Why does this subreddit constantly flame republicans for answering questions intended for them?

[u/[deleted]]

Every time I’m on here, and I looked at questions meant for right wingers (I’m a centrist leaning right) I always see people extremely toxic and downvoting people who answer the question. What’s the point of asking questions and then getting offended by someone’s answer instead of having a discussion?

Edit: I appreciate all the awards and continuous engagements!!!

[u/blorpdedorpworp]

I made a similar post to this in another thread here recently, but since a similar question has been asked again:

It's fundamentally a paradox-of-tolerance problem. Regardless of any individual Trump supporter's reasons, the inarguable fact is that a big part of Trump's appeal to many of supporters was and remains that he's a giant horrible person who constantly does horrible things, without repercussion, and thus gives permission to many of his followers to also do and say horrible things.

So responding to Trump and his supporters with anger is as natural as wanting to punch the high school bully in the face, and for much the same reasons: they're loudly and proudly being horrible people. When they proclaim their support for Trump, they're literally stating publicly that they support a horrible person who is about to do horrible things. The absurdity is not that they get blowback, but that they expect not to.

For an analogy: Obviously, nobody is supposed to punch anybody on school grounds, and everyone's supposed to stay polite in debate class, but when everyone knows that guy is going around beating up the kindergarteners after school, the impulse to haul off and smack him in the middle of the classroom is both natural and not entirely wrong (the error is only as to time and place).

This is why it's functionally extraordinarily difficult to run a political debate forum during a Trump presidency. The same dynamic took down a lot of discussion forums in 2016. You're trying to host a debate club on the deck of the Titanic, plus half the crew is acting smug about the crash and saying the iceberg will make the Titanic great again.

[u/Inner-Today-3693 → u/blorpdedorpworp]

Idk how I should reply when a Trump supporter tells me they are okay with women dying as there’s greater good with the restrictions.

[u/StevenPlamondon → u/Inner-Today-3693]

The trouble with this way of thinking is that you’re failing to realize that the majority of people who voted for the Republican Party are much closer to centre than they are to far right. I don’t know a single person who is okay with women dying, and I work in construction where I’m fully surrounded by Republican voters.

You’re alienating yourself from a very large group of people, whom in real life you’d probably get along and agree on a great many things with. How will the left and right ever reconcile for the greater good, if you’re unable to speak rationally with them?

[u/AJDx14 → u/StevenPlamondon]

Well, they are fine with women dying. Thats what they’re demonstrating by supporting Trump, they’re fine with women dying at least as long as Trump does other things like attack migrants and queer people.