Upset

The newscasters say that a certain element of our society is upset.  They are upset because the President-elect has chosen a certain Christian religious leader to pray at his inauguration.  They are upset because this religious leader has taken moral positions contrary to their understandings and lifestyle.

I am tempted to become upset because they are upset, but such seems a rather useless path.  Further, I refuse to become upset because the President-elect will invite some with whom I do not see eye-to-eye on some issues to participate in his inauguration.  If Christians have been slow to learn the lesson that a particular point of view cannot be legislated or won by war (witness the Crusades, and more recent efforts to legislate morality), those on the opposite side politically and morally have not demonstrated that they learn any  more quickly.

The solution to the divisions in our society and world will not found in isolation, exclusion, or self-righteous indignation.  The solutions the ills of our world will be found in thoughtful dialog where truth is allowed in the arena of public discussion.