Polycarp, I think you stated your position very well in this post and the previous post sans name-calling. However, I don't agree with the general premise. It appears to me that we are going through an essential period of clarifying facts, ideas and opinions. New Information is coming to light every day. Resources that were previously unavailable are now within our reach thanks to the internet.
So it is inevitable that "traditionalist" and "conservatives" have to hash out these issues. There has to be some "bloodletting" for the truth to emerge.
Compare the situation to the political realm. Voices of moderation are always telling the Republican party to stop their infighting. In practice that always means handing over the party to the so-called moderates. Pro-lifers must continue to fight unremittingly for their position. Better that some Republicans should lose due to infighting, rather than the Whitmans and the Giulianis should be allowed to take over the party.
Right now there is no consensus in the Church, and there CAN'T be a consensus considering Her current state. There is too much disputed, too many crises, too much information unavailable for anyone to have the perfect solution.
I can't even say where I stand from day to day. Too often I'm influenced by the last person I read. But even as I try to take principled stands and rely on the rock of faith and tradition, I find that there are irreconcilable conflicts.
We are caught in a tragic situation where conflicting duties impel us in opposite directions, like Antigone who was caught between conflicting laws. There was no happy solution for her, and there may be no way out for us either. But in the meantime, it's not realistic to think that we can all just get along, anymore than it was possible for Antigone and her brothers.
I agree that a certain degree of debate and discussion are essential in the current crisis. But this nuke 'em till they glow approach is reprehensible and inexcusable.
We can disagree and take polar opposite positions, but do it with charity and humility and patience.
The vitriol and insulting polemics are the result of personal pride and ego and despair replacing charity and humility and hope and faith.
it is pointless to engage in the politics of personal destruction across the battle lines the integrists and neocons have drawn.
Neither side can win using such tactics. And the Church loses.
And when the Church "loses," souls are lost for eternity.
That is why I rarely engage Ultima Ratio and HDMZ on these threads, except for a brief occasional exchange.