Words to Live By

1. I do not force my views on others. I am happy to discuss what I believe with anyone who is interested, but I do not try to "convince" others that I am right and they are wrong.
2. As a mature adult I am able to separate my social, spiritual, and political views from how I view others. I recognize the instrinsic value of all other humans, which exists apart from their social beliefs/customs, spiritual, and political viewpoints (which may differ from my own.)
3. I expect the same courtesy and respect from others. We all need to practice our "elevator speech"; we should be able to communicate, thoughtfully, clearly, and concisely, what motivates us, what we believe in, but we should be able to do so without trying to "convert" others and without being argumentative. If  you are truly seeking the Truth you will find it, and if you are not interested in the Truth no amount of cajoling, persuading, or arguing by another is going to change your mind.
4. I believe reasonable adults should be able to discuss and debate any topic without resorting to aggression, abuse, or violence. Steel sharpens steel, iron sharpens iron, and Truth can be refined in the public arena of discussion and debate, which is necessary for any family, community, state, or nation to survive and thrive.
5. If I find myself, for whatever reason, in a situation where someone else does not respect my rights or my person, and threatens physical aggression or violence against me or others I am associated with, because of social customs/mores, spiritual, or political views or beliefs we hold, I reserve the right to defend myself and my community by whatever means necessary. This is my duty and responsibility as a free man, a Christian, and a citizen, and I won't shirk it.
6. Similarly, I reserve the right to defend myself and my associates against any acts of political tyranny, violence, or aggressive predjudice based on the social, spiritual, or political beliefs or positions of myself or my community.
7. The individual or group which threatens or perpetrates aggression or violence against another individual or group with criminal intent or predjudice forfeits their own rights. They are not "vicitms" they are agressors, and I reserve the right to treat them as such.
8. If you do not like me or my views, you do not have to associate with me on a personal level. If we must interact for purposes of business, society, politics, etc., especially where such interaction is involuntary, I expect both of us to conduct ourselves as noted in items 1-3 above.

If we would all make an effort to remember these principles in our daily discourse I believe it would remediate some of the division and violence we are seeing in our rapidly unravelling society.