Call me stupid , call me dumb names like racist (or Christofascist -- my new favorite insult) which is provably false... none of that really bugs me. Or matters. Kinda makes me laugh at this point.
What I find truly corrosive is the constant grifter this, grifter that, you do it for money and likes... (and yes, both sides do this)... if we don't enter discussions & even arguments with the good faith belief that those we disagree with hold their beliefs honestly, then there is no point in ever discussing anything.
Sure I may be wrong but always positing that I don't actually even believe what I say because it is somehow incomprehensible to you that I believe it -- well that's hubris (how can anyone not think what i think?!), and a total lack of empathy and poor listening/reading skills.
Anyone who truly believes I gave up my whole life and what I thought it would be for the next 20-30 years because of money (ha!!??) or for attention and social media followers, is not a serious person worth discussing anything with. It's simply not a logically cohesive argument. It's just dumb. And lazy as far as "arguments" go.
Are there some grifters out there who go to battle as mercenaries (paid by who I don't know)? Sure I guess. Are there some con artists who don't believe anything they are saying but somehow seek to profit off of it? I guess. But I think those are more common in corporate America and politics than anywhere else & those folks don't usually get accused of being grifters.
Going against everyone in your workplace, your town, your social circle -- who would do that if they didn't REALLY believe what they were saying? How would you endure it?
If we all started from the place of believing those we disagree with hold their views honestly, I think we might start to get back to being able to engage in open debate and dissent again. Maybe.
I know absolutely no one will try this. But that's what I've been thinking about. And I'm going to try.