There seem to be two subjects which are almost guaranteed to lead to nastiness - politics and religion. Is it impossible for people to listen calmly

That's right. It is partly due to a thing called cognitive dissonance. Our brains have issues with being presented with evidence which is contrary to a long held belief.

It's possible for me, because I don't know everything yet. If both sides could be respectful, yea, it would be possible.

It's not impossible. One example of it is one of the women from Westboro Baptist Church. I think it was their pastor's oldest granddaughter who ran their website. She debated online all the time with a Jewish man she met. It eventually led to her leaving the church.

Honestly, I think religion-debate is probably one of the very few things that has actually gotten [i]more[/i] civil since that maxim first emerged. A lot of other things could be added to the list nowadays though. Political discourse is getting nearly as lowbrow as it was in the latter half of the 19th century. Not to mention that about two-thirds of the population seem to have been erroneously convinced that things like "gender issues" and gun control count as "politics". Meanwhile, I would be impressed if one American who reads this could correctly state the number of wars their country is currently involved in.

Yeah too bad too because everyone can learn a different perspective.

That is why these debates are pointless to have.

And yet people still keep bringing those subjects up - often in extreme or mocking ways that are almost certain to be inflammatory. You have to wonder, then, if those who raise these topics do so because they enjoy the heated debates or 'nastiness' that follows.

It sure seems to be impossible on SW.

pretty much yeah, because both return the same issue! Money!

For 90% of ppl yes its impossible