Rowan, this is such a great question. What do we do when the other person is saying things that simply aren't true? And along with your question, here's one more: What do we do when they're saying things that cause direct harm to others, such as things that are racist or otherwise prejudiced? In some cases, isn't pushing back more urgent and important than staying respectful?

It's hard to address this concisely, which is why I said in my post that I was setting aside the question of which side's disdain was more justified! But very briefly, here are some thoughts...

First, it's almost always possible to be respectful of a *person*, regardless of whether their *ideas* merit respect. Even if we know they're wrong (e.g., about climate change), we can continue engaging with them in a respectful way. And ultimately, our staying respectful will make them more likely to hear what we're saying. We can say, essentially, "You've got it wrong there, but I still respect you, and I want to keep talking about this."

Second, the details of the situation matter when it comes to figuring out an appropriate response. In public, it's more dicey and less ethical to give a platform to false ideas (on climate change, on vaccines...) or ideas that harm groups of people. One-on-one, however, patiently listening to such ideas may be totally fine and even ethical--because listening will help the other person eventually hear us.

I hope that helps. I've thought and written at length about much of this, and will continue to do so in the near future, on my blog: www.katiesonger.com/politics. For example, here's a related post from 2019: http://katiesonger.com/political-discourse-a-time-to-speak-up-or-stay-quiet/