AND
Yes and no. We cerainly observe conflict and cross purposes, but we also see a lot of common ground among people of diverse beliefs. I think people tend to bring conflict with them, as we had a while back with rtmcdge. Some people want religion and science to be in conflict.
I do think we could do a better job of understanding the position of others before pouncing on errors. We lose something by not fully understanding a position first, and saving argument for later. Even with someone as extreme as rtmcdge, asking questions to draw out their full opinions may reveal possibilities for common ground. In the eagerness to shoot down nonsense, we lose that opportunity.
(AND yes we should respond to nonsense, but we don’t need to be in such a hurry. 
)