The single greatest problem in a political/religious debate is ones willingness to criticize their own positions. "Team" politics is ruinous to civility because people value ideology over principles (especially as it pertains to character). Ideology is the absence of the pursuit of truth. The vocal minority tends to get the most attention, and it ultimately leads to the moderates of each side supporting positions they might otherwise reject. People end up aligning themselves with people they shouldn't, simply because they are closer in ideology, even if they completely disagree with their character. Once that happens, then a certain type of behavior becomes the status quo. And before someone pops out with their "gotcha," yes, this also applies to Trump. However, that is not an incident that happened by itself. We are basically seeing conflict escalation in US politics.

I read this forum more than the Jags forum. I agree that insults and name calling are thrown about more here than they should be, but the implications are also greater than anything one would debate in the Home Team forum. It doesn't matter if someone believes Blake is the best QB ever to wear a uniform. It does matter to some people if late term abortions are legalized or banned. Whether we have this forum or not, "othering" has become a trend in American politics, and it's not going to go away without some kind of drastic change. Imo, it's good to have this forum so you can at least communicate with people that think differently.

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