watch your body language. Separate fact from feeling. Listen carefully and empathetically.

Great expectations

Of course, some of this may sound familiar. Masons have always promised to approach differences of opinion with respect and cooperation. Grand Chaplain Gary Silverman, who was among the five position chairs, calls this the “Mason switch.” “The minute someone says to you, ‘That’s not very Masonic,’ you kinda go ‘Whoah,’ and put on your go-to-meeting clothes,” Silverman says. “A switch gets flipped.”