Posted on 05/31/2010 9:46:47 PM PDT by se_ohio_young_conservative
I have lost THREE real life friends now in trying to defend Sarah Palin. On one hand I tend to think the people who call her stupid are not the kind of people I even want as friends anyhow. However, I wonder if im being too harsh and going too far.
I know our country was divided on President Bush. But the division and the hatred for Sarah Palin has been able to top anything. Before Palin, I had a much more positive outlook on people (especially women, mothers, ect) and life in general. Now I find myself seeing people through a totally different lens.
I understand why I am so outraged as a husband and father of two girls. But what is wrong with WOMEN in this country ? they have really let Sarah Palin and her family down by not standing up enough and drawing a line in the sand.
I have a lot of liberal friends. I am outspoken and always tell them what I think. Haven’t lost any friends and often they bounce an idea or a feeling off of me to get my response. They probably can’t imagine how a conservative would view an issue and are curious to know.
One I remember is,” What about Stanislaus State paying Palin all that money to speak?” I answered with a question, “Is she the first paid speaker at the college? Why are they asking about her and not the others? Sounds like politics to me.” Of course they try to deny it’s politics. Then I closed with,”Of course, if what she is going to say is just too dangerous for people to hear, the board of the Foundation could decide to cancel her sold-out speech for which the college will double its money and I’m sure the local Republican Party would be happy to take over. They could use the money and would be happy about getting it.” That ended the discussion. In this liberal’s mind we had reached a point of agreement. It would be better to have the college make the money than it would be for the Republican Party to make it.
I wasn’t trying to make her believe as I did, but trying to get her to reason her way to a neutral position. Once they are in neutral, they can be reasoned with, but trying to force them into reverse while they are still in gear usually causes friction.
I’m a conservative in a generally conservative area with very, very liberal family.
I have friends from all over the spectrum. I make it clear with them that I’m a prolife conservative. I don’t make any apologies.
They either accept me or reject me.
When I learn that someone is a Democrat I instantly know that we do not share the same values, and I don't have a need to have them in my life.
Excellent advice, thanks.
As 2012 draws closer, the attacks on Sarah will reach a fever pitch and will be daily. They will never admit that they fear her but in their denial the fear is all too obvious.
A Sarah Palin presidency will, for all intents and purposes, ruin the democrat party for generations to come and they know it.
You and I are hoeing the same row, my friend. As black conservatives, we've got double duty.
My uber lib brother recently called me a "traitor" because of my conservative views. He and other deeply liberal family members have slowly dropped off my lines over my politics, but I refuse to moderate who I am, or what I stand for because of that.
These are grown people who refuse to take the responsibility to educate themselves. They also refuse any attempt on my part to fill in the gaps in their political education.
So be it. When the inevitable Reckoning arrives, I know that I will be on the right side of the fight, and will have a place in a restored America. They will be left with nothing but the horror of their grave mistake.
Your ancestors were parents at a young ages. My Paternal Great Grandfather fought for the Confederacy.
Also excellent advice, thank you as well.
I totally agree with what you wrote here; it is so true.
Perhaps your friends are just crazy.
I will assume the “friends” you lost were in the second category. I have a Brother In Law like that, so Politics is not discussed when I visit.
Of course, that is easier said than done, LOL.
For many of them, simply and calmly telling the truth about her is automatically interpreted as a horrible attack on their feelings.
I’ve lost several friends.
actually, if i identify anyone i’m dealing with as a progessive/liberal... i cut ties almost immediately.
liberals cannot be trusted.
That sounds very much like a speech given by Justice Thomas. Are you familiar with it?
Folks in my family have tended to marry and have kids sometime in their twenties. That pattern has remained steady, right down to my own generation. I was a parent at 21, as were most of my siblings.
And most of all...she made the "wrong" choice in the so-called "right to choose" sense. They will never forgive her for that. She is a living reproach.
For What It’s Worth: A reader once wrote to a ‘genius’ (newspaper columnist with a genius IQ) and asked about what causes fanaticism or why it is so hard to change the views of a fanatic by employing factual information. (I think the columnist was Marilyn Von Savant)
Marilyn’s response was basically that the person whose mind cannot be changed on a deeply held subject despite large amounts of contradictory fact (e.g. the problem facing Holocaust deniers) has a personal need to believe as they do and that others cannot persuade them; unless their need to believe as they do changes, they will not change their opinion.
I use this to test my thinking when I do not budge from my own point of view -I ask myself what sort of need might I have to believe as I do. Sometimes I find weakenesses in my logic, but usually I find that contradictory evidence is weak or absent.
When it comes to liberals who ‘need’ to believe that Bush caused earthquakes, Republicans hate the poor, the left are the ‘conscience’ of the people - these falsehoods are held deeply in the liberal breast despite a wealth of obvious contradictory evidence and this makes me think they have a psychological need to believe it. Your former friend needs to believe Palin is vile. Perhaps it helps her fit into her own family (they would reject her otherwise) or she doesn’t want to start down that train of thought that could unravel her own politics which have become her own identity (she is morally superior because she believes x and y). In these instances - you don’t need to provide more information and surfacing the subject repeatedly will never make a difference; if anything, it will harden her emotional need to believe you are wrong and bad.
Well there is a spot of good news in this. You may be taking this kind of disagreement personally, but it really has nothing to do with how you are viewed (a person of integrity) or how reasonable you are (can you reach wise conclusions). It really takes place in the head of the other person and you have no ability to influence her emotional need to believe as she does. You can ‘afford’ to stand back note that she thinks you are 100% wrong without taking it personally.
Forcing a political point with any friend may imply to them that you value the politics over the friendship. Accepting that approx. half the country is in denial about Obama and has woven a thread of unreality about all things republican and that it is no reflection on you or your judgment may help increase your patience with opposing views when evidence is rejected and denied. You may find you can retain more of your ideologically fractured friendships, if you want to.
You are friends with libs?
Well I think I figured out what the problem is...
My favorite conversation with a Lib is when they hear me out and say, well those are YOUR facts.
I was dumbfounded the first time I heard that, but now I just ask them to refute anything I just told them. They can't, so they just roll their eyes, it's that simple.
Some people just choose to be ignorant, you can't fix them.
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