"No group of people can have their beliefs simplified down to “they operate in bad faith so assuming bad faith is prudent.”"

Who's being absolutist now?

This is one point where you and I diverge. I will not keep my mind open to the possibility of mitigating explanations forever. If someone is holding a gun to my head then it really doesn't matter what trauma or grievance lies at the root of his malice and understanding it will not save my life.

In the world today the cost of failure is simply unacceptably great. Since 1970 more than half the world's wildlife has disappeared and more species become extinct literally every day. The cost of conservative triumph is not just vast human suffering but in the of of all life on earth except maybe at the hydrothermal vents

The numbers on that side who can be reached through understanding is simply too small.