Compromise is Not Necessarily a Bad Thing (Re-visited)

It's been 3 months since the last post to "Gentle Answer", in keeping with my policy of not writing simply for the sake of writing something. However, the events of the past several days in my home state of Wisconsin have prompted me to revisit a post from October 2010.

For your enjoyment (hopefully) again...

There's an old saying, "Half a cake is better than no cake at all". However, in the emotionally-charged arena of social and political discourse, we have slid into an "all-or-nothing" mentality where it insisted that one "buy the whole package", without any deviation from "the party line", of a particular agenda without stopping to consider that the truth of all social and political issues may very well be nuanced and certainly more complex than reduction to sloganeering would suggest. A good way toward more civility in our discussions would be to admit that we have succumbed to the disease of "hardening of the categories" and at least be willing to admit that those with whom we have disagreements have reasons why they hold their particular positions. A good beginning on the journey toward civility would be that of going to meet someone "halfway".