Originally Posted by
TitoFan
I invite you (Beanz) to take a page out of the heated arguments I have with Lyle over Trump and the gun issue. I'm not going to claim any type of moral superiority here, because Lyle and I went at it pretty hard some years ago, and many times it even got a bit personal. We've all done it.... no sense in denying it. Yet, whether you've noticed or not, Lyle and continue to argue heatedly about Trump and the gun issue..... but the personal attacks are now missing. Why? Because we respect each other as men. We may disagree in the most intense sense of the word on some important issues (climate can probably be included in there also, although I'm not exactly an alarmist at this point)..... but we disagree civilly.
Please don't take this as an attack. I believe we are all here intelligent, articulate people and frankly.... it's the reason why in 15 years I've never ventured too far off this forum. I've tried others..... got bored..... and come back. I don't even bother to test the waters anymore. The 15 years brings up another point. It's not healthy (IMO) to carry negative feelings toward one another through 15 or so years in the same forum. We should rather embrace our differences. That doesn't mean I'm going to quit trying to convince Lyle of the error of his ways when it comes to Trump. But at least there is a mutual respect, and that means more to me than any disagreement we may have.
Sometimes we touch a "sensitive button." I'm convinced it was that way with the LGBTQ issue. We don't know what each others' life experiences have been..... we know nothing about each others' families, situations, health, problems, etc. So disagreements on that subject are bound to create a lot of tension. But even topics like those I'm sure we can discuss in a calm, civil manner.
I find it sad that you would call Lyle "not good people" without ever having met him personally. I'm not a betting man. But I'd be willing to wager that much of this animosity would dissipate if there was ever a face-to-face. And I mean that in a good way. In both my personal life and at work, I've had many the opportunity to engage with people I just don't see eye-to-eye with. We don't always end up liking each other, but at least we extend each other the courtesy of being able to disagree without it devolving into a personal battle.
I'm the one here who has posted threads about an imagined "meeting" between Saddo'ers and..... although I realize that is just an unrealistic fantasy due to life circumstances..... I still feel it would be a terrific experience, especially for most of us Saddo veterans. Anyway, I sincerely hope you can reflect on some of these things.