Adam Blatner

‘Tis the season where politics tends to contaminate all sorts of things. I get messages on an email list-serve that I belong to that’s supposed to deal with other topics, but on occasion people insert their political messages. I realized that for the most part we tend to “respect” others’ opinions, but what does that mean? For some, that means avoiding politics, religion, other controversial topics other than the subject-matter of that listserve. For others, listserves are more like friendships, and what’s witnessing to belief—religious, political, social, etc.—is “between friends,” open-ended. So folks sometimes edge “over the line” and make appeals about their own preferences.

I realized that what seems noble and good transcends other categories, or seems to, “seems” being the operative word. If it seems so, then for some it must BE so. Others don’t get hooked this way. Nor would I presume to make a distinction that hides my opinion (that we shouldn’t cross this line.