Agreeing to Disagree

What does it truly mean to agree to disagree? Whether Republicans vs. Democrats or Christians vs. Non-Christians or Pro-lifers vs. Pro-choicers or those for gay rights vs. those against – when it comes to talking about the issue, the issue itself is often overshadowed by an angry tone of voice and over-the-top emotion. Being passionate about a position is one thing but being angry about it is quite another.

The anger factor was illuminated for me as I was listening to the radio yesterday. When I got in the car, it was tuned to a station that was discussing the presidential race from a Democratic perspective. I listened for a while but got so fed up with them Republican-bashing and basically calling Black Republicans stupid, that I changed the station.

I tuned in to a Republican talk-radio station. They were discussing the Michigan/Florida delegate situation. As soon as I thought I’d found a station that would be kinder and gentler to my ears – they started bashing Democrats. And the anger and rudeness to callers just got to me. I plugged in my IPOD instead.

Now I know that when there is a contest of any kind, the candidates sometimes do what they have to do to win. That often leads to fighting dirty. I get that. So, to a degree, I can tolerate Repubicans and Democrats going after each other. After all, it is the White House that is at stake.

However, what I don’t get is the anger that is conveyed along with the message. As a Republican, there is nothing that an angry Democrat could ever say to me that would sway me. I won’t listen to their viewpoint. I won’t consider their position. I will tune the message out along with the anger. That is not because of a lack of a valid message but because of the delivery. I’m sure Democrats feel the same, they probably see Republicans as a bunch of self-righteous folks who don’t know how to agree to disagree.

It seems to me that if either side wants to be heard or even have a remote chance of swaying voters of the opposing party – they’d tone the anger down a bit. What’s up with that anyway? If we disagree, we disagree. Don’t get mad about it.