Living In a World of Ad Hominem

“Ad hominem: (of an argument or reaction) directed against a person rather than the position they are maintaining.”

The name-calling, attacking nature of current discourse is probably the most divisive part of society and communication at the moment. Verbal bullying at all levels, from school kids to national media outlets creates almost a daily powder keg.

As best we can, we must do our part to avoid this. We must separate the person from the position. This doesn’t mean we keep our head in the sand, merely that we do our best to listen, analyze, research, and then base our judgement on that. If we can’t convince someone with reason, attacking them only makes it worse.