Something to think about....

An acquaintance of mine recently made a facebook post that caught my attention and got me to thinking. The issue being discussed between said acquaintance and his friends was their" horror, fright, and disbelief" over the fact that Mr. Glenn Beck's newest book has become the #1 non-fiction-bestseller in the Country. Comments promptly headed into the territory of derogatory name calling and the belittlement of the intellectual capacity of anyone agreeing with him( I believe references were made along the lines of surprise that "those people" could actually read and of their being anti-intellectual). Now whether or not you agree with Mr. Beck is another matter all together, but what I find most bothering about this whole issue is the fact that the aforementioned author of the post and his friends have to stoop to disparaging the mental capacity of anyone that simply doesn't agree with their views. I thought a true sign of an intellectual being was one of tolerance and willingness to agree to disagree. I know it happens on both sides and I'm not trying to make it out as if their the only ones underrating other people, but it's wrong for anyone to clump a set of people together and stamp them with your overly-biased judgement. I know that I have been guilty of doing that in the past and believe me, I've had crow to eat over it, but really...are we a bunch of 8 year olds on the playground calling each other names simply because we don't agree on all the issues? Whatever happened to that thing so much called on but rarely enacted upon, known as intelligent debate? And guess what...just because someone doesn't view things the same way you do...doesn't make them any less capable or prone to idiocy. It just means their different and isn't difference something we're all supposed to celebrate?!