Offence, safety, and love

I heard some views expressed, yesterday, and took offence. Of course, once I came to my senses, I realised that by 'took offence' I meant 'felt personally attacked because someone's ideas differed from mine.' Naturally, there was no attack actually taking place. The sense of threat and of being 'unsafe' was a delusion. The only event taking place was a person expressing ideas. To be safe therefore means not to silence, exclude, or leave but to remain and recognise that nothing has happened. For any progress to be made in the realm of ideas, individuals must be free to express their ideas and submit them for rational debate and empirical testing. That tolerant venue is where real safety lies, because the idea ceases to be conflated with the individual, and love of the disagreeing neighbour is thus restored.