I'm reminded of a dialogue that took place in a class one day when the teacher came in and welcomed the students and said, "Now I want to lay down some ground rules. First, since no one has the truth, you should be open-minded to the opinions of your fellow students." Well, at that point a young lady raised her hand. The teacher said, "Elizabeth, do you have a question?"

Elizabeth said, "Yes, I do. If nobody has the truth, isn't that a good reason for me not to listen to my fellow students? After all, if nobody has the truth why should I waste my time listening to other people and their opinions? What would be the point? Only if somebody has the truth does it make sense to be open-minded, don't you agree?"

The teacher said, "No, I don't. Are you claiming to know the truth? Isn't that a little bit arrogant and dogmatic?"

Elizabeth said, "Not at all. I think it is dogmatic and arrogant to assert that there is not one person on earth who knows the truth. After all, have you met every person in the world and quizzed them exhaustively? If not, then how do you know? In fact, I believe it's the absolute opposite of arrogance to say that I will alter my opinions to fit the truth whenever and wherever I find it. If I happen to think that I have a good reason to believe I know the truth, and would like to share it with you, why won't you listen to me? Why would you automatically discredit my opinion before it is even spoken? I thought we were supposed to listen to everybody's opinion?"

The teacher in a fit of frustration said, "Well, this is going to prove to be an interesting semester."

Elizabeth said, "Ain't that the truth."