As recent Island debate heated up over issues surrounding arts, parks and the Town Center, we saw again the shift away from civil conversation.

Some of our neighbors erupted in disrespectful discourse via social media and other impersonal platforms, spewing vitriol against each other.

It caused an end to constructive debate and conversation.

Though this devolution of discussion is often provoked by a handful of people who write uninhibited posts on social media, we all suffer — because it makes finding solutions so difficult. And as we try to find answers to transportation, regional development, environmental and other issues facing our Island and our greater region, our ability to consider constructive and creative resolutions becomes ever more important.

This Island’s discourse is shaped by local, regional and national politics, social media and how we as individuals respond to the issues. Like our nation, the region and this Island are also changing dramatically and that fuels fear or hope depending on your perspective.

Regrettably fear seems to be prevailing right now at the national level. However, fear is no excuse for incivility and hate, which undermine meaningful civic dialogue and ultimately weakens our democratic process.

This community doesn’t have to buy in to the disrespectful dialogue we see at the national level.

If there’s one golden filament that binds Islanders together, it’s that we all chose to live in a small town that we love — our Island gem. We are neighbors and good neighbors seek to listen, understand and yet find ways to move forward together. As peaceful civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. said: “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

Moving forward is the context of Island life that we believe most Islanders prefer.

So how do we move Island dialogue forward?

We need to engage in civil conversation, be open to the ideas of those who have different viewpoints than our own, recognize that although we live on an Island, we are members of a greater regional community, respect the evidence and facts we all bring to bear and be willing to compromise. We need to think beyond special interests and focus more on what’s best for the community and treat each other with neighborly kindness.

Our local, state and federal agencies recently tested their emergency response skills during the Cascadia Rising earthquake exercise. Police and emergency personnel conducted a disaster drill of life-saving and life-sustaining response operations to prepare for a potential quake.

If a disaster like this happened to Mercer Island, we would all depend on each other. If one family were in need of food, water or medical assistance, we wouldn’t need to dig too deep to find our commonality of survival and come to their aid. And we certainly wouldn’t deny these basic necessities just because we disagreed on an issue.

Our utmost value should always be taking care of our neighbors — in a disaster or through dialogue.

Contact the editorial board at editorialboard@mi-reporter.com.