An astonishing Mother’s Day testimonial by a grateful secular liberal woman whose mom got pregnant as a college student, and refused to have an abortion as she was advised to do by her doctor. More:

My mom dropped out of college and became a stay-at-home mom. She never finished her degree or had a career, but she never lost her love for knowledge and learning and fact-finding missions. Which I absolutely benefited from as a child. If my mom had not filled the house with books, or pointed me and my bike in the direction of the library every time I had a burning question about the nature of the universe…. well, she wouldn’t have ended up with a college-educated, liberal, atheist daughter. So that turned out well. ☺

What I really wanted to say is this: I grew up in a very conservative family. I’m very liberal. Both conservatives and liberals get in the bad habit of vilifying their political opponents, distancing themselves from other perspectives so much that they lose sight of the basic common decency and goodness of most people, most everywhere.

I owe my existence to people that believe very different things about the world than I do. Whenever I feel absolutely certain about some political truth or world-view, that thought keeps me humble.

Wow. Read the whole thing.