In the following video, you're going to watch a pro-choice lesbian disagree with two hetero pro-lifers. Spoiler: no one bursts into flames, no one shouts anyone else down, and even though the video is mostly about guns, no one shoots anyone else just because they differ in their respective stances on reproductive rights.
There are moments when I think any chance of a national, across-the-aisle dialogue on any topic has been gone with the wind for a while, now. But I have other moments when I'm hopeful. I see videos like the one above, and I think to myself that dialogue is indeed possible, as long as people can be brave and humble, and can exercise some self-control in debate/discussion situations. If you watched the video, then you saw Ariella try her best to find common ground, but at the same time, she didn't convert to the pro-life side, and the two guys flanking her didn't convert to the pro-choice side. That's how adults ought to coexist: by learning to live with difference. There's a name for that stance: tolerance. And the only thing we really ought to be intolerant of is intolerance.
I think part of the problem is the whole social media platform, where most arguments are "either/or" and lack nuance. I can recall having long and thoughtful conversations over some beers with my most liberal friends. No, minds were not changed so much, but some common ground was found on solutions to the problems that divide us. I very rarely even engage with political posts on Facebook anymore, it's pointless. I think there has only been one or two instances where I've "unfriended" someone over politics (because I was personally attacked) but quite a few liberals have unfriended me over political differences. And these were people I knew in real life. Just goes to show you how they define "tolerance" I suppose. Or maybe it's because I'm white.
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