Common Courtesy: A Stopgap FGB Post

I know I pretty much promised FGB today, but this will have to do for the time being.

Andrew Sullivan notes this comment by Rod Dreher:

The lawyer said that as soon as homosexuality receives constitutionally protected status equivalent to race, then "it will be very hard to be a public Christian." By which he meant to voice support, no matter how muted, for traditional Christian teaching on homosexuality and marriage. To do so would be to set yourself up for hostile work environment challenges, including dismissal from your job, and generally all the legal sanctions that now apply to people who openly express racist views.

Now, we all know that Dreher is full of it -- it's the usual right-wing scare scenario of what's going to happen if. And Sullivan almost gets it right:

But it must and can be perfectly possible for public orthodox Christians to live side by side with politically equal homosexuals. Just as it is perfectly possible for devout Catholics to live and work alongside divorced co-workers, even if they feel the need constantly to profess the impermissibility of divorce. This is not and need not be a binary choice. We can live together as equals. And when we do, we may find the conversation we can have that much more interesting.

My question is, in what sort of civilized context does one feel impelled to be constantly criticizing one's fellows on the basis of one's personal religious beliefs, particularly in a pluralistic and secular society? Has either one of these buffoons heard of a basic concept that keeps the wheels greased: common courtesy?

Yeah, if you feel the need to constantly express your disapproval of those around you, you're going to be marginalized -- not because of your beliefs, but because you don't have the civility to keep them to yourself when expressing them is inappropriate. The shorthand is "manners."