A lack of civility

In our previous post, we talked about gay marriage.  This is one of many hot topics going around theses days.  How do you discuss a topic like this with someone with a different point of view then yours without getting into an argument? It seems like with the advent of talk radio and cable news, there has become a lack of respect. You can't carry on a conversation and give your opinion without being insulted and called names.  Can't we all get along? What's wrong with saying "OK that's your opinion, here's mine, we have differences, let's sit down and try to have a meeting of the minds, or agree to disagree?"