I have three daughters. Two are Democrats. I have been voting as a Democrat since the 2016 election because I could not in good conscience vote for trump. My middle daughter; however, is a trump Republican. We are fine if neither of us brings up politics. Once in awhile it does happen, and we end up screaming at each other over the telephone and hanging up on each other. She lives in Alabama and my other two daughters and I live in Virginia. I do not know what it will take for her to see trump for what he is.
Oh, and all four of us believe in God. We are Christians. I do wonder how Christians support trump though. There is so much hate with him.
It's always so interesting to me when family members can vary in their ideologies so profoundly. I'm fortunate that most of my immediate family, and even extended, feels pretty similarly to me politically. My girlfriend has a twin who's a Trump supporter, despite her being arguably even more left leaning than I am. But you'd be glad to hear that her twin has recently been showing signs of turning! It definitely feels like these past few weeks have been a turning point for a lot of people.
It's always great to see when people can draw such helpful takeaways from their religions. That so many people cite Christianity as a reason for their support for Trump never fails to baffle me.
Bro, you are inspirational in fighting the good fight, and I respect you for it. I'm more along your line, although in a much more private sense. My sister is a trumpista, not surprising given her commitment to Evangelical Christianity, and while I didn't communicate with her for a while after the election, I have resumed and am trying to love her through the nightmare. We avoid politics because she will not discuss it. My husband takes an opposite approach, which makes me sad for some reasons, but I support him because he can't act otherwise. If someone is a known trumpista, he will cut them from his life if they are family or friends, or if it's a public person, he will cancel them and not read their books or watch their movies. But to one of your points, we spoke to a Haitian woman shortly after the dogs and cats remarks, and we were GOBSMACKED to hear her say that she and her husband were voting for Drumpf. OMG. We didn't know what to say to that.
It's always perplexing how so many of the most embattled minorities are among his biggest supporters. The immigrant community's continued support for him just stumps me.
I definitely understand how your husband feels! For my trans friends especially, I don't fault them one bit for needing to remove Trump supporters from their life. In some ways it really is a luxury to not feel that dire of a need to myself. Having a Trump supporter as a sibling I imagine is a really tricky tightrope walk. I'm also fortunate to have a family full of pretty far-left progressives. I'm not sure if there's a single Trump supporter in even my extended family, truthfully. Our family get togethers can be a little circular when we broach politics as a result, but it's a small problem to have.
Thanks so much for reading and for the kind words, Rayna!
Another excellent piece. Time for me to widen my heart when I am so afraid of what’s happening. Your words always help me take a deep breath and begin again.
It's an issue I go back and forth on quite a bit. I try to reason with them, and very occasionally, we can cover a bit of ground. But it's not the most common.
Ben, I have read several studies that show that ultra conservative and right wing religious people have different brains than those who are more open minded. When they are presented with information that contradicts their narrative, the blood to their brain slows down and it is washed in chemical chemicals that are not present under normal circumstances. They literally cannot hear you. It’s truly a waste of time to engage in any kind of dialogue with them. People who voted for Trump because they didn’t think they had other options might be a different story, as long as they are not hard right MAGA.
I applaud your optimism and I had it once several years ago; now, I am not too sure. I worked for a wonderful, kind, knowledgeable doctor who was all in for trump during his first term. We’d have lively discussions about this or that. He truly believed that faux news was the most unbiased source of news. My brother has become full MAGA, though we came from the same womb. He cannot be reasoned with faced with any facts. People who support trump cannot even admit there is any validity to facts. They are beyond logic. It’s all what-about-isms unless it supports their narrative. There is no reasonable debate with them. It has become cultish. Yes, there are many who leave cults with much deprogramming. But, in this case, there are so many and they are constantly bombarded with the conspiracy theories, misinformation and disinformation and it’s blatantly normalized. I hope with everything that we can get through this period.
I have three daughters. Two are Democrats. I have been voting as a Democrat since the 2016 election because I could not in good conscience vote for trump. My middle daughter; however, is a trump Republican. We are fine if neither of us brings up politics. Once in awhile it does happen, and we end up screaming at each other over the telephone and hanging up on each other. She lives in Alabama and my other two daughters and I live in Virginia. I do not know what it will take for her to see trump for what he is.
Oh, and all four of us believe in God. We are Christians. I do wonder how Christians support trump though. There is so much hate with him.
It's always so interesting to me when family members can vary in their ideologies so profoundly. I'm fortunate that most of my immediate family, and even extended, feels pretty similarly to me politically. My girlfriend has a twin who's a Trump supporter, despite her being arguably even more left leaning than I am. But you'd be glad to hear that her twin has recently been showing signs of turning! It definitely feels like these past few weeks have been a turning point for a lot of people.
It's always great to see when people can draw such helpful takeaways from their religions. That so many people cite Christianity as a reason for their support for Trump never fails to baffle me.
Fortunately, my Alabama daughter does not justify her support of trump with her Christian faith. For her, it is business economics. 🤦🏻♀️
Probably means she's more reachable than the standard "Christian Trump supporter"! Really hope she can find her way out of that rabbit hole soon.
I sincerely hope so! I loathe trump and his entire administration. They are all, including trump, a bunch of losers to put it bluntly.
PS So yes, what you're doing is a heavy lift.
Bro, you are inspirational in fighting the good fight, and I respect you for it. I'm more along your line, although in a much more private sense. My sister is a trumpista, not surprising given her commitment to Evangelical Christianity, and while I didn't communicate with her for a while after the election, I have resumed and am trying to love her through the nightmare. We avoid politics because she will not discuss it. My husband takes an opposite approach, which makes me sad for some reasons, but I support him because he can't act otherwise. If someone is a known trumpista, he will cut them from his life if they are family or friends, or if it's a public person, he will cancel them and not read their books or watch their movies. But to one of your points, we spoke to a Haitian woman shortly after the dogs and cats remarks, and we were GOBSMACKED to hear her say that she and her husband were voting for Drumpf. OMG. We didn't know what to say to that.
It's always perplexing how so many of the most embattled minorities are among his biggest supporters. The immigrant community's continued support for him just stumps me.
I definitely understand how your husband feels! For my trans friends especially, I don't fault them one bit for needing to remove Trump supporters from their life. In some ways it really is a luxury to not feel that dire of a need to myself. Having a Trump supporter as a sibling I imagine is a really tricky tightrope walk. I'm also fortunate to have a family full of pretty far-left progressives. I'm not sure if there's a single Trump supporter in even my extended family, truthfully. Our family get togethers can be a little circular when we broach politics as a result, but it's a small problem to have.
Thanks so much for reading and for the kind words, Rayna!
Ben,
love this piece you've written. You so thoughtfully expressed the frustration I have,
and the thin slice of hope that remains, that there will ɓe an event that wakes them up, like a sudden arousal from sleep.
Thanks for this.
Honored to hear that, Linda! So thrilled I could offer that. Thanks so much for reading!
Another excellent piece. Time for me to widen my heart when I am so afraid of what’s happening. Your words always help me take a deep breath and begin again.
Thanks so much, Lisa!! That really means a lot. It's such a delight to be able to offer that.
There’s no reasoning with people. They have to figure out for themselves that they’re lost.
It's an issue I go back and forth on quite a bit. I try to reason with them, and very occasionally, we can cover a bit of ground. But it's not the most common.
Thanks so much for reading, Andrei.
Ben, I have read several studies that show that ultra conservative and right wing religious people have different brains than those who are more open minded. When they are presented with information that contradicts their narrative, the blood to their brain slows down and it is washed in chemical chemicals that are not present under normal circumstances. They literally cannot hear you. It’s truly a waste of time to engage in any kind of dialogue with them. People who voted for Trump because they didn’t think they had other options might be a different story, as long as they are not hard right MAGA.
I applaud your optimism and I had it once several years ago; now, I am not too sure. I worked for a wonderful, kind, knowledgeable doctor who was all in for trump during his first term. We’d have lively discussions about this or that. He truly believed that faux news was the most unbiased source of news. My brother has become full MAGA, though we came from the same womb. He cannot be reasoned with faced with any facts. People who support trump cannot even admit there is any validity to facts. They are beyond logic. It’s all what-about-isms unless it supports their narrative. There is no reasonable debate with them. It has become cultish. Yes, there are many who leave cults with much deprogramming. But, in this case, there are so many and they are constantly bombarded with the conspiracy theories, misinformation and disinformation and it’s blatantly normalized. I hope with everything that we can get through this period.