Differing Point Of View

A comment came up recently that made me pause about debate or differing points of view. Do we shun those we disagree with or do we enter into lively debate with all sides being expressed or explored ?
I know of people which have done both scenarios but I also have known people & I myself have been lured into the whirlpool of opposing points of view while finding no way out, when once I stepped into the abyss, to only find myself tossed around like a limp rag doll with no ability to verbally fight back because of the emotions & passion which overtook me.
I believe that lively debate is positive because it grasps us out of our comfort zone to explore new ideas & points of view which can strengthen your own point of view or it can help to change what we believe on a certain issue.
The down side to fighting over an issue is that you can alienate friends & find yourself standing alone with no opportunity to accomplish anything or to forge alliances with people that will support you & help you.
The saying that I use a lot lately (overuse in fact) is that we need to "agree to disagree" & if we can do this, we will be able to get past differences to find common ground that we can fight together on.
So once again, do we debate, argue, fight, leave, give in or alienate our self from others when opposition is placed before us? Only you can answer this but for me, I am just posing the observation & the question & will keep my thoughts to myself in case (somebody disagrees)wink.
OK I can't stand it, my thoughts are that we need discussion on oppsing points of view because as I mentioned earlier, it can strengthen us or it can help us to see the err of our ways. I know, you are all perfect & make no mistakes! I am gagging right now because we all make mistakes.
One of my favorite people in the world that I enjoy as much as anyone & she happens to be my cousins daughter disagrees with me on a regular basis & we talk for hours about everything, some things we agree with & some we don't but I love our discussions & I love her for sharing her thoughts with me & accepting me for who I am. You see, out of trial comes triumph & out of diversity comes unity. Although there is one catch & it is a stumbling block for many. Don't think you know it all & listen more than you speak.