Having a place where people can meet and talk and really try to share points of view in an amicable way is a good idea. One of the things that keeps discrimination of various sorts in place is that we are still rather siloed societies. Most whites don't have a lot of Black friends and vice versa. Men tend to be more comfortable socializing with other men, rather than looking at women as friends, and vice versa. Gay and straight people don't often spend a lot of time together. And I 100% agree that getting to know and better understand "the other" is a wonderful tactic.

So, I'm all for trying to create and foster those spaces and opportunities for dialogue. It's one of the reasons I haven't cut all the Trump supporters out of my life - because if we don't engage, we probably can't move towards any common ground. On the other hand, one of those people just cut me out of her life because she got tired of me gently and kindly challenging some of the inflammatory things that she routinely posted/shared. She often agreed with me by the end of the discussion that I actually had good points or was right. And she apparently got tired of having to do that because she's recently unfriended me so that she can post her reactionary bullshit in peace. There are plenty of people like that in the world - she's not exactly a novelty.

In general, I see the value of not trying to "demolish each others buildings" but on the other hand, if a "building" is constructed of outright intolerance, hate, bigotry, the marginalization of others, etc., then it probably ought to be demolished for the good of society. Not all perspectives are equal and deserving of respect. I think Christianity is stupid and has done a lot of harm through the ages, but I'm happy to let them do their thing in peace up to and until they start exerting influence beyond the confines of their walls to advocate for hatefulness and to cause harm to LGBTQ folks and to women.

My tolerance for live and let live ends when it begins to erode civil and human rights. And since there are plenty of folks out there who have no interest in learning how to better live together or how to have more tolerance for all, who would rather destroy the government than cede any of their historical privileges and place in society, I don't think it's reasonable to pretend that better dialogue is going to always work. As Dr. King pointed out in his famous letter from Birmingham Jail, “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”