Comity, which allows for disagreements to exist without fracturing relationships, has been replaced by hostility and rupture. Fewer people, it seems, are prepared to agree to differ.
Isabel, of course, believes in courteous and tolerant discourse. She understands that reasonable people may have different conceptions of the good; she does not believe that those who happen to disagree with her are to be castigated and cold-shouldered. She believes that friendship and good relations can exist even if people support different political parties or have different understandings of the world.
She believes in religious tolerance. And yet she now finds Scotland fairly seriously divided on the crucial issue of the identity of the state. Unlike some, who take a rigid view of this matter and opt for a firm position on either side, Isabel can see the merits in both sides of the argument about Scottish nationhood.
