The topics of religion and privilege are hot-button issues nowadays. These are topics not suitable for the dinner table, a first date, or any type of pleasant conversation.

And that is what is wrong with how we treat each other as people.

Instead of confronting our differences, we skate around them. Scroll through the comments section of any social media posting that pertains to any type of hot-button issue. The words that are shared in these forums are rude, hostile, and completely disrespectful of differing opinions. Regardless of what you think of these trolls, they show the worst of us as a species. Human beings are flawed and we are inherently self-destructive.

Look at the last several presidential elections and the mudslinging campaign ads that accompanied them. We have become accustomed into thinking that we make choices based on which choice is less awful. As far as politics go, wars have been raged over such divisive issues as religion and social class standings. In reality though, should it actually be necessary to kill one another about what a person holds as their values deep in their souls?

If violence and anger are not the answer to our problems, how do we get through the emotionally fueled tension that is caused by differing opinions on these sensitive subjects?

We listen. We talk.

We do not yell. We do not discriminate. We do not discredit. We do not blame.

For example, I was raised in a split religion family. Both of the religions, Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism, fall under the Christianity umbrella. There was no disdain from either side of the family towards the other. We looked past the differences and sucked it up. Each side of the family was willing to allow us to say whichever prayer at mealtime we felt comfortable with. My parents did baptize my siblings and I one way, but we still learned about the second religion represented in our home.

Now, I am very opinionated. I have several very opinionated friends. However, some of these friends hold opposing opinions from me. Yet, we remain good friends. And why is this? We talk in calm tones. We respectfully listen to each other. We learn from each other's viewpoints. Most importantly, we do not judge each other at the end of the conversation. There is no mudslinging with phrases like "stupid liberals" or "uptight conservatives". We find middle ground and we end the conversation either in consensus or in respectful disagreement.

So the next time you find yourself wanting to scream at someone for their supposed stupidity for their opinion on marriage equality, the economy, abortion, religion, the war, privilege, or anything else that might cause friction, please keep it diplomatic.

Listen first. Speak calmly. Resist judgement. Learn. Compromise. Accept.