If you truly believe that your point of view is right, or at the very least worthy of strong consideration, you don't AGREE with an opposite point of view. That's divisive. And anyone that tries to persuade others to a different point of view is attempting to separate them (dare I say divide) from the viewpoint the others hold now. That's why we in this country not only hold free speech in such high esteem, but enshrined it in our constitution.
Seems to me that there are forces out there, such as marketing, sales, and PR forces from all sides, that are continually trying to win people to their sides, whether it's to buy a new brand of motor oil or a new brand of war. Some of the ways these views are presented are sneaky, or appeal to emotions, lack facts, might be abusive, name-calling or even threatening. But they do it because they CAN and it's up to the people to, first, attempt to consider and dissect whether the information is 1, and then, if it is not, ADD THEIR VOICES to the conversation about the other side(s). That, by its nature, DIVIDES people from whatever they were thinking before.
I don't agree with Chet Edwards, for example, about most of what he has passed and proposes to do (with the exception of veteran care). Were I to be cowed by a label of being *divisive*, I guess I'd just shut up and allow those who DO speak up loudly and often to carry the day. But I believe that those who care about ending war need to hear the other arguments and sometimes the way I present my arguments may not always be full of the most tact one could possibly have.
As I said on a earlier post regarding Rick Noriega's statements, even if one accepted the premise that some who speak out are divisive and shouldn't do it, WHO makes that determination? Because, at least in theory, freedom of speech gives all citizens a level playing field and the ability to say whatever, whenever, however (except for cases like yelling fire in a crowded theatre), NOBODY can make that determination. And as we've said before, the answer to bad speech is... MORE speech.
