My mother's breakup letter to the ultra-conservative Townhall site.

[EmilyAnne]

I have written about my parents on DU in the past.
They are both fundamentalist Christians and were lifelong Republicans who, over the last eight years, have undergone what can only be called a "liberal awakening." They are in their early 60s, so its

My dad once told me that his brother (my beloved uncle) was "an abomination unto the Lord" because he is gay. Now he completely supports gay marriage. He drove the five our trip to visit my uncle and his partner one weekend in 2004 to reconnect with them and apologize for having been such an ass. This was a very emotional thing for the two brothers and it literally blew me away when I found out about it. He voted for John Kerry, the first Democrat vote he ever cast.

My mother was a little bit behind my father, but has caught up.
Still, her email box reflects her past as a rabid right winger, filling up with racist garbage, proof that Obama is the antichrist, nasty photoshops of Michelle Obama, forwards about birth certificates and Kenyan grandmothers, partial birth abortion and fantastic conspiracy theories about the Socialist takeover of the US. My mom refutes them in her replies, and slowly she has been taken off many forward lists.

Unfortunately, after asking to be removed from the Townhall mailer many times, they continue to send hateful "alerts" and calls to action.

This is the letter she wrote to them a few days ago. After hearing about Frank Schaeffer's recent "liberal awakening," I decided to share it with DU.
As much as I love my mother, I have to admit that she really is the kind of person who is supposed to be a permanent part of "the base."
If Frank Schaeffer and my parents (especially my mom) can wake up, this has to be part of a greater trend.

Here's the letter:

"Stop it stop it stop it stop it!
Will you ever get the picture you bombastic, unchristian, holier than thou, mean spirited, truth twisting, fear mongering purveyors of hate?
You are inciting this nation into a panic of fear and hatred! When it hits the fan and there is harm done to some of our citizens, you will share the blame for whipping them into a frenzy-you and your ilk of fox news.

I have been a lifelong conservative christian and never once in my 57 years had I voted for a democrat until I voted for Barack HUSSEIN Obama. I am so proud of myself and I thank God every day that my eyes were opened to the hate that you and yours spewed forth day after day throughout the election process. Unbelievable lies from a, thankfully, losing party. That was the turning point for me and I can never turn back to the ways of the republican party and it's tactics.

Now your vile plans continue. It is more than shameful and add to it the annointing of the repulsive rush limbaugh as some kind of god to be worshipped. Its nauseating. Every time I see the clip last week from the conference at which he spoke, chanting "rush, rush, rush!", for himself, I am amazed at the narcissistic gall of him!! If ever a person was not afraid to show such utter love of self, it's he. Gross to the max. As i said, I am a christian, and I will spend my remaining life recanting every self-righteous, pompous, ignorant thing that came out of my mouth and asking God's forgiveness for a hardened heart that lacked empathy for my fellow man. And sorry to say that I learned so many of these opinions that formed my narrow mind set from you and your partners in crime.

And now as a christian I should say, "may God forgive you." Maybe he will, but I won't. You have said things with malice and forethought, not caring about the truth nor the damage you were doing to my country, the lives lost to your war mongering, the misery you enjoy seeing in the lives of the poor and the fear you create that now consumes so many of your readers.

Shame, shame, shame on you and once again I say...

TAKE ME OFF YOUR E-MAIL LIST AS I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOUR NAME IN MY IN-BOX AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[Raine]

1. Cheers to your mother

and both your parents! :thumbsup:

[DKRC]

2. Tell your parents for me

:yourock:

[MadMaddie]

3. Give your mom and pop a big hug and tell them we were

patient and we were waiting for them.

The base is starting to fall apart because they can't allign their beliefs with the hate mongering and absolute lies of the Republican party.

Tell your mom that she wrote a fantastic Dear Townhall letter.

[FrenchieCat]

4. She ain't kiddin', hey?

Great letter, aka rant!

She's got my support! :)

[Eryemil]

5. It's good to see that old dogs CAN learn new tricks.

:bounce:

[EmilyAnne]

78. For years I was afraid that they would get worse and worse! Statistically, isn't that what happens

to people as they age? Their opinions get more and more fixed?

[Eryemil]

88. More or less, yes.

Your parents are special people, you should be proud.
:D

[Kaylee]

6. Well, she is AWESOME to the max!

I got a kick out of seeing your mom call Rush Limbaugh "Gross to the max". That was a great letter and I know she felt good sending that off. If Townhall knows what is good for them, they'd remove her name pronto.

[Cha]

7. EmilyAnne.. Your mom has the righteous rant!

When I first started reading your post I thought of the Frank Schaeffer video I saw on DU yesterday and there you had written about him, too.

I told friends at work about him today and sent a link to the Frank Schaeffer interview by DL Hughley to my friend..I was blown away by his incredible change in looking at life.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x281296

I'm saving your mom's breakup letter, too.

[Irishonly]

8. Your parents are heroes

They had the courage to learn and change. Not many people can lay claim to that fact. Your parents rock.

[firedupdem]

9. Good for your Mom and Dad. n/t

[ddeclue]

10. DING DING DING - WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!

:bounce:

[redwitch]

11. You must be so happy to have them back!

Good on them and hooray for you too!

[EmilyAnne]

80. I am happy to talk to them about politics or really anything without it becoming an argument!

It funny because since the general election, my mother has been like a sponge.
I'll mention things that we on DU have known for years such as the electrocution deaths of our troops because of KBR and she'll freak out all over again.

[madamesilverspurs]

12. A remarkable feeling, isn't it?

My mother, a lifelong republican and 89 years old, for the first time in her life voted for the Democratic presidential candidate. My older brother, my sister and I are all beyond delighted with this change. We haven't told the other brother, yet.

[EmilyAnne]

83. Yes! Its great. Good for your mom! n/t

[sellitman]

98. 89 must be a special age.

My Republican 89 year old father in law voted Democratic for the first time in his life too

Part was his dislike of McCain but I didn't need a reason to admire him for it.

Most importantly he has been a good father in law despite his past. :)

[specimenfred1984]

13. Repukes are getting scared, being called out as traitors

So many of them are suddenly growing a conscience, how convenient. All the best to you and yours but I remember Nancy Reagan coming out in favor of stem cell research ONLY after finding out it might help people like Ronnie. Repukes tend to "see the light" when it suits them later in life.

[EmilyAnne]

17. My mom isn't Nancy Reagan. She's not a political figure/ celebrity.

She's not a Nazi in post-war Germany trying to avoid a prison sentence.
My mom doesn't have a thing to gain from "suddenly growing a conscience."
She's a freaking housewife/ preacher's wife/ cleaning lady in an ultra-red suburb outside of Houston, TX.

The MSM is still convincing right wingers that their party is far from over.

I'm proud of her and people like Schaeffer. They are not just fed up with Bush, not just fed up with the Republican party or Rush Limbaugh, they are also fed up with their own group of friends and family, the people they go to church with, see at the grocery store, work for, etc.

Its very difficult for people like my mom to change an entire world view after so long, especially when the majority of the people around her think her political views aren't merely wrong but EVIL.

I know its hard when there are so many moronic right wingers, but try to have some perspective about the kind of intellectual vacuums they have spent so much time in.

[AllentownJake]

21. She might want to look into the UCC

Its where I found a home.

[tpsbmam]

59. That's where my friend also found a home.....

He was Catholic and finally got fed up with his church telling him he was worthless & will go to hell because he's gay. He went on a search after he left the Catholics.....he finally ended up at a WONDERFUL church. After he joined the church, they had to get a new minister -- church members unanimously voted for this great pastor, who happens to be openly gay. They do wonderful community outreach -- I'm not a believer but if I were, this is the kind of church I'd want to belong to. They're my image of what a church should be.

[Laurab]

28. I would be proud, too!

I'm lucky enough to have parents who have been Democrats all their lives, but I cannot imagine what it would be like to have republican parents. My mom still passes on emails she receives because she doesn't realize they're republican talking-point emails, and we have to explain them to her - my brother and I had to debunk an illegal immigrant/social security email she forwarded to us just yesterday. I can't imagine what kind of emails your mom got, but her letter is EXCELLENT (and I didn't realize Rush was chanting for himself, so I even learned something from it).

Thank you for sharing it with us - it sounds like she finally reached her boiling point, and she writes very well!

[veganlush]

52. you're right about that, another example is james brady..

...and his wife, who realized they favored gun control after he took a bullet to the head. He was Ronald 'chop down the redwoods' Reagan's press secretary.

[EmilyAnne]

81. Another politician who actually had power to affect lives with his skewed political beliefs.

Sure, even a politician can experience something so extreme that it profoundly alters his belief system.

Another group of people to think about are the parents of troops who have been killed in the Iraq war. So many remain more strong supporters of the war because it would be too painful to acknowledge that their sons or daughters died in an unjust war that should never have been waged. They put up all kinds of mental defenses prevent certain ideas from creeping in.

Then, you have the parents who lost children in Iraq and, as information about WMDs and all the other BS that Bush was manipulating to make this war happen, they have their "awakening." They don't have anything to gain but a whole world of pain and regret.

Sure, some people appear to change their minds because to do so is politically expedient. Those are the ones I don't trust.

[SeattleGirl]

14. A toast to your parents, EmilyAnne!

:toast:

[Festusss]

15. BRILLIANT!!!

[Aristus]

16. Thank God for your mother! She's wonderful!

Reminds me a little of my grandmother, an ultra-conservative Southern Baptist who is pro-choice! B-)

[EmilyAnne]

85. My great aunt is 94, lives in a town in West Texas outside of Sweetwater. She has lived there her

entire life. She is pro-choice. My brother and I are going to visit her in a few months and want to film her talking about her political views because she is amazing.

All of my West Texas family are Democrats because of their experiences in the Depression. FDR was a hero to them, literally saved their lives during a severe drought, according to them. He provided emergency medication for their diseased animals, electricity, a clinic was opened in the community that saved one of my aunts baby twins. The other died.
The droughts, the dust storms, dysentery that killed so many babies, entire crops lost in a single night, cattle that would drop dead without feed, diseases that would spread through livestock...I've heard my aunt's stories about these things so many times.

If someone tried to tell her that FDR really didn't do anything to help them, she would laugh in their faces.

The part of left West Texas and moved into the Houston area all went right wing.

[The Wizard]

18. Talk about a strongly worded letter

John Conyers take heed.

[Dappleganger]

19. That brought tears to my eyes...

there are some republicans in my life who I hope and pray one day will see their party for the traitors they are.

[AllentownJake]

20. Funny thing

I was a conservative atheist. I became a Christian and I became a liberal after reading the New Testament. There are people on here who like to bash faith all the time. If it weren't for me finding faith, I would probably still be a conservative.

I'm glad your parents have reconnected with their faith and have abandoned religion.

[jberryhill]

22. Oh no... "reaching out" to religous conservatives doesn't work

ahem.

[NYC_SKP]

23. Happy to recommend this post...

Well done, thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

[RFKHumphreyObama]

24. Both your parents are wonderful people

Enlightened, intelligent, compassionate and with powers of critical thinking. You are fortunate to have had them as your parents, just as they were fortunate to have you as their child

[QueenOfCalifornia]

25. Dear EmilyAnne

I have read your past posts about your growing up and about your parents. You are to be commended because I know you had a hand in pointing your Mom and Dad in the right direction.

This is big news. Your parents must have really put a lot of thought into their departure from the evil overlord El Rushbo.

Peace to you and thanks for posting this.

xoxo
QoC

[readmoreoften]

26. Wow, that's genuinely astounding.

Whoa. Encouraging.

[Hekate]

27. God bless your mom and dad for having come so far and for having been so honest and brave...

:wow: I am very impressed with your family, m'dear.

:hug: to you all.

Hekate

[polichick]

29. Beautiful - the letter and the story!

[HillWilliam]

30. Dear EmilyAnne

Thank you and give your parents a great big hug. :grouphug: This gay man is humbly and quietly grateful for every heart that is turned from hatred to love and acceptance. I really believe that's what the Red Letters have to say; forbearance, forgiveness, peace, and good sense.

And keep a hug for yourself! :hug: Thanks for sharing!

[EmilyAnne]

86. Hugs back to you, HillWilliam! I love the "Red Letters!" I'm going to start using that expression

if you don't mind!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

31. Incredibly Awesome!!!

I'm getting teary again!!!!! Seeing that tide of hate and ignorance turning fills my heart....

:hug: :grouphug:

[brindis_desala]

32. Wonderful story. This is a message to all those who sneer

at the president for touting bipartisanship. "An eye for eye makes the whole world blind...".

[peacetalksforall]

33. What she is protesting is what they are purposely doing to retain their base.

Too many will still buy it and cling to it. Compare her with the little old ladies who take their script in hand and still call the Washington Journal/C-span.

This is a telling part of her letter -

"...the misery you enjoy seeing in the lives of the poor and the fear you create that now consumes so many of your readers."

Give her a high five from us.

[texas1928]

34. Funny, yours are going Liberal and mine are turning more Conservative and at times.

Racist. It bothers me.

[fed_up_mother]

35. Whoo hoo! Great letter!

[skepticscott]

36. This is all very sweet

But what do your parents plan to do to make up for all of the lies, hatred and bigotry that they've helped to spread for so many years? How do they plan to help, after hurting for so long? Sorry to say it, but one ranting e-mail to people who will dismiss it without a second thought doesn't really make up for much.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

63. Oh, how I love the "this is all very sweet, BUT......"

holier-than-thou poster who doesn't understand that a letter is a beginning and the woman said in her letter - if you had bothered to read it with care and comprehension - that she would spend the rest of her life trying to undo the damage she had done.

It's hard, isn't it, just to celebrate something good?

There's always a buzzkill lurking, just hoping to Mother Superior someone into feeling less than good about what's going on.

So, skepticscott, you feel righteous now, and ever-so-superior?

[skepticscott]

73. Oh, not nearly as self- righteous and superior

as you seem to feel. Sorry, but I've seen too much fawning and gushing over people who have "seen the light", and it just doesn't impress me. When she's spent as many years of her life fighting against right wing bigotry and hatred as she has supporting it, then come talk to me. Until then, no one should be strutting and prancing as if something wonderful has been accomplished. If it weren't for people like this feeding the Republican hate machine for so many years, people like Limbaugh, Hannity and Coulter would never have gotten the grip on this country that they do. And when she " thanks god" for enlightening her, it makes me wonder why he wouldn't gave done it ages ago, unless he really approved of all this. When you make decisions based solely on what that voice in your head that you call "god" tells you, what's to say you won't hear just the opposite thing tomorrow?

[EmilyAnne]

77. My parents were born into a "church family."

My grandfather actually built the church building where they attended.
My mother graduated from a rural Texas high school with 25 people in her class.
You don't have to understand these people, but I don't think they should be seen as "feeding the Republican hate machine."
With the amount of disinformation and lies that come from sites such as Townhall, many people don't have the time nor the intellectual capability to get on the internet and start searching for the truth.
If you spent any time with people who have been born into insular communities and then found a few who escaped, trust me, you would be impressed.


The people who have suddenly "seen the light" that piss me off are the those who have had actual power. The ones who were privy to information about WMD, had received high level warnings about our deregulated economy, the ones who presented bogus information to the american public, the ones who had the power to strike down bad legislation and create good policy.
My mom did not spend her life furthering the cause of Republicans unless voting is the only criteria. She doesn't have a radio program. She doesn't have followers. She is a housewife/ cleaning lady/ preacher's wife.


And obviously, if she really heard a voice in her head talking about the Townhall website, I would fly home and take her to a mental hospital. That "thank god" stuff is just the way religious people talk. I'm an atheist and I still say it from time to time.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

79. Aren't you a charmer?

So, in order for her to win a place in your good graces - a place I know I certainly don't want - she, who is in her early sixties, would have spend - how long? What exactly do you have in mind for her to do?

It would seem that living her life and trying to do things differently isn't enough for you.

You know, there's a phrase used very often with people like you. I'll be polite and omit the middle word, but the first one is "Go" and the third one is "yourself," a concept I suspect someone as rigid and authoritarian as you finds very comforting much of the time.

[skepticscott]

105. Self-restraint and politeness don't become you

Why not just have the courage to tell me to go fuck myself, and be done with it? If that's what your righteous anger needs to feed on, have at it.

But lest your hyperventilating blinds you to what's really important here, I have no problem with people who have become more enlightened and more civilized, and who have turned away from fundamentalist Christian bigotry and right wing hate-mongering. I think that's just great. But let's not pretend that there isn't a lot more to be ashamed than proud of in this sort of situation. Let's not hold people up for adulation and say "look, they used to be hateful bigots, but now they're not..aren't they wonderful??" If you want to put people up on pedestals, why not start with the ones who have never sided with the forces of hate and bigotry, and who have spent their lives fighting those things, and let the people who spent years bashing and hating gays, blacks, Jews, liberals or whatever go quietly and unceremoniously about the business of trying to repair some of the harm they've done.

And btw...as tempting as it is for you to presume that you know all about me after reading two of my posts, you just simply don't. The phrase "people like you" is utterly beyond your capacity.

[Eryemil]

89. That they've had a change of heart at all is practically miraculous

For the most part people rarely change, specially once the get older.
Cultures do not progress because of changed minds, the older generations simply die of and their ideas are in turn replaced by new ones.

Here you have a daughter that probably never thought she'd get the chance to really connect with her parents and you denigrate that.
That, more than anything else is what bothers me. Yes, we all have a social duty but there are other things that matter.

So please, sit on your fist and spin.

[zipplewrath]

37. We've actually seen alot of this

The GOP wanted to pay lip service to the religious right. And they have for a few decades. But in the last few years, they've run up against the problem that ultimately these folks couldn't avoid the disconnect between the reality of the GOP and the rhetoric. Terri Schiavo, Katrina, Iraq, "faith based" initiatives that never went anywhere, not to mention the long string of self righteous morons that get caught chasing kids, or soliciting sex in bathrooms. Add on to the top that many Christians see their relationship with the earth and the environment as "caring for God's gifts" and you get a huge disconnect between the GOP reality and what these people truly believe.

The GOP is on the ropes right now, mostly out of their own mistakes. But I think it might be a mistake to look to "put your foot on their neck". Ultimately, the people you will put your foot on are people like this woman. People who have gone along with the GOP because they at least HEARD what they wanted to hear, even if it never really materialized. I think the one thing that Barack has proposed that might have some value is this "change in Washington" approach. He speaks of it in his book. "We are not as different as our politics suggest". Don't confront as much as engage. We don't have to agree as much as we need to establish that we see the same problems as other people, and just often see different solutions.

Clinton's and the DLC all saw this in the form of "triangulation". The took the attitude that you needed to adopt the points of view of your adversaries in order to co-opt their issues and "peel off" some of their base. I think they were only half right and that Barack is much closer to the truth. If you'll merely agree with others on what the problems are, they are less wedded to various specific solutions than they are merely to wanting the "problem" corrected. Don't tell someone there's nothing wrong with teenage pregnancy, agree that it is a problem and that we need to "do something" about it. They're much more willing to "tolerate" your solution if you'll agree with them that it IS a problem.

It is the disconnect many of us on the left often saw, that we couldn't communicate to the folks on the right. Dole was the guy running on "family values" but it was the Clintons that stayed married and were committed to raising their kid. Dole was the guy that got a memo from his daughter because she never saw him. The GOP was the party of greed, but some how they were more "virtuous" than democrats, even though greed was one of the 7 deadly sins. Caring for each other is suppose to be a christian value but the left allowed the concept of "caring for the least of our brothers" to be portrayed as "coddling" or "socialism". "Tough love" is fine until it just becomes being mean.

We "allowed" ourselves to be portrayed as "their enemy" and in fact allowed ourselves to think of them as "our enemy". Barack is suggesting we don't do that, and to a very great extent I think he is right, and this letter from your mother is a good example. Many of these people don't think they know all the answers, they're just tired of being told they don't understand the problems. They "know what they know" and telling them that these things aren't problems is a losing strategy. Agree that we'd like to reduce capricious abortions. Agree that we are sexualizing our children too young. Agree that crime is bad, that addiction is bad, that sloth and greed, and selfishness are bad. When we agree, we can than also agree that maybe there is more than one solution and that just demonizing everyone isn't a solution to anything.

[Mad_Dem_X]

38. God bless her! Your father, too!

I was fortunate enough to be raised by two staunch Democrats; it's always heartening to see other people, regardless of age, wake up and reject the hatred and hypocrisy of the right!

[zanne]

39. I'm a set-in-my-ways 56 year-old woman...

And I greatly admire your mother. I don't know if I could ever have the courage to look inside myself and question my beliefs the way your mother did. You have incredible parents; you realize that, right? The way they managed to objectively look at political issues they believed in all their lives would be akin to me becoming an Evangelist Christian! Kudos to your mom and dad.

[T Wolf]

40. Luckily, my father has always been a "Massachusetts liberal" so I did not have to

suffer as you have.

I commend you for sticking with them through the bad times. I do not think I would have been as strong.

Every time I am about to give up on this country, something comes along to rekindle that spark of hope that was born (for me) in the 1960s. Thank you.

But my in-laws - they are even worse than you describe - substitute Stormfront for Townhall and you almost reach their level of insanity. They have told me personally that I do not "belong in their" country. I was tempted to send your post to my wife to possibly "share with" her parents, but some things are better left undisturbed.

I will just have to take comfort in your story.

And send best wishes to your folks. They, and you, have earned them.

[southernyankeebelle]

41. IT GOES TO SHOW YOU THAT WE ARE NEVER TO OLD TO LEARN. AM A LIFE LONG LIBERAL AT 61 AND I WONDERED

WHAT HAPPENED TO GOOD THINKING CHRISTIANS LIKE YOU. MY GOD IS A CARING GOD WHEN IT COMES TO THE LEAST OF HIS PEOPLE. GLAD TO SEE YOU FOUND THE LIGHT.

[uponit7771]

42. This is my fear:"...you will share the blame for whipping them into a frenzy-you and your ilk .."

People will be putting a face on anything that happens to Obama, it wont be nice

[footinmouth]

43. This warms my heart

Congratulations to your parents for finally seeing it like it is. Maybe there is hope for my family.

[DangerousRhythm]

44. This is a wonderful letter and I applaud your mom!

It may have taken a while, but she got there. :)

[Bette Noir]

45. Huzzah! Score one for the victorious libs!

[CrispyQ]

46. Bless your dear mother!

I'm so glad her perspective has changed! It must be wonderful for you & your family. :hug: My mother remained a staunch, fearful republican until the end. It was stressful on our relationship.

BTW, with a little editing, this would make a fine LTTE! :thumbsup:

[lizziegrace]

47. This made my day

Your parents give me hope that a few fundamentalist members of my family might come around. Hey, it could happen! ;)

[Odin2005]

48. WOOT! Your mom sounds like my Baptist coworker.

He's socially conservative evangelical who voted for Obama because he is completely disgusted with the GOP. He's coming to be a Jim Wallis-type guy, socially quite conservative but quite progressive on economic issues. Rush's "I hope Obama fails" made him go almost apoplectic. He takes his faith seriously, unlike many Puke morans; His night job consists of caring for severely disabled adults and he frequently donates his time any money even though he's not that well off. He also makes sure his (adopted) 11yo son learns to be a caring, compassionate, and generous person.

Proof that the "it's no use trying to convince them, they are all EVIL!!!" rhetoric spewed b/c of Rick Warren is complete BS.

[SacredCow]

49. As juvenile as it may sound....

Your Mom is wicked-awesome!!!

:hug:

[47of74]

50. Depending on the email service

If she continues to get emails from these clowns or any other reich wing clowns that ignore her requests to be removed from their email lists, you could help her set up filters so that these go to a spam folder or are bounced altogether.

[Hepburn]

51. From the child of two RW Republicans....

...thank gawd yours awakened. Mine both died believing the RW bullshit.

[NorCalDem]

53. If there was one good thing Bush did...

it was bringing the nasty part of the Republican party (which had been there since well before the 1970's, dixiecrats anyone?) and bring them out into the open for the whole citizenry to see.

As they say, sunlight is the best disinfectant.

[Javaman]

54. did it work? or did the mail bot just send here another one? nt

[EmilyAnne]

104. I just posted this down thread, but since she sent this letter, she has received two emails from

these idiots.

Apparently, her attempt to unsubscribe has been going on since the primaries.
She has sent three versions of this particular letter to no avail.

I told her to keep records to prove that she is sending them through their "unsubscribe" feature. I thought it would be automatic.

[noiretextatique]

55. congratulations!

it must be a wonderful experience for you to see this transformation in your parents. tell your mom and dad it took a lot of courage to make the transformation they did, and i am totally awed by them. i mean it too...it's so easy to stay stuck, but it takes a big person to face the truth (or the lies they've been fed) and make the change...not just talk about it.
very inspiring :toast:

[windoe]

56. Wonderful letter!

How beautiful, waking up actually involves opening our hearts to all life. A fear based reality closes the heart, and causes all kinds of social ills we have just been a witness to. Thank you for sharing, this gives so much hope.

[Egnever]

57. Thanks for this

There is hope for these folks after all.

[Martin Eden]

58. BIG K&R for your Mom!!!

That letter was awesome, and it warms my heart to know that some people can be awakened.:bounce:

on edit:
I bet you had something to do with it :applause:

[tpsbmam]

60. Just a huge K&R -- awesome! n/t

[xxqqqzme]

61. Your mom sounds like mine.

However mine is still firmly rooted (and I think actually enjoys wallowing) in the hate, fear and bigotry of the extreme rong. What caused the swing? if you know.

[rvablue]

62. How do you think this awakening happened?

If you grew up with them as your parents, I assume at some point you experienced your own conversion?

What led to that?

Was it your influene on them that helped them see the light?

Did they experience something personally that turned them off the GOP message.

I'm very curious to hear the details of this.

[FlyingSquirrel]

64. My grandma wasn't quite as bad, but she had never voted Democratic

till this past election. There are many, many people who are finally waking up and seeing the TRUE light. Glad to hear your parents are among them.

:thumbsup:

[LiberalLovinLug]

65. Thankyou for sharing that heartwarming story

I grew up in a fundamentalist right wing conservative household. It was just a given that good christian folk always voted right wing. I even voted the same way for my first ever vote as I was still politically naive and indoctrinated by my dads beliefs at the time. One of the main reasons my parents and their families voted this way was because their parents escaped communist Russia, where Christians were persecuted. And since they equated 'socialism' with 'communism', and conservatism was the opposite of socialism, and as well the right seemed to play up the god angle and the war on Christianity by the 'left', they always voted right. My dad has passed on, hopefully to that heaven he believed in with all his heart, but never came around to my arguments about how it was actually more Christian to support left of center parties. My mom continues to vote for the right, not because she is very political at all, but because that is what she feels is her duty to do for her deceased husband.

I think it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks so to speak, so I commend your parents for such a massive change at their age.

[JuniperLea]

66. She gets it!

Bravo to MOM!!!

I've been battling this same battle with my aunt, who is in a church that preaches so much hate it's disgusting. You and your mom have given me great hope, and great material! Thanks!

Rec'd!

[iamthebandfanman]

67. if Gods up there

hes finally smiling.

[tigereye]

68. wow! That's really cool.

Good for her! :thumbsup: Now is we can get more of the other folks to see reason....

[crim son]

69. Wow. That gave me a thrill.

Go, Mom!

[pam4water]

70. So what are the chance they will really stop sending her the news letter? n/t

[CatWoman]

71. give your mom a big hug and kiss for me

:hug:

:)

[roguevalley]

72. your parents are my heroes. hug them for me and tell them a

gal in alaska is proud of them.

[Uncle Joe]

74. Thank you for sharing, EmilyAnne

I wish you and your family well.:)

[sweetpotato]

75. I *heart* your mom.

She and your dad are pretty smart - its hard to change your mind about things. Its hard to admit that one is wrong.

You should be very proud of your parents, and I'll bet they're proud of you, too.

[JoePhilly]

76. Let them know that we not only welcome them .... but that ...

we welcome the ideas they will bring with them.

I suspect that they will continue to hold on to some Republican policies. Maybe fiscal conservatism to some degree. Maybe other things.

That's ok. This party has a big tent ... and while we might debate details, we won't ever question their love for this country.

[FloridaJudy]

82. Wow!

:applause:

I'm not a Christian, but I think Jesus would be proud of your parents. Please tell them that, and give them a hug from me.

[Nite Owl]

84. What beautiful words to hear

It must make you so happy and it is just wonderful that your father and uncle are at peace with each other. Love wins out! Not only is this a political awakening but spiritual also.

[southerncrone]

87. Good for your Mom.

:applause:

[Dollface]

90. And it is said that her heart grew 10 times that day...

[MasonJar]

91. Yea! Here's to true and unblemished Christianity, which, by the way,

mirrors the beliefs of all the world's great religions. The Beatitudes form the basis for the truth. They are the words of Christ, not the ramblings of Limbaugh and Warren and their ilk. Listen up, world, before it is too late.

[hileeopnyn8d]

92. Thanks for sharing that

it was nice to see.

My parents were always Democrats, my Dad was an officer in the machinists union and my Mom actually volunteered with ACORN in the 70s. But I know that for my mom, in the last decade or two she's had to struggle between what her church (Catholic) tells her, and what her own moral conscience tells her. She went with her conscience. She got so pissed off by her priest spouting off nasty and untrue things about Obama, she walked out in the middle of his sermon.

I'm glad you have the opportunity to now enjoy talking to your parents about politics. My Mom is almost 80, and we've had the best conversations in the last 8 years, it's funny how much alike we are in our views.

[burning rain]

93. Great to see people can make progress at any age.

One odd thing about Town Hall -- up until about 2004-5 they had a live chat site. No more. Did they dump that because too many frothy types were coming in posting stuff that embarrassed them?

[NikolaC]

94. Your Mom Is Awesome!

:applause:

[Grateful for Hope]

95. Your Mother

Is one amazing woman!

[Bozvotros]

96. Similar situation here

Both my parents, 88 and 80 years young, born-again Christians and life long Republicans proudly voted for Barack Obama last November. Gradually over the last height years they became convinced that there was more to politics than phoney right-to-life rhetoric that never fit with anything else the Republicans championed. They realized they were being played and with the help of frequently forwarded links, quiet talks and watching and listening to Obama they became convinced that he represented their faith much more closely than their old party and especially Bush. My mother proudly showed me emails she sent to family and friends who were frantic at losing their membership in their shrinking club. My mother was able to firmly debunk the lies and myths they were trying to spread and encouraged them to watch, listen and think for themselves.

On another front, my neighbor, who is covered in tatoos, had three McCain/Palin signs in his yard and has a pair of huge black plastic testicles hanging from the rear of his huge honking black truck, also seems to be coming around. He said that he thinks Obama inherited a far bigger stinking hellhole of an economic report than we will ever know and that he believes that he is doing the best he can. He even talked about us doing some neighborhood organization, including a community garden and tool depot to get us through the hard times he is sure are coming and for which he largely blames Bush and company. He said almost blushing "I know that sounds communistic, but..."

Times are changing......

[EmilyAnne]

103. Your neighbor has bumper nuts!

I saw a pair of those on a truck the other day and had to take a picture with my phone to send it to friends!
These nuts were "flesh" color like silly putty or Barbie skin. I haven't seen those in years and years.

"I know that sounds communistic, but.." That's hilarious. Are you going to do the garden and tool depot? That sounds like a great idea and a great way to get to know your neighbors. In uncertain times, it'll be good to have a community that can look out for each other.

[yodermon]

97. Well *I* think your mom's cool for saying "Gross to the max"!!

:P
Very cool post.

[JamesDean]

99. real Christians

Name calling, personal attacks, Not very good examples of real Christians, all the way around.

[EmilyAnne]

102. So you've never read the bible?

[JamesDean]

106. Any Point?

Were you trying to make a clever point? I'm sorry, but we were threading modern day liberal Christians versus the old timey religion, not biblical history. Maybe you were attempting a strawman argument, if so context and substance are missing. Would I need to read a bible to recognise name calling and personal allacks as Christian or non-Christian? Actually very little of the bible deals with Christians, since they didn't exist until Jesus's death. I was remarking that name calling and personal attacks, intolerance were the just of your issue... how could they be resolved by a letter filled with more of the same? Maybe it's just who is calling the names. I can appreciate anyone learning a lesson. The point of diversity is acceptance of diversity. Not just a changing of the guard.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

100. Will you please tell your mom I said that she's a beautiful person? Thank you. nt

[EmilyAnne]

101. I just got off the phone with my mom and since sending this letter, Townhall has sent 2 emails.

She said that she has sent a version of this letter to them three times and still the letters come.
I asked her what the letters were about and she said that she hasn't read them or even opened them since back in the primaries, but that the subject lines mention birth certificates, socialism and something about the United Nations taking away parental rights.

She has sent the last three letters through their unsubscribe feature, but before that, they didn't even have the unsubscribe feature that most websites have. She had to send requests to be taken off for through their email address.

I wonder how long this will go on and if it constitutes harassment?

[and-justice-for-all]

107. I hope this is a trend...

:fistbump: