Difference of Opinion

I've always considered myself as a moderate person.  I'm willing to debate a point provided the argument remains civil and that the facts are verifiable.

However this morning on my Facebook feed I was accused of being racist and sexist by a person who believed that I was being unfair and hateful toward white men by posting anti-Trump media stories and rhetoric.

Now, I don't need to list all the things that the current U.S. president has done, as his actions speak for themselves. He has done much more harm to the country than good. He has inspired hatred across the country and around the world, culminating in the recent attack on a mosque in New Zealand.  The shooter's hate-filled manifesto echoed Trump's OWN WORDS.

I am intelligent enough to form my own opinions based on my life experience and what I view in the media.  The media can make mistakes and memes can be misleading, which is why I research and attempt to verify every post that I write or share.  I'm also willing to apologise when I'm wrong.   However the people who know me are aware that I come down hard on those who espouse certain viewpoints - the big ones being sexual assault and weapons distribution. 

But when someone starts to accuse me of being a liar or sexist, or whatever, that is where I draw the line.  Calling names indicates that any reasonable thought process has been ended and the only recourse is to attempt to denigrate me for what is perceived to be something false.  In the conversation mentioned above, the person in question threw his credibility out the window (as far as I was concerned) with this comment:

"I bet fewer Muslims would have died in Christchurch if they could have defended themselves with guns.  So would you say the same thing to a woman, or a LGBT person if they were feeling attacked? No. You would try to ban the speaker."

I have blocked two long-time friends because of their political views and rabid pro-gun stance. (I've discussed this in another post.)  I refuse to have that kind of conversation on my feed any more.  When I looked at this person's profile, the first thing I saw was "Make America Great Again" and photos of fighter jets and guns.  So taking this and his previous statements into consideration I blocked his posts.

His last shot was to accuse me of silencing those who have different views and how that was not inclusive.  No, it's not inclusive.  I fully admit such.  However I will not debate with anyone whose mind is made up on issues that I am vehemently against.  That would be a waste of time and would only serve to make things worse.