On Balancing Diverse Opinions

http://mobile.nytimes6/05/29/opinion/sunday/the-liberal-blind-spot.html

 I was reading this article called "The Liberal Blind Spot" regarding how universities have lately been censoring conservative speakers and,  while I agree that we shouldn't censor opinions that differ from our own, I feel the author misunderstands some of the reasons there is that knee-jerk reaction. He suggests that, like Islamophobia is more common among those who have never met a Muslim, perhaps  bias against Evangelicals is due to not having Evangelical friends. Obviously this person has never been harassed to convert to Christianity. As a Wiccan, I've experienced this many, many times over the last 15 years, with some people becoming quite aggressive about it. I may be minding my own business, silently reading tarot cards or wearing a pentacle necklace that gets their attention.

 Now, I am fascinated by religion and happen to be fairly knowledgeable about Christianity- in fact, more knowledgeable than the last person who wouldn't leave me alone. He admitted he was recently "born again" and had only read part of Genesis out of the whole Bible, and when I tried to engage him in an intellectual conversation with a few poignant questions, he responded that his pastor would know all the answers and I was wrong because only the Christian God was real and good. I decided to end the conversation because it was like trying to debate with Donald Trump- facts didn't matter to him. But he continued to press the issue, aggressively telling me about Satan in child-like terms. When this is a typical experience, it makes sense that people whom the Church has been known to demonize- pagans, LGBTQ folk, and other outsiders- might be concerned about having a conservative speaker on their college campus. It is an awkward situation when a person feels that God wants them to impose their opinions on others, and I have yet to find a graceful method of diffusing those situations.

So the question becomes, how do we strike a balance between allowing all opinions to be heard while making sure no one is unfairly treated? It has been an ongoing process for me to learn how to listen, and I work hard on it, but it's extremely difficult to maintain that presence of mind when the other party seems unwilling to reciprocate. How do we engage those who do not wish to engage us? And what do you do when a core belief of another person is to try and change or subvert an integral part of your being? Ironically, it was Jesus who told us to "Turn the other cheek" when slapped in the face, but who wants to get slapped in the first place?