Hot take, but I think it’s a horrible idea to unfollow all of your friends on the left. I also think it’s an awful idea for them to unfollow you. It’s so important that we don’t create an echo chamber on social media where our thoughts are only ever received well, and we are prevented from being challenged on anything.
You also need to understand how the other side thinks so that you can better persuade someone on an issue. As conservatives, the things that matter to us on a polarizing topic don’t necessarily matter to a leftist. Our brains function differently. The right tends to think more critically, while the left tends to think more emotionally. This is why the left has become so opposed to having a dialogue with us because we don’t always consider how to navigate an argument based on emotion.
A great example of the disconnect between the left and the right is how pro-life conservatives debate the rape argument with a pro-choicer. Typically, we jump to the fact that abortions due to rape are incredibly rare. However, while that is true, if you start a debate with this argument, pro-choicers don’t always hear the statistic. They hear, “I am not compassionate towards victims of rape.” Even though that isn’t true, you risk losing the entire debate when you start the conversation without appealing to their emotional side. Instead, start with how unbelievably tragic and terrible sexual assault is. Acknowledge that the woman didn’t ask to become pregnant, and emphasize that she didn’t deserve what happened to her.
My tangent is this: we cannot win the culture war if we cannot debate. We cannot debate if we willingly create our own safe space on social media. If we are never confronted with differing opinions, we will never know how the other side perceives information or how to best challenge their thinking.
