Dialogue

Dear Mr Eggen,
    Pope Francis has said, "Dialogue is gentleness, it is the capacity to listen, it is putting yourself in the other person's shoes, and building bridges."
    I bet we agree on this!  With this quote in mind, here is a fictional case study and a few different possible responses.
    Madison is a 14 year old girl who goes to a school in Alberta.  One day her teacher reads aloud an article about a family where both spouses are male and there are two children.  Madison has been taught at home that marriage is only between a man and a woman.  She raises her hand and asks the teacher a little more about what is going on this article, while explaining her views on the matter of marriage.  
 Response A
The teacher makes a point of explaining that marriage is just about love, and that if Madison doesn't want to be mean and judging towards people then she needs to accept that almost anyone can get married, certainly two men or two women.  When the teacher is done her four or five minute speech on acceptance and tolerance she changes the subject.  Madison keeps a brave face but is filled with anxiety because of the apparent failure of the teacher to understand the views held by her parents and herself.
  Response B
The teacher asks Madison why she thinks about marriage this way.  Madison explains more of what she has absorbed from her Christian upbringing.  The teacher asks Madison how she would feel if someone said that she was not allowed to marry the person she was in love with.  Madison responds by saying that though it would be hard, she would accept it if it meant her desired marriage would be in opposition to the natural definition of marriage.  Though unsatisfied, the teacher leaves the conversation with a statement about the need to respect each other in the classroom despite disparate opinions.  She smiles at Madison and thanks her for being willing to respectfully share her view of the situation in the article.

    Mr Eggen, how would you respond to this student if you were the teacher?  Do you recognize that she has every right to express a differing viewpoint?  Can you see that though she disagrees there is not an ounce of hate or discrimination?  Can you even agree that by silencing the Christian worldview on family and marriage we are poorer as a society?  From your policies I doubt you would agree with my last statement but this is exactly why I am writing to you.  Even if you won't see, I must let you know that you are blind to the richness of Christianity.  Your blindness causes you fear and makes us into villains that we are not.  Please open your eyes.
   God bless you,
your pen pal,

Catherine van Kampen