As if I’m not already a bit mixed up over the lack of an editorial page in today’s N&R, then today’s Charlotte Observer editorial is really screwing with my head.
First the headline:
Liberals can’t demand tolerance and then be intolerant
Whoa. If that’s not enough, the Observer’s editorialists the mount a defense of—wait for it–Vice President Mike Pence and his embrace of the so-called ‘Billy Graham rule’:
That’s why it was disheartening to hear the instantaneous backlash recently about the revelation (actually a resurfacing of a 15-year-old revelation) that Vice President Mike Pence adheres to the “Billy Graham Rule.” He tries not to dine alone with any woman other than his wife and takes other precautions to respect his marriage so as to not provide even a hint of impropriety.
He and those who believe as he does have been accused of either hating women or treating them as second-class citizens – though there is no evidence Pence has ever mistreated the women in his orbit or denied them earned promotions. It’s the kind of double standard that undercuts arguments for a greater tolerance of diversity.
But keep reading (empahsis mine):
Evangelical Christians likely won’t ever agree with social changes society is undergoing. But they are told to accept them anyway, even if they don’t fully understand why they are occurring. Some of that tolerance has to be reserved for traditions they are holding fast to, even if others don’t understand why they adhere to them.
No patronizing there. At any rate, if you think you’re confused, check out the reader comments beneath the editorial. You’re not alone.
