--Politics and Religion--

There is a saying that one should not talk about politics or religion at social events. I think the saying has been corrupted over the years from "you should not talk politics because politics are religion."

With yet another US election coming up, and strong feelings (either way) about the current leadership, now would be the time to have open discussions about politics and points of view. However that doesn't seem to be possible any more. "Discussion" consists of people with inflexible points of view, arrived at by some inferential jump that they cannot explain, attempting to convince the other point of view that they are wrong. And stupid. I'm not sure how that started, but lately it seems that many people have the attitude that others should blindly agree with them, otherwise the dissenters are stupid. Years ago I was taught in public speaking that when a party resorts to personal attacks, it is because they realize they have lost the logical argument. Something to consider with the current individual and party mud-slinging.

Political discussion should be a discussion, not an argument, where both sides explain their position, and attempt to understand the other person's point of view. A good discussion should be one where both parties walk away pondering the ideas of the other. Ideally, that would lead to more discussion.

I just tried to find a favorite Thomas Jefferson quote about this, but of course cannot at this time. The gist of it is: "Disagreement leads to discussion, and discussion leads to truth."

At a time when there are such strong emotional and irrational attitudes being taken, we need more discussions about political beliefs and how they were formed or decided. But just as you cannot "argue" that Buddhists are "better" than Methodists, the discussions should strive for understanding more than one's own perspective.