Don't just preach tolerance, practice it

I'd like everyone to reflect for a minute and relax. Have you taken a deep breath and exhaled?

On Dec. 21, Rita Hutchens became one of several who has complained in a letter to the Editor about the sign on Steve Smith's building that displays a Bible verse regarding Jesus Christ's Birth.

Both Steve's current sign and the sign he put up at Thanksgiving offended her. In spite of complaining about the Steve's sign she favors free speech. Hmm? A closing argument for her feeling offended is that Sandpoint is a town that promotes diversity, another word for tolerance.

I'm not going to debate the various points of Rita's argument. Like Rita we all have things that "etch our glass" which make us less rational. I want instead to point out the irony of feeling offended about a sign celebrating Jesus' birth to those of you who share Rita's view about Steve's sign. Jesus Christ, whose birth is the reason for Christmas is the all time number one proponent of diversity and tolerance. Jesus hung out with the people society reviled.

When asked by his disciples which of the commandments was the most important Jesus told them that two commandments were most important. First to love God with all your heart. Second to love your neighbor as yourself. How many of us are good at loving the neighbor who is a drunk, abuses drugs, is a thief, homosexual, pedophile, different race than our own, has a dog that barks in the night, is rude, sleeps around, brags about how good they are, or is a self-righteous Christian who looks down their nose at us. Heck, with a little effort we "tolerate" people, the thought of whom makes our adrenaline surge.

This kind of tolerance wasn't good enough for Jesus. No, he insisted that we love everyone like ourselves including those whose behavior we find offensive. So I challenge those of you whose "glass gets a little etched" when you see Steve's sign about a Savior being born to love Steve the way Christ would have him love you. If you're having a hard time being able to love Steve we should talk about God's grace. I suspect I will probably get a chance to visit that subject when some one complains about Steve's sign at Easter.

JIM CZIRR

Sandpoint