You and I are moral equals. I cannot know your mind. You cannot know mine. We had different childhood experiences. We were taught different religious precepts. We had different needs, desires, aspirations and interests. We experienced different loves and different losses. We each have a conscience. I cannot exercise yours. You cannot exercise mine. We must each exercise our own, and we may always disagree about what is right and what is wrong. And we must live together.

    We have only two choices: we may live together respecting each other's freedom of conscience, respecting, or, at the very least, tolerating each other's freedom to follow their differing opinions regarding what is right and what is wrong, or, we may live together, each attempting to dominate the will of the other by force, threat of force or fraud.

    In other words, we may live in peace with one another, or we may wage war with one another. War or peace. Those are our only alternatives as moral equals.

    I, for one, choose peace over war.

    I choose to respect, or, at the very least, tolerate your freedom of conscience and conduct, so long as you also choose peace over war. If you choose to respect, or, at the very least, tolerate the freedom of conscience and conduct of others, I will not use force, threat of force or fraud against you.

    If, however, you attempt to dominate the will of others by force, by threat of force or by fraud, that is to say, if you choose war over peace,... I may.