Reply #7: It is true that once they found out what a 'Teabagger' was they objected to the label.

[Make7]

The main problem many people encounter in communicating with someone with a viewpoint that is radically different than your own is talking past each other. Each person is talking and listening with different enough perspectives that little communication is actually taking place.

Many people on the left would automatically tune out someone touting FoxNews as a source for their information - and people who watch Fox will dismiss out of hand anyone on the left trashing Fox. Once someone makes it obvious they are not taking the other person seriously or someone takes a defensive posture communication is next to impossible.

You have to attempt to be diplomatic to talk with most people with whom you strongly disagree. Try viewing things from their perspective. From a tea party member's viewpoint, there is something derogatory in every one of your FB posts. If the goal is to try to convince, you have to be non-confrontational and be persuasive. Which may not be successful because many people are impervious to facts when it comes to politics. For many this is because the political beliefs are their worldview. When facts contradict that worldview usually they will rationalize away the facts rather than reevaluate their worldview.

Usually an extraordinary amount of patience is required and it often results in little more than learning how to communicate slightly better with those you disagree. People are often irrationally attached to their beliefs and are unlikely to change their viewpoint no matter how well you present the opposite case. Small, incremental steps usually work best. Also explaining things in more detail than you normally would to avoid misunderstandings is helpful. All that being said, the ability to convince people to see things from your point of view and even come to some agreement on things is a valuable skill to possess. (I used to think politician were supposed to be good at that.)

Those FB tea party members seem hopeless though. You might want wait a couple days and go back and look at your FB exchange and try viewing what you wrote from their perspective and see if you understand why it might have rubbed people the wrong way. (Of course, only when the intention was not to rub people the wrong way.) For some people, no matter what you say or do, it will rub them the wrong way.

Peace