Sadly, that leads to less and less understanding of each other and a drawing deeper into our own views. We don't want our ideas questioned, we don't want our thoughts disagreed with, and anyone who disagrees with me must be wrong. Civil discourse is gone out the window. Sides have become so convinced of their rightness that if you say something they don't like they are convinced that you are doing it to cause trouble or stir the pot.
I like to learn why other people think the way they think. I like to learn why they take certain views that I don't understand. I want to understand how they can see things so differently than me. We can't do that if our first response to another point of view is to shout them down and call them a libtard or a fascist or socialist or much, must worse. If my side does it it's right and if your side does it it's wrong and you disagree with me you are an idiot. The debate stops there, nobody has learned anything, and we are further divided.
I am not even talking about Christian principles. I am talking about common respect for my fellow man, including those who I disagree with nearly 100%. It is sad that I can have a more civil debate with my atheist friends that many of my Christian friends.
We have lost the ability to discuss issues and have rushed to replace that with personal attacks. The bad thing is, a lot of times it works. Somebody gets shouted down and the winner gets another notch in his gunbelt.
How can we relearn the ability for engage in civil discourse about difficult issues?
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