You know what’s nice?

When someone disagrees with me but still loves me.  Still respects me.  Still maintains my dignity.

A disagreement does not devalue an entire person or the whole worth of their opinions.  We do this too quickly.  We demonize others under a sweeping blanket judgment.  One wrong sentence and we throw them under a bus.

Being “for” or “against” an issue doesn’t instantly have to mean division.  It doesn’t have to strangle us into diametric categories: because we are more than categories.  We’re flesh-and-blood people, and arguing over issues doesn’t even begin to address our complexities.

It’s also strange that we can respect those with very different belief systems or religions or philosophies — but if someone inside your own camp differs on one tiny point, we bury them with weaponized dogma.  People within their own communities eat their own.  Maybe it’s easier, or maybe we’re just cowards who hide behind the false strength of our doctrinal towers.  I know this because many times I’m that coward.

I feel like all this could be solved over a cup of coffee.  Which means awkward eye contact, face to face conversation, and listening without interruption or presumption.  Oh, world.  If only.

Thank God for coffee, and for fellow nuanced travelers.

— J