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captain_slinkyMy family, for the most part, knows not to talk about Religion or Politics at Thanksgiving. If either subject DOES come up in the same room as me, i feel it is my duty to deliberately and abruptly change the subject IMMEDIATELY, or else leave the room. As a result, I still love all my siblings :)
But for those of you who are dreading "The Talk" tomorrow, remember these things:
There is literally NOTHING you can say tomorrow that is going to change anyone's mind.
If anybody - INCLUDING *YOU* - starts a sentence with something along the lines of "I just want to know", that person doesn't REALLY want to know. That person wants you to say exactly what they know you're going to say, so they can "shoot you down" with the clever thing they heard on the radio or read online.
There is no such thing as a non-biased news source. Not FOX, Not MSNBC, not SNOPES, not any Fact Checking service, NOTHING. This is because it's all run by Human Beings, and Human Beings have biases.
DO YOU REALLY WANT TO DEAL WITH ANY OF THAT?!?!?
Instead of building deep hatred for people you love, you could instead be playing a nice board game! Or watching a sporting event! Or sharing recipes, or talking about movies, or looking at funny animal videos, or... ANYTHING! LITERALLY ANYTHING is better than the tension, hatred and animosity that will come from talking about politics or religion!
EVEN IF YOU'RE ALL ON THE SAME SIDE!
So really, just... just *don't*, okay?
But for those of you who are dreading "The Talk" tomorrow, remember these things:
There is literally NOTHING you can say tomorrow that is going to change anyone's mind.
If anybody - INCLUDING *YOU* - starts a sentence with something along the lines of "I just want to know", that person doesn't REALLY want to know. That person wants you to say exactly what they know you're going to say, so they can "shoot you down" with the clever thing they heard on the radio or read online.
There is no such thing as a non-biased news source. Not FOX, Not MSNBC, not SNOPES, not any Fact Checking service, NOTHING. This is because it's all run by Human Beings, and Human Beings have biases.
DO YOU REALLY WANT TO DEAL WITH ANY OF THAT?!?!?
Instead of building deep hatred for people you love, you could instead be playing a nice board game! Or watching a sporting event! Or sharing recipes, or talking about movies, or looking at funny animal videos, or... ANYTHING! LITERALLY ANYTHING is better than the tension, hatred and animosity that will come from talking about politics or religion!
EVEN IF YOU'RE ALL ON THE SAME SIDE!
So really, just... just *don't*, okay?
no subject
Date: 2016-11-27 09:09 pm (UTC)I do have one exception. If someone does make racist/bigoted comments, I will mildly correct them and ask that they think about it. I don't call them racist or homophobes or islamophobes. But I will say that their words or actions perpetuate societal racism/bigotry/whatever. I only focus on the words or actions. Once you make it about the person themselves, the conversation shuts down.
I just can't give people a pass on that. A lot of people think that silence is agreement, so I just feel like I have to go there if it comes up.