Our Better Angels

It bothers me that apparently, we’ve become a society that can’t discuss anything anymore. Egged on by a shrill media who create controversy for profit, we don’t talk to each other anymore, we just yell and sling accusations. But every once in a while, something happens that tells me we’re not bad people, we’re just stuck in a rut, and I’m reminded of our basic better angels. It was a summer night, and the ocean was making that sound that only the ocean can make when tide hits the shore. Dinner dishes had been cleared and four friends (two couples) were relaxed around a table on the screened in porch of a beach house on Tybee Island, Georgia. The ice had hit the drink glasses, and the Woodford Reserve was poured. Totally unplanned, a discussion started over a news story currently in the headlines. There were four totally different takes on the issue and the discussion went on for the best part of an hour. There were no recriminations, no tears, or tempers, no one interrupted or shouted over anyone, everyone explained the how and why of their view- it was a discussion. They were still friends when they went to bed that night, confident they’d still be friends in the morning…Oh, by the way, the topic of the discussion was Abortion…