Comment by FloorEgg

Thank you for the benefit of the doubt. I am not attempting to align with anyone, only explore what's true. I certainly don't condone any attempt to shield ideas from criticism, or dismantling the right to free association. It doesn't surprise me that some people want that, but frankly I have seen that exact behavior on both sides of the political spectrum in the US. It looks to me like America is fragmenting into two cults with nothing but least respectful interpretations of each other. Both sides are trying to protect certain ideas from criticism and also censor aspects of the other. It's an ideological culture war.

When I criticize the actions of one of the cults, it doesn't automatically put me in the other cult.

I am not American, therefore I am not republican. I don't even consider myself politically right. I align with some right-leaning values, while aligning with more left-leaning ones.

I am here discussing these things in an effort to keep tabs on what's going on, but also because I think attempting to reconcile the differences between the two sides is a positive action. I want America to work this out without a full blown kinetic civil war. I have virtually no control over this outcome, so I will take small barely significant actions to try and nudge towards a more favorable outcome. My engagement here is an attempt to act as one tiny piece of a bridge, even if it means I am going to get trampled. It's a sacrifice, potentially in vein, and maybe even unwise, but at this point I don't know what else to do to help, and I am also afraid of making it worse.

Maybe I should just do nothing?