Which political topic is the most polarizing?

[Thunderbird is the word]

vote!

[Thunderbird is the word]

meant to put this in general politics, I apologize

[Grumpier Than Thou]

Abortion, as it is a deeply upsetting and emotional procedure for both the woman who may choose to have one, as well as for people who are viewing the issue from the outside.

[Türkisblau]

Israel/Palestine:  Almost all Republicans and many Democrats support Israel, really not a polarizing issue (I assume the amount of votes for this is over the recent Netanyahu spat, keep in mind that only 56 Democrats skipped it)

Abortion: Near 50/50 split between the American people. There is really not that much crossover for this issue among parties with Democrats purposefully killing their pro-life faction, w/ Republicans doing the same as well (I voted for this one)

Gun Control: It's close between this and abortion imo, but there are a good amount of pro-gun dems. We still see some crossover support for measures like background checks (Manchin-Toomey) while we have not seen anything like that for abortion recently at all

Gay Marriage: Wasn't the recent poll stating that 55% support? A couple years ago it was probably considered much more polarizing but overall I think it's become accepted, although perhaps begrudgingly, to most Americans

Other: Healthcare Reform probably should have been mentioned here if gun control was...

[Rockefeller GOP]

There's actually a lot more crossover among VOTERS than one would assume with abortion (I think like 30% of Republicans are pro-choice and vice versa for Democrats), but it certainly still seems to be the most polarizing.  I'd also say it's the biggest "deal breaker" in both primaries.

[TDAS04]

Abortion

[Thunderbird is the word]

For what it's worth, I didn't mean polarizing in the sense of Democrat vs Republican just in the sense of which issues are the most heated and in my experience nothing is more volatile then I-P debates. Even with abortion most people can at least agree that on one hand it's not cool to abort a fetus several days before it's born and on the other that masturbation isn't abortion.

[Antonio the Sixth]

On a world scale, definitely option 1.

[Türkisblau]

For what it's worth, I didn't mean polarizing in the sense of Democrat vs Republican just in the sense of which issues are the most heated and in my experience nothing is more volatile then I-P debates. Even with abortion most people can at least agree that on one hand it's not cool to abort a fetus several days before it's born and on the other that masturbation isn't abortion.

You obviously have not debated abortion enough...

Believe me, it gets rough.

[°Leprechaun]

It is worth noting that three of the options mentioned have a religious dimension to them.
It is worth noting because religion is often a divisive force which needs to be acknowledged.
The divisive nature of religion makes religion counterproductive.

[TNF]

Israel is only 'polarizing' because of the fact the U.S. is allied with the genocidal maniacs over there. Were it not a key ally of American imperial interests in the region, Israel would be yet another pariah state, universally condemned for its unyielding mission of conquest and ethnic cleansing in the region.

[°Leprechaun]

Nothing need be polarizing unless
you make it so.  etc etc

Your decision to post in strangely confined lines as though writing a poem without rhyme or reason is something I myself find upsetting, and am starting to get emotional over. Perhaps it is that, then, which is polarizing.

fixed

[H. Ross Peron]

IRL probably abortion but Israel/Palestine inspires more vitrol in an online context.

[Miles]

Option 1, especially in the context of the Forum.

[Sopranos Republican]

I voted abortion as I assumed we were talking about a U.S. context. From a global perspective definitely option 1.

[Redalgo]

I voted abortion for the sake of the poll but in Montanan politics I'd offer that issues involving the environment or Indian affairs - especially when water rights come up - are a lot more contentious.

[Ebsy]

For the US, it's obviously abortion. For Missouri, Ferguson at the moment.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

Abortion is the best answer, at least in the US. Gun Control isn't as big of an issue, nearly every politician has the same position on Israel, and Gay Marriage hasn't been an issue for at least a few years.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Even if 70% of Americans are on the side of Israel and it's not a true split issue like the others, it's still by far the nastiest just based on the sheer venom spouted.

[Mr. Illini]

Abortion.

/thread

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

Abortion is something about which almost nobody is indifferent, and which ever-fewer people in public life are willing to compromise or concede that decent people can differ on even when popular sentiment is more nuanced.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Social issues will always be more polarizing than fiscal or Constitutional issues, because what they ultimately come down to is one person's opinion of morality versus another's. Since supporting gay marriage is relatively mainstream today, I voted abortion.

[© tweed]

the first one a) actually is important, lives are at stake and b) can cause actual fights to break out.  we actually all but had a brawl at Cornell of all places (on the main plaza of the campus, socialists and Muslim students on one side, Hillel/other Jews on the other).  a few Hillel Jews made 5 minute videos to document their "harassment", and one of them got some minor circulation (15k views) on the internet.

I've also seen Israel-Palestine demonstrations-counter-demonstrations get hot in NYC.

[Deus Naturae]

Abortion is something about which almost nobody is indifferent, and which ever-fewer people in public life are willing to compromise or concede that decent people can differ on even when popular sentiment is more nuanced.

Could be wrong, but I don't think this is true.