Have you? I haven’t noticed any discussion on TV, radio, print, or the internet about being civil in conversation. But uncivil talk? There's plenty!
Some thoughts from Yehosuha ben Sira, a scribe in Jerusalem around 200 B.C. “In speaking there is glory and dishonor, and the tongue of a person is his downfall. Do not be called a whisperer, and do not lie in wait with your tongue” (5:13-14). “The one who reveals secrets has destroyed trust and will never find a friend for his soul” (27:16). “Curse gossips and the deceitful, for they have destroyed many who were at peace” (28:13). “Knowledge of evil is not wisdom” (19:22). “There is one who keeps silent, being found wise, and there is one who is hated because of much talk. There is one who keeps silent, for he has nothing to answer, and there is one who keeps silent because he knows the opportune time” (20:5-6).
You can find the “Wisdom of Sirach” in Bibles that contain the apocrypha, books not accepted as canonical but useful and still printed in some Bibles. How we talk is discussed in other ancient extra-biblical literature. In the Bible too. Jesus: “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil” (Matthew 5:37). Of all sins we commit – and Sirach says, “Who has not sinned with his tongue?” (19:16) – the sins of unguarded talk might be the worst. That is suggested by the order of the Ten Commandments. The First Commandment, loving God above all else, takes place within us, in our heart, mind, and spirit. What’s in our deepest being, shows itself in… Second Commandment…the way we speak. From the second through the tenth, our speech often breaks all the commandments.
“Upon your lips, then, lay your hand, / And trust His guiding love;
Then like a rock your peace shall stand / Here and in heav’n above.”
(Lutheran Service Book, 737:7)
“If you blow a spark, it will be kindled, and if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come from your mouth” (Sirach 28:12; cf. James 3:9-12). From our mouth to God’s ears. “In all your words remember your end” (7:36).