Do not reduce anyone to a label

It is convenient to classify people: right-wing, progressive, one of these, one of those. With one word you think you already know who someone is and what they think, saving yourself the effort of listening. The problem is that this label, so handy, closes the door: the other ceases to be someone to understand and becomes a case to file away. Christ never did that. He dealt with tax collectors, Samaritans, Pharisees, people from opposing sides, and he reduced none of them to their label. He looked at each one as a person, with dignity intact, even when speaking uncomfortable truths. Behind every opinion is an entire life that cannot fit into an adjective. Listening before classifying is neither weakness nor agreeing with everyone: it is refusing to throw a person away because of an idea.