The way you envision an evening between the Johnsons and the Buttigiegs would probably go much as you have described it. However, I am more hopeful about the long-term impact of such a meeting. But then I tend to want to look on the optimistic side. Obsessing about all the possible negative outcomes is too depressing.

I am reminded of an exercise we used to do in prison working with inmates. Many of them held deep seated resentment against friends, family, and all the people in the legal system who they viewed as having put them where they are. The anger was palpable. We would spend a considerable amount of time on a four-day weekend focusing them on forgiveness. We would tell them this is something they did for themselves to break the hold that those they resented had over them. They were not forgiving their actions; they were forgiving them as people so that they could move on and live happier lives. We would ask them to forgive, even if they did not feel it. The mere fact of verbalizing it was often the beginning of breaking the chains. Inevitably it worked if they would stick with it. Not immediately, but over time.

I view an evening shared by the Buttigiegs and the Johnsons in much the same way. It might be that first step to break the cycle of condemnation and resentment by that deluded “Christian” couple. Maybe, just maybe, the example provided by Pete and Chasten of just a normal couple raising two small children might be the beginning of a shift toward a more tolerant attitude. One can only hope.