Romans 1:29 lists all the issues raised by humanities condition apart from God. They are “full of it” and what “it” is is listed in grim detail. Phonos is the Greek word for murder or slaughter. Self explanatory and proved after five minutes of news watching. Eris is strife or contention that may take a bit more thought about why it is so bad. Debate, if you listen to the chattering class, is a great thing necessary for democracy. Debate; strife about words more than things, and more for vain glory, and a desire of victory, than for truth.
I have accused some people of being willing to argue with a stump. They are the folks who gainsay everything you say. We all have them in our lives and we can say that they are entitled to their opinion, but they don’t want you to have your’s. They are the ones who cause divisions and desentions and should be avoided.
I remember attending a convention where debates and arguments went on in mind numbing monotonous ways. One of the very smart people in the room said the problem was that “everything that could be said had been said. It just hadn’t been said by everyone. The demand to be heard even when there is nothing to say is demonic.
