Michael W. Mitchell: Friendship, not partisanship

Regarding the Feb. 14 news article “Conservative justice Scalia dies, 79”: There will be much discussion about the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. There will plenty of debate about his successor. Some people may even quietly celebrate his passing. But there is a larger lesson in his passing that the country should observe.

He and fellow justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg were well-known as fast friends. They could not be more ideologically different, and yet they genuinely enjoyed each other’s company.

Their relationship, in one of the most trusted roles in our constitutional system, is an elegant reminder to all of us that people of good faith can disagree and yet be friends. They can be political opponents. They can be culturally different. And yet they can still care deeply and personally for each other.

Familiarity is said to breed contempt, but we should embrace the truth that more often, much more often in fact, familiarity breeds personal affection. Judging each other “by the content of (our) character” is a world in which we’d all prefer to live.

This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Michael W. Mitchell: Friendship, not partisanship."