I'm worried that you're conflating my perspective with that of the two opinionists and therefore taking up an argument that I'm mot certainly not. Forget what they said. Forget what you think what I said. This is my argument.

I'm not saying we should tolerate extremism, nor am I saying that we should tolerate group think, fanatical ideology, or voting lockstep with party identity. All of those behaviors have socially deleterious effects. I'd also like to take a moment to remind you, as well as myself and anyone reading this, that the whole left/right spectrum is horribly oversimplified and woefully inadequate in painting the picture of our collective social philosophy. It'd be more appropriate to imagine it as some nebulous gas cloud, constantly shifting in shape, density, and hue.

What I am saying is that it's important to forget politics a lot of the time and remember our collective humanity. To that extent I disagree with you on personal philosophical and moral grounds. I don't want you to take that personally, cause after all we disagree with each other about as much as we agree and I respect your views.

That said, it is my sincere and firm belief that people are not only capable of insight, growth, and change, but that it is a core part of the human experience. Each and every one of us can look at ourselves today and compare who and where we are with ourselves five, ten, and twenty years ago and see immense differences. Some changes come from significant, seemingly explosive moments in our lives. More often than not though, those changes are gradual and if left unexamined the causes of those changes can be easy to miss.

To that extent, concepts like education, encouragement, forgiveness, and reconciliation need to be embraced to direct individual and social growth in a positive direction. When we trivialize, marginalize, and alienate others, we see adverse effects. By marginalizing others, even just because we might disagree with them, we're robbing people of opportunities to grow and develop in a positive manner and we're robbing them of the chance to see themselves as a key part in society where they must take their actions and beliefs seriously. It is absolutely crucial that we never forget that any person is capable of change at any time in their lives, for better or for worse. Knowing this, it's important to realize that we cannot rob ourselves of the opportunity of being influential in the positive development in the people in our lives. A lot of times people mistakingly believe we have to act deliberately and forcefully to exert change or that we have to be a constant presence in people's lives. More often than not though, it is the gentle and continuous presence of multiple people in someone's life that brings about change and that change is often more powerful and the results more enduring.

We have had terribly difficult times in our past. We're living in difficult times now. I honestly worry that we're going to continue to see more and new difficulties down the road. As you often like to quote though, "The long arch of history bends towards justice." If we are to be agents of change and attempt to preserve and promote justice, we can’t let ourselves become perpetually overwhelmed with anger and despair. These emotions, even when they seem justified, only cloud our judgment and close us off from the world and the people in it who are so needing of our love. They keep us from seeing the good and humanity in each other. Agree or disagree, our neighbors need us and we need them just as much. A little change in an immeasurably large number of people often has a greater impact than immeasurably large change in a small number of people. With that in mind, it’s important to think about ourselves, our families, and our communities and what we can do as individuals as well as collectively to help each other out.