Archival Reflection #2: Tolerance vs. Compromise in Community Life

Community Service, which became The Arthur Morgan Institute for Community Solutions in 2009, was founded in 1940 by Arthur Morgan. November 14th, 2020 marks our 80th anniversary! As part of our celebration of our 80th anniversary, we’ll be posting 7 archival reflections, as well as our vision for the future. This is the second post in this series.

"In 1944, Arthur Morgan published “Tolerance vs. Compromise in Community Life,” in Community Service News, the regular newsletter of the organization for many years. The issue addressed seems just as, if not more, relevant now than it was in 1944.

This piece resonates with us because it asks its readers to grapple with an inevitable aspect of life—how do we live in community with those with whom we disagree? One of Morgan’s answers to this question—humility— sometimes seems impossible in our socially-mediated present, and yet, it may also be one of the few things that works.

Today we ask our readers to think about how best to strike the balance Morgan suggests: “A good community spirit depends very much on the general habit of the citizens of holding strongly to their ideals and standards, but of holding them tentatively and with humility with understanding and goodwill for those who have strikingly different standards.”"

Written by Sheryl Cunningham, Community Solutions Board President