I think it's time to take a look at the core of the issues we debate about here as opposed to fighting your clearly defined ground on one side against the other.
If you look at what are by far the most popular forum topics: Religion and Politics, and then the debates within those, you'll find:
RELIGION>
Is homosexuality wrong or right?/Should gays be allowed to be married or adopt?
Evolution VS. Creationism
Theism VS. Atheism
POLITICS>
Right VS. Left/Democrats VS. Republicans
Obamacare VS. Nobamacare
I put forward that each of these debates are false. None of them actually debate the real issues concerning the subject, let alone the issues concerning our every day lives. I hardly even care to participate in these because explaining this is such a painful exercise, and when I finally do it is brushed off as crazy talk and everyone continues to bout it out. I really think that these debates exist because they literally can not be resolved.
Think about it.
Those of a religious nature are not going to be persuaded against what they perceive to be their values, so are not going to respond to anybody 'debunking' them or bigging up 'equality' or anything like that. Similarly, LGBT rights activists deeply believe in that equality so are not going to be persuaded that homosexuality is a sin. It is just not part of their experience. Why are we living in a world where the gender we decided to have sex actually matters. We will look on in a few years time and be embarrassed that we were even debating about this issue.
And just to make myself clear, I am not suggesting that we should just give up. I am suggesting that we should discuss a solution so we can live in a world where the differences in our opinion don't actually affect each other.
Continuing:
Let me level with you for a second - there is no way we can no whether there is a God or not. Why, then, do we spend so much of our life debating about it? It's a false debate because believing or not believing in a God should not automatically mean you hold particular moral values. Seriously, how can we know? If a somebody says he has physically experienced God and knows he exists - great! If someone else says he is a rationalist and doesn't believe in God - great too! Why does it even matter? Shouldn't it matter more what we do with our beliefs and how we can build a world where we can co-exist with each others beliefs? It's mind-boggling how we spend so much effort and time debating this issue when the real issue is standing right there not touched.
How is this debate even supposed to be solved? Is any one side honestly expecting to persuade the other of his argument? Give me a break.
Same again for Evolution VS. Creationism: why does it matter? In what manner does this affect our daily lives? If you don't like that your school teaches evolution, take your child to another one. Exercise your freedom instead of bickering about inconsequential details about how we think we were created.
The political debate is shaped around left or right, or Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives. It really is funny how a population of millions, individual snowflakes with varying and particular viewpoints on all subjects can be pigeon-holed into two distinct points of view. They fit so perfectly! And what do these 'polar opposites' disagree on exactly? Err . . .the left likes gay marriage, and the right doesn't . . . and that's about it.
SERIOUSLY? You're going to start a war over something that is , by comparison, completely insignificant? Evidenced by your particular sides policies, you agree on the amount of government intervention at home and abroad, economic policy, the drug war, the police state, the bail-outs and the amount of regulation. Okay so Bush cut a smidgeon of taxes for the rich? Oh, boo hoo. Time to join the Democrats then.
Why do so many people buy into this simplistic debate format. Everybody has their own unique particular political point of view - so can there only be two sides, and everybody else raving lunatics?
I suggest that each side has been carefully shaped by the mainstream media, political and religious prejudices and peer pressure. They have not been arrived to with rationality and from personal experiences. If you disagree and believe that it is a genuine debate:
1. Can you objectively lay out each side's viewpoints
2. Explain why they matter
3. And, how do you expect this debate to be solved?
I argue that these debates are meant to be non-solvable so as to keep people in a perpetual war with each other whilst the real enemies run off with all of the money.
This is not a 'can't everybody just get alone?'thread, it's a 'let's look at the real issues' thread. In any case, you have to agree that these debates are getting extremely long in the tooth. I'm not saying there isn't some debate to be had on these fronts, but proportionally we are spending way too much time on them. So come on, let's go back to square one and look at what we are actually debating about, without any of the prejudice of our 'side'.
