My stepbrother is a rabid GOP supporter...

[WCGreen]

He's also a born again Christian. I like him personally probably because we don't get around to actually spend time together.

Anyway, he's a friend of mine on Facebook and he posts some pretty "rabid" stuff about president Obama.

One of his posts showed up on my page and the second message down was from his daughter who was also raised as a bron again Christian only I think she got it right the first time. Anyway, my sb started in on a rant and his daughter replied, I think it would be best of I hide your posts until after the election....

Just thought I would pass it on.

Me, well I let them all come in just so I can see what they are talking about on the other side.

I was involved with politics for far too long to let this mess stuff bother me anymore because I always felt that after the election, the business of governing goes on. Well, after the way they behaved when President Obama took the oath, that was all over.

I still have friends across the aisle from my time in professional politics, but this new crop, well they are so hell bent on the game they forget that in a system like ours compromise is needed. You just can't govern from a my way or the highway approach for long.

[Sherman A1]

1. The FB hide post & block functions

are your friend here.

I have one FB Friend who puts up the "I just had a cheese sandwich" type of posts. I simply blocked his posts and he is none the wiser.

[porphyrian]

2. Well, don't let him bite you. Rabies shots are painful. n/t

[WCGreen]

3. So is reading the rhetoric....

[Bonhomme Richard]

4. Whats's with these wing Christians and all that....

bottled up anger. I see it all the time.

[bhikkhu]

5. White Male Privilege...

its embedded in enough "traditional values" of the culture that its pretty easy to get sucked in, without even realizing.

To some extent, I think its one of those worldview perspectives we can acquire in early childhood, that wind up buried like a tick at the basis of one's identity. Without some deep thought and self examination (which most people, realistically, just don't do) it can be pretty hard for people to shake.

on edit - the one response that I find useful and generally applicable is to avoid all the little details, and just focus on the "rights and dignity which are the common heritage of all humanity, regardless of race, creed, color". That paraphrases the president's recent speech at the UN, but is pretty easy to find anywhere.

We are all much more the same than we are different, and hate and fear of strangers is what is used by the other side to consistently deny people their rights and dignity.

[Bucky]

6. He'd have to be. The sane ones are leaving the party.

[Zoeisright]

7. Anyone who acts like that is not a "Christian".

He's a bigot.

[GoCubsGo]

8. Your step-niece is a smart girl.

I have done this with my brother. He posts a lot of crazy shit, too, and I don't know how much of it is because he really believes it, how much of it is chain-yanking, or whether he's just trying to impress his wingnut friends and in-laws. Some of the shit his friends post is absolutely vile and ignorant. I removed him from my news feed.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. You do well to not let him get under your skin...

You've taken the long view, and that is the way to do it.

Good for his daughter too! She sounds level-headed.

K&R

[WCGreen]

10. We have enough common ground to stay civil with each other...

He's basically a born again christian.

He had a tough time of it growing up. He was three or four years older than I was. It's been so long ago that I cared about age that I don't really remember.

He needed something like the Church in his life because he was let down so many times as a kid. He bounced around between his mother and father, neither of them were great parents. It screwed him up and the church really helped to get him back on track and he has a lovely family and he's really a nice guy.

But his politics suck.

[mick063]

11. Facebook is an amazing thing

An old shipmate that I served with in the Navy (about 30 years ago) friended me somehow. Not sure how.


He kept posting a bunch of Progressive stuff. It was as though he thought I was a "conservative" and was trying to convert me. Ironically, I always thought he would have been GOP. I just presumed a guy from Indiana was more likely to be that way.

We kinda surprised each other. Anyway, I recall he was very smart as a young man, so I really shouldn't be surprised at his political philosophy. I'm just wondering what I did long ago to make him think I was a right winger.

[mnhtnbb]

12. Had just the opposite happen. Friend from hs responded to my post

criticizing Mitt about 'corporations are people' statement.
OMG--she really went off about it--and all the time I had thought
she was progressive.

I have unfriended some folks for their rw views--including my SIL.

[B Calm]

13. sb this and see if she hides it! Matthew 25:40

"And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!