These days we are divided politically, religiously, and in many other ways. Is that bad? Not necessarily.
Disagreements can be the beginning of understanding. It can be the beginning of knowledge as well. If you are never around people with whom you disagree, you will never be challenged. Disagreements are a great way to learn about how other people think and understand the world. It can also be a wonderful time of education because you may learn some insight you might never have had because of a discussion you had with someone who holds a different belief than you do.
It isn't the fact that we disagree with someone that is the problem. It's the way in which we handle the discussion that follows. There are many ways in which people enter a disagreement these days:
1. They begin by belittling the person. This is sometimes preceded by, "No offense, but..." which is followed by something to which the other person would naturally be offended.
2. Or they keep silent and never discuss topics for which there is a disagreement. That doesn't make the disagreement go away, it merely sweeps it under the rug until such time as it inevitably comes up again--at which point neither party is usually any better prepared to discuss the issue effectively.
I wrote an article (actually an entire book too) about how we should disagree in grace. Here's a link to that article.
If you feel you should be better prepared to disagree in grace, you should read this article and my book, Say What You Mean: Avoiding, Reducing, and Resolving Conflicts!
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