I guess this is why it is so often considered bad manners to discuss religion or politics.   If Lunsford had known that I was a Red Diepers baby with a black stepfather, would he have been as welcoming? If I had known his views on Communists and blacks, being a smart-ass kid at the time, would I have said something that would have violated his hospitality?   How do the responsibility to stand up for your beliefs and the obligation to treat others with courtesy and respect work together?

I've found in my own life, though, that the people (for example) that I would trust with my children's care and safety were frequently people whose religious and/or political beliefs I couldn't respect.   And people whose political beliefs and/or love of folk music were close to mine were often people I found hard to like and impossible to trust.