"Honest" means that the speaker believes it, not that it is true. If it accurately represents what the speaker believes -- colored by the speakers values -- it is honest even if it is not accurate.
> No amount of making a random baseless assertion will turn it into a fact.
Its neither random nor baseless, but, in any case, "honest" doesn't mean "well-founded".
> Try spending some time working as a mediator with people with "extreme" views on this subject.
I've spent quite a lot of time with people with views at pretty much every point on the spectrum, from hardline activists on both sides to people everywhere in between.
There are plenty of people with actually extreme views. There are plenty of people with relatively moderate views that are seen -- honestly -- as indistinguishable from opposing extremists by extremist of one or the other side (sometimes from both sides.)
> >To the people who hold the extreme positions, the people on the other side don't have valid points.
> Again, that's the point.
Its the exact opposite of what you said when you claimed that the rhetoric was merely an expression constructed to prevent people from seeing that the opposing side has valid points, and the opposite of your claims of dishonesty. So while it is my point, I think its directly opposed to yours.
Unless your point contains multiple self-contradictions.
I can't imagine any way to make it clearer for you, sorry. But perhaps I can set you on a path that might help. The word "honest" does not only mean "sincere; frank". It can also mean "honorable in principles, intentions, and actions; upright and fair".
"Honest" means that the speaker believes it, not that it is true. If it accurately represents what the speaker believes -- colored by the speakers values -- it is honest even if it is not accurate.
> No amount of making a random baseless assertion will turn it into a fact.
Its neither random nor baseless, but, in any case, "honest" doesn't mean "well-founded".
> Try spending some time working as a mediator with people with "extreme" views on this subject.
I've spent quite a lot of time with people with views at pretty much every point on the spectrum, from hardline activists on both sides to people everywhere in between.
There are plenty of people with actually extreme views. There are plenty of people with relatively moderate views that are seen -- honestly -- as indistinguishable from opposing extremists by extremist of one or the other side (sometimes from both sides.)
> >To the people who hold the extreme positions, the people on the other side don't have valid points.
> Again, that's the point.
Its the exact opposite of what you said when you claimed that the rhetoric was merely an expression constructed to prevent people from seeing that the opposing side has valid points, and the opposite of your claims of dishonesty. So while it is my point, I think its directly opposed to yours.
Unless your point contains multiple self-contradictions.