Some of the news items in recent weeks made me think of something I had read about acceptance (“Getting Together – Building Relationships As We Negotiate” by Fisher and Brown, 1988). These days we talk much about “tolerance”, but there seems to be a fine difference. Acceptance comes first: First we need to recognize the other party, only then can there be a question of how we deal with them.

Why does this need to be pointed out? Well, when we are in a conflict…