1/ First, when approaching any difficult subject, before even starting, I try to remind myself of a few things (a thread)...

2/ THERE IS LITTLE EVIL IN THE WORLD, BUT LOTS OF STUPIDITY AND SELFISHNESS:

With the exception of truly heinous shit, most people are not motivated by evil intentions. In fact, it’s usually the opposite — most people do awful things with the best of intentions.

3/ Therefore, we should not assume people’s intentions to be evil, but rather try to understand why they believe what they are doing is good.

4/ EVERYONE SUFFERS. THE QUESTION IS, FOR WHAT REASONS ARE THEY SUFFERING?:

It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that nobody should ever be insulted, attacked, hurt, threatened, etc.

5/ Not only is this unrealistic, but if we are going to stand up to dangerous groups, individuals or ideas, we have to be acknowledge people will get hurt, and sometimes unjustly.

6/ Therefore, the question isn’t whether people should suffer or not, rather it’s a question of whether they are suffering for a good reason.

7/ PREPARE TO SIT WITH CONTRADICTIONS:

People and groups can be both good and bad simultaneously. In fact, they usually are. Two opposing viewpoints can each be partially correct and partially incorrect.

8/ Evidence can be complicated and suggest contradictory conclusions. Be prepared to sit with these. Your mind will try to push you to be comfortable on one side of the fence or the other, but do not let yourself fall into mental complacency.

9/ Life is complicated. Issues are complex. We must learn to sit with the uncertainty.