It is a defense mechanism at this point: turn every issue, every incident into a dichotomy; an either/or, a good side/bad side, and then argue over who is right and who is wrong.

That is the only way Pakistan is dealing with issues right now. It is the #TeriTeamMeriTeam way of doing things.

And while, #TeriTeamMeriTeam may make complex subjects easier to grasp for people, it takes needed attention away from the real conflict at heart.

Undermining just how severe, intense and deeply ingrained the problem is, this tactic dehumanises everything to a point-scoring game.

It is a cycle that has been expedited by social media and double digit IQs that appear on national TV regularly.

What we have now is an incessant, headache-inducing ceaseless arguing over minor details of incidents, and never a discussion on the many facets or the gravity of the situation itself.

We have desensitised ourselves to a point where national tragedies are followed with quibbling games, where we can vent against an opposition and feel good about ourselves. That means that every new incident of terrorism or violence is not contributing to a new, progressive discourse.

Pakistan is not moving forward. It is going around in circles.

Read the editorial: Attack on churches

Take, for instance, the latest series of unfortunate incidents. Two churches in Lahore were ruthlessly bombed. Minorities have been under attack in Pakistan for quite a while now.

The state has chosen to turn a blind eye to it because it does not have the capacity to deliver what is needed, which is neither an underpass nor an overhead bridge but the rule of law.

Also read: Lynched by the system

Regardless of whether it was a frustrated mob reacting to years of oppression or a few bad eggs deliberately inciting violence, the lynching that followed demonstrates just how much the state has failed. Two people were being burnt alive on camera, while law enforcement groups were busy avoiding trouble and catching the cricket match!

The worst part of all is the memory this tragedy left behind in the national conscience. All that is remembered of the event is that the Taliban blew up a couple of churches and Pakistani Christian protesters burned two people.

The #TeriTeamMeriTeam approach further broke it down, as usual, into binary groups screaming at each other out of frustration over long-held, complex and overlapping reasons no longer familiar but vaguely associated with injustice and ineptitude.

This continued for 36 hours and then the story died