I met with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, last Wednesday in New York City. Why would I be part of ongoing efforts at “dialogue” with people and institutions that some Americans view as the “enemy”? The branch of Christianity in which I am rooted, Anabaptist-Mennonite, holds that Jesus calls us to offer love and hospitality even to one’s enemy. Further, the professors of conflict studies at my university hold that one must move toward conflict, dealing with it open-heartedly, rather than trying to suppress or skirt conflict.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/cva/ric/opinion/oped.apx.-content-articles-RTD2007-10-02-0001.html