Ed Cone offered a very thoughtful post on Christmas.  He begins with the controversy over Obama's selection of Rick Warren as one of the people to do the invocation at the inauguration and weaves it into his thoughts on the benefit of communicating with people of opposing viewpoints as happened between Warren and Melissa Etheridge. Ed ends with this:

There are many places on earth where no grievance is ever forgotten,
and people are invested in keeping conflicts going. If one is more
interested in seeking grievance than finding common ground, one can
always find reasons to perpetuate discord.

One good thing about
living in Greensboro is that it affords those who would seek it the
chance to know many different types of people. I count among my friends
many who hold very different views on any number of issues. That
doesn't make us agree, but it makes us more agreeable.

Obviously
knowing each other is no panacea. But it can be a start. Life outside
the silo is healthy. Good for Etheridge and Warren for seeking it, and
good for Obama for trying to broaden the common ground.

Peace. Merry Christmas.