The same day …

my post went up at Huffington Post, Frank Schaeffer posted too. The two pieces go well together …
Quotable:

Forgotten in our exclusionary debates is the fact that there is another gentler tradition that runs throughout religion and secular philosophy. For instance, 18th century atheist David Hume declared “that personal merit consists entirely in the… agreeableness of the person… to others.” And in the Christian tradition, inclusive concepts of universal salvation go back to some of the earliest fathers. For instance, the 2nd century Epistle to Diognetus says that God is, was, and always will be free from wrath, and that imitation of God consists in caring for those weaker than oneself and rejecting revenge.
… When we demonize the “other,” even in the name of reason, we open the door to a world of zero sum redemption where one person’s gain is another person’s humiliating loss. We have allowed condemnation to rule our minds, and so it rules our political life.
… As for me I’m burnt out on rhetorically burning others. I’m going to try Hume’s agreeableness for a bit. Instead of damning each other, maybe we can learn to show mercy to those with whom we disagree, taking our cue from a teacher who said that love of enemy — not correct theology or politics — is all that can make us whole.

The comment sections on both articles are worth reading too.