Do you? How does it go?
Doesn’t go well at all … they won’t listen and you always get a retort, but if they’re buying dinner I let it slide.
Not anymore. It’s not as much fun since my uncle has gotten crazier. Last family get-together, he was telling us something about Obama, the Bible, and UFOs. The one before that, he gave us a graphic description of what Muslims do to goats (complete with pantomime).
The other uncle isn’t much better. What is it with uncles anyway?
Sort of. Several members of my family are much more prone to leftist conspiracy-theories than I am (e.g., NCLB was a deliberate attempt by Republicans to destroy the public school system), or more prone to woo (“Try this homeopathic remedy, it worked wonders for my children!”). One close relative thinks the space program is a complete waste of energy.
I sometimes will get into it with them, but when my better instincts reign, I don’t.
OMG, you guys are adorable.
I can’t discuss politics with my family. Whenever I am right, or make a point that hits home, or even have a good debating tactic, I get shut down with “You’re just a kid, you don’t know about the real world.”
I’m 40, btw.
With my family, I’ve learned that the way to deal with this is to cherry-pick and select something relatively obscure that nobody can really refute. For instance, don’t say, *“I oppose Political Party B because they are (liberal, conservative).” *Say, *“I think Political Party B made a bad decision with Airport X, because they insisted on expanding Airport X in an increasingly crowded city, despite the fact that the runways are dangerously short and it has tall buildings nearby which are dangerous for heavily-laden aircraft upon takeoff.” *Who can argue with that?
I have an aunt who believes that the Moon landing was a hoax, that 9/11 was an inside job, though. Not sure how to refute that, stating the obvious doesn’t work.
Depends. My older brother and baby sister have different opinions on me on several ssues, but they’re both fairly rational, and politics is less important to them them familial concord so arguments do not grow rancorous.
My now-deceased older brother was a self-righteous rightie who believed in reparative therapy for homosexuals and called abortion providers murderers. We did not discuss politics, but then we rarely spoke.
My little sister agrees with me on most issues but is too passionate for my taste. We don’t talk politics.
My other sisters are not strongly political, so it isn’t an issue.
I avoid the topic, but when they want to talk politics I listen. I maybe only drop a few points here and there, keeping it light. My parents, Reagan voters when I was a kid, have drifted way, way far left. They love Bernie. My siblings followed them, I mostly stayed put.
I don’t talk politics with pretty much anybody, in particular family.
My dear mother is a HUGE GOP supporter, always has been. She cannot resist sending my RNC and other right wing propaganda…unless he emails have no subject line (or at least one i understand) I delete her emails unopened. The (typically forwarded emails) will 9/10 slam Hillary, Obama, support our police state …bash LGBT …you get the point. My sister, the person that keeps me from being the “black sheep” of the family gets them too.
While we both love mom dearly, we do not share her demented Ideology. We never discuss Political or current event issues with her.
Quite surprisingly my mom has no issues with marijuana. Neither does my moderately right wing older brother…his first question to me is always…got any buds??
NO!
NEVER!
I don’t talk politics period, even with the ones I agree with.
While I make no secret of my contempt for Trump, I recently made the mistake of voicing my views on socialism to a relative who I didn’t realize was a staunch Sanders supporter. Oops.
I am republican but have no use for Trump, Cruz, Ryan, the Tea Party, the religious right, fox news, and many other things. So I avoid talking about it.
Relative: “Did you hear what Obama is going to do now?”
Me: “It sure looks like rain.”
I refuse to engage.
ETA: One of my nephews wore a shirt Sunday that said in large, black letters: “FUCK THE POLICE”. It was an old t-shirt. Luckily, no body said anything.
I should point out that while my uncle and I are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, we do get along well. I told him about the picture I wanted to make, and he said it would be funny. We’re not actually fighting. Just so no one gets the wrong idea.
Generally, politics were not discussed.
I get along with the more passionate members of my family, whether or not I agree with them. I prefer an apathy for life to an ideological one. I especially get along with people who can argue about identifying principals and subsequently hold the other person in higher regard for having substantiated their ideals.
FIL is a big Pubbie supporter (as well as a bigot - not that the 2 are necessarily the same.) Several decades ago I used to sorta get off on getting into big debates.arguments w/ him, but I grew out of that by the time I was 30 or so.
Don’t see him very often anymore (and don’t miss him). This past Jan, however, we saw him over his b-day. I asked him who he liked among the case of announced candidates. He said he really liked Trump, but thought Carson had some good ideas. (I don’t believe he would have ever supported a person of color.) I immediately dropped the topic. Never liked or respected him. Just kinda shocking when you run into an ostensibly sentient being who could say such a thing…
No. You have to live with them. We only discuss trivial topics.
Nope. When my brother and sister were alive, I refused to be baited into a pointless argument. My brother and BIL would say outrageous things in my presence, but I always refused to engage. The only time my sister actually said anything to me, it was along the lines of “How could you grow up in this family and be a Democrat?” I asked her if she would like to compare life experiences with me, choice of life partners, etc., to hear my reasons, but she demurred.
I’m pretty sure my cousin is a righty, but we’re both respectful enough of each other not to talk politics. I have no problem rebuking nieces and nephews, however, when they say something completely bone-headed.
By and large, yes, but we’re all very sensitive to that dreadful point where it isn’t fun any more, and we’re all very good at calling a break when that point arises.
My b.i.l. and I disagree over Israel/Palestine. We can’t even begin the discussion; the point of “not fun anymore” arrives at the very utterance of either the word “Israel” or the word “Palestine.” So that’s on our big taboo list.
With most other disagreements, we can at least explore 'em a little, probing the topic gingerly. Like a bone-setter probing for a break. “Does this hurt?” “No.” "Does this – " “HOLY GOD DAMN SON OF A PUKE, OW!”