The basis for civil society

Argument:

On the other hand, I’ll take a barbaric yawp over cold silence any day. There is no margin in pretending that substantial differences do not exist in our society or our politics. Entering into conversation around those differences does not lessen their power, necessarily. Nor does it mean that they become more comfortable to talk about. It certainly does not guarantee that they can be transcended. What conversation does ensure is that we fulfill our responsibility as citizens to deliberate the issues set before us. We may spark and clash all we want, but as long as we’re engaged, we remain connected. And even unpleasant connection remains a better alternative than the most civil of separatism.

To put it differently, thank God for PZ Myers. That man chaps my behind. He and I have no reasonable hope of ever coming to a perfect agreement on the social good, though we might achieve overlapping consensus. But he usually takes the issues of belief and reason seriously, and even when he doesn’t, he forces me to do so. For that, he is “good health to me nevertheless.” I am a better man and a better citizen for having to consider his perspective, even if I do wish he’d go jump in the lake more than just occasionally.

Nice to see a Christian who gets it.

H/T Mike Haubrich.