All of this reminds me of a former liberal friend of mine. I say former because he simply could not handle discussing politics unless it was inside of an echo chamber. He is also a proud, card carrying atheist. His approach is that anyone who believes in a god is an irrational, unthinking simpleton. The whole idea of basing any part of your life on a belief is anathema to him. People who live their lives based on a belief are dangerous and have caused more pain and suffering in this world than anyone else and religion is the proof. To him, all religions are the same; dangerous. However, keep in mind that this same person proudly sported an “Obama 08? sticker on his bumper the moment they rolled off the press. This was way before anyone knew anything about Barack Obama other than that he was a hansom guy with a baritone voice who gave an awesome speech at the Democratic National Convention back in 2004. Oh, and that he was a black man. For people like my former liberal friend of whom I speak, that’s important. Shortly after Barack Obama swept into office on a glorious wave of Hope and Change, my wife asked our liberal friend on what basis he voted for our new President. His response was, “I think he’ll do a better job.”
“Based on what?”
“He says he wants to change things. We need change. Plus he’s smart.”
“But what has he done that indicates he’ll be able or have any inclination to do that? What is his voting record? What are his accomplishments that indicate how smart he is or that he’s qualified to run the highest office on the planet?”
At this point, our liberal friend started to become visibly agitated, he didn’t like where this was going. Perhaps he was aware of my wife’s ability to verbally bat someone about as if a cat toying with a mouse.
“I just believe he will,” he said.
“But he’s done nothing to indicate he’s even remotely qualified. Are you saying that you have faith in Barack Obama?”
“Yes, I have faith.”
At this point the cat–my wife–pounced. “So you’re basing your support of Barack Obama on faith, yet you continually chide those who live their lives based on faith in a higher power as dangerous, uneducated simpletons…”
From that point on, the friendship slowly began to degrade.
I love this, honestly, and it’s so true. When you’re the “quiet conservative” who “keeps their opinions to yourself” you’re doing just fine. When you dare express one, you’re to be beaten senseless verbally.
What people are really saying when they say “don’t discuss religion or politics” is “don’t discuss politics that we don’t want to hear and religion we don’t believe in.” Keep your politics and religion to yourself. Apparently politeness requires one to self-neuter.
Screw that.
And I say screw that because often the people who have these “rules” about politics and religion will be the first to bring it up and the conversation can go on for hours and hours, and it ends the moment you express your dissenting opinion. Then it’s not polite any more. It’s not the right discussion for that moment. It’s always something. It’s like when I go to my in-laws for the holidays. Invariably, even in the two years the Democrats controlled the entire government, I had to hear how Obama couldn’t succeed because the Republicans wouldn’t allow him. With a majority in the House, a fillibuster-proof majority in the Senate, and the White House, somehow the Obama agenda could get derailed. So one time I asked, “How does a party that essentially controls the government get blocked by one who doesn’t?”
No answer. I got “Because they don’t want him to succeed.”
Notice the answer. It wasn’t a how, it was a why. I asked again.
No answer.
Then, eventually, the conversation was shut down because it wasn’t polite. Fine.
Then it turned to Palin and the comment she didn’t make of “I can see Russia from my backyard!” That comment was, of course, made by Tina Fey, but attributed repeatedly to Palin. When I showed them the video of Fey saying it, I was told “she said something similar.” As soon as I asked for some proof, I got nothing. What do you think happened to that conversation?
Exactly.
If I’m going to say something that someone said, you can bet your ass I’ll have backup for it. I guess that makes me impolite.
I’m all about respecting the wishes of the owner of the home I’m in. It’s their castle, and they’re king. What I can’t take is that when conversations go on and on and on and any amount of idiocy is tolerated, encouraged, and participated in, and then a contrary opinion pops in and that’s the game-ender and the conversation must end at that point.
The idea that polite conversation eliminates the possibility of poltics or religion being discussed is laughable. What is often the case is that in the interest of being polite, the dissenter is usually shut down so as not to create a ruckus.