Agreeing to Disagree

I'd like to quote a few lines from the Archbishop of Miami's letter to the faithful regarding October's Respect Life dedication. "...Jesus' promise of 'life to the full' is especially poignant today, when our culture and sometimes our government promote values inimical to the happiness and true good of individuals and society...Our culture today increasingly views life as a 'zero sum' game, in which advancing one's interests requires putting aside the needs of others. This leads to callous unconcern for anyone who is especially weak, defenseless, and in need of our help. The unborn child, the aging parent who some call a 'burden' on our medical system, the alledgedly 'excess' embryo in the fertility clinic, the person with a disability, the cognitively impaired accident victim who needs assistance in receiving food and water to live--each today is at risk of being dismissed as a 'life unworthy of life.'...Efforts by agencies of the U.S. government to define abortion and contraceptive services as 'health care' as if fertility were a disease also threaten the conscience rights and religious freedom of those who dissent..."

I'm not dismissing other serious issues raised, but I think what clearly struck me in Archbishop Wenski's letter is the recognition of the threat to the rights and freedoms of those who dissent. When tolerance is one-way, it's not tolerance at all. It's oppression, whether from an individual, a group, or a government. Granted, I empathize it's not always easy to define who may be a "one-way" party. Here's how I see it: You have the right to your beliefs and behaviors, and I have the right to call it like I see it...and vice versa. To be sure, there is a time and place for courageous, credible authorities to condemn. But by and large, it doesn't mean you have to behave in the way I believe is upright, but it does allow me to disagree with your behavior, yes, even if I say it outloud, or in the press, or privately. This present-day slandering of values is the quintessential intolerance. Our mutual responsiblity is to be mutually respectful while agreeing to disagree. I'll leave my views on good manners to another day.