It occurs to me that our problem is not disagreement...
I'm speaking politically and governmental, I guess...but, as I look around, I do think it is that we disagree.
I think our (America?) problem is that we cannot tolerate the other point of view.
Wanna see what I mean?
Tell someone you think the 'wrong' way on an issue. You know the wrong way... Go on Facebook and say you are against gay marriage. Go to church and advocate premarital cohabitation. Go to the mall in a pro-life sandwich board. Go to Joe or Stew's place and start pontificating on the need for gun control. Say that you personally believe the 'wrong' way on an issue. See what happens...
More often than not, you will not get a careful, objective deconstruction of your issue with point-by-point counterarguments. You'll get fire. You'll get spitting. You'll get the most amazing incredulity that you can possibly think the WRONG way. Most importantly, you will probably not get tolerance. You won't get polite agreement to disagree. You'll get persecuted right up to the line that social mores allows. In some cases, people will even CROSS that line in their zeal to correct your mistaken belief.
Ya ask me...that's our problem. It's not that we disagree. Disagreement is a given. It's that we can't listen to each other and say, "Fine. That's what you think. This is what I think. How can we meet somewhere in the middle?" or "In the ideal sense, we both have our different point of views. But, let's look at the practical problem before us and see what solutions we each would accept."
Until we can shift our focus in that way, I don't think we can reasonably expect to accomplish anything. Loki had some good points. Freedom will be the death of us all. Still, who wants to live in the alternative?
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2 years ago
4 comments:
As my Momma always says - let's agree to disagree
I hear you calling me out there (at least in part), and you've got a fair point as regards spitting and fire. Mea culpa.
At the risk of sounding like I'm trying to defend indefensible conduct, though, if you walk into the private residence of an outspoken gun-rights advocate and start preaching the merits of banning the things, you are a troll, and you probably deserve to get shouted at, chucked out, or similar. When people have emotional hot buttons, folks who go around knowingly poking them shouldn't be surprised when they get a heated emotional reaction.
Also: sometimes "agreeing to disagree", tolerating a point of view, and/or compromising isn't the right choice, either. Sometimes people are actually wrong.
FWIW, I tend to think your early 2011 post about marriage is one of the more reasonable pieces of writing I've read on the issue. I particularly appreciate the second and third paragraphs.
Addendum: The "you" in "you are a troll" does not mean "you, OP", it means "you, imaginary person doing stupid things" (not the OP). Thought I'd screened for formatting, and apparently didn't do an adequate job.
I LOVE this post.
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