Why This Project Needs to Exist

I had this conversation on Twitter the other day with user @tbragsdale, and it was yet another illustration of why this project needs to exist. He responded to our tweet about the t-shirts, and...Well, you can see the rest for yourselves here:

This is exactly the type of rhetoric we're trying to dispel, in which people resort to name-calling and close-mindedness to stay firmly entrenched in their beliefs. It's all right to believe something passionately, in fact I think it can be incredibly enriching and empowering to do so in the right context, but to close yourself off and attack anyone who thinks differently with no attempt at engaging in a productive dialog, that can only be harmful. With these techniques, and especially in the digital age, it's easy to lose sight of another's humanness in the face of differing beliefs.

Please note: The intent of this post is not to dehumanize or degrade the user in any way. We have tremendous respect for anyone who shares and passionately debates their beliefs, regardless of reasoning or rhetoric. Our aim is to fundamentally bring people together, since most of us essentially want the same things, we might just disagree on how to achieve it or how we think about it.

Let us know your thoughts, please add to the conversation, that's what this is all about!