The atrocities you describe are one of the things that makes civil war so especially hellish.
The difference between us and them? We are fighting to preserve a way of life better than anything else ever established by mankind. The enemy seeks to destroy it, and are the ones who started the conflict.
Perhaps they just haven't thought it through. Or maybe their ego has overridden what passes for their intellect. Or both.
right on the money.
We wish to preserve a way of life, they seek to destroy it.
When the fighting starts we are at a huge disadvantage, not only is defense a lot tougher, but our way of life did not include wholesale slaughters.
There is no “us and them”.
So you are walking down the street with an empty gas can trying to get a gallon or two to put in your rig, parked a quarter mile behind you.
You have a sidearm.
You see a person approaching you.
Is he an “us” or is he a “them”?
How do you know? How do you react? Do you honestly think you will be able to carry on a civil discussion about who exactly he voted for last time, then just dust him away if he says he voted for Obama?
There is no “us” and no “them”.
The person you see will do one of two things:
Help you or
Try to kill you.
I’d be very interested in any thoughts on the matter. But no matter how much I think about it, I can’t come up with a solution.
Without a clear definition of “us” and “them”, it soon devolves to just killing people on sight or be killed yourself.