What the relationship between Ginsburg and Scalia can tell us about the possibilities for our future

On September 18th, 2020 a great and powerful Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away. Just four years earlier Ginsburg had mourned the death of her close friend and fellow Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.  What was interesting about this friendship is that these two individuals could not have been further apart in their judicial philosophies. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a staunch feminist and liberal icon of the court. Scalia was a strict constructionist who held to a strong conservative view of the law. When we observe how our world is today it is surprising that these two would even be able to be in the same room with each other let alone be friends, yet they were friends.  

When I look at the relationship between Ginsburg and Scalia it gives me some degree of hope of the possibilities that we could reach as a nation. Ginsburg and Scalia showed us that it is possible to disagree with someone and not hate them. They showed us that it is possible for us to have different worldviews and get along with each other.  Their friendship showed us that we do not have to view a person with a different worldview as evil.

As we move forward into a political season and an election that is going to be very contentious, I hope that we can honor the memory of this great woman of the court by attempting to live by the example that she sat for us, I hope that we can get to a point where we can communicate, and maybe even grow to enjoy the company of people who don’t see the world as we do.

The preamble to the constitution starts by saying “We the people of the United States to form a more perfect union”.  If we are going to form a more perfect union we have got to learn to listen to each other, we have got to learn to value each other even when we do not see eye to eye. One of the great lessons I see in the friendship between Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia is that they showed us how to find value and even friendship in people that we may be diametrically opposed to politically. Let us strive to live by their example.