y friends are a model of religious pluralism. Put them all in a room, and they’d look like the Parliament of World Religions—Buddhist, Muslim, Catholic, evangelical, and more, with plenty of atheists and agnostics in the mix. Many of them are in interfaith relationships. When you ask them about their beliefs, they’re likely to talk about family traditions or journeys of self-discovery. They are less likely to bring up absolute truth. Nor will they talk about a life-and-death battle for souls, or some struggle to transform the culture.
It’s a tableau of tolerance. But when you flip things around and look at politics, the picture suddenly gets pretty tribal. My friends are almost exclusively liberals. In contrast to all those interfaith couples, I can think of just one relationship that crosses partisan lines.
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