I could use some advice.
This evening I received an email from a member of my extended family (actually, two of them). The person who sent the email is well on the right of the political spectrum, which I've known for a long time. I occasionally receive emails from this person espousing the many virtues of George W. Bush or lambasting various Democrats or encouraging readers to support the war in Iraq wholeheartedly, etc., etc. I sometimes skim through those emails, maybe laugh a little to myself, and delete them, but usually I just skip straight to deleting them.
This particular email encouraged me to visit this website, which is highly recommended by some guy who just happens to be good friends of a guy who used to be a US ambassador to various countries in Africa, and who therefore has his finger squarely on the pulse of the world, or something.
Ignoring my usual inclination to mostly ignore the contents of these emails, I decided to see what this reputedly awesome web site was all about. Well, as you may have already discovered, it's basically spewing hatred. I mean, at first when I saw it I kinda chuckled at the rampant patriotic theme, but quickly my amusement turned to disgust as I actually read the text. I can't stand crap like this.
You know, I'm a Christian, and I believe completely and absolutely that I have been saved by the grace of God through Christ's death and resurrection. I also know that in the Bible we are called to make disciples of all nations. I believe that Christianity is the one true faith.
However, one thing I simply cannot tolerate is intolerance (sorry--that statement has always kinda cracked me up, so I had to throw it in here). In all seriousness, that kind of intolerance and blind hatred really, really upsets me. And then it's being thrown at me by my own family, whom I love dearly.
So how do I respond? Do I respond at all? Obviously they're entitled to their opinion, however much I may disagree with it. I feel a very strong urge to reply to everyone who received the email and state that I don't agree with the message on the web site and ask that they not send those kinds of messages to me in the future. At the same time, though, I don't like conflict, especially among family. I've seen too many families split over arguments or differing political views or something else like that, and I certainly don't want that to happen. What do I do? This bothers me in many ways on many levels, and I just don't know what to do about it.
This particular email encouraged me to visit this website, which is highly recommended by some guy who just happens to be good friends of a guy who used to be a US ambassador to various countries in Africa, and who therefore has his finger squarely on the pulse of the world, or something.
Ignoring my usual inclination to mostly ignore the contents of these emails, I decided to see what this reputedly awesome web site was all about. Well, as you may have already discovered, it's basically spewing hatred. I mean, at first when I saw it I kinda chuckled at the rampant patriotic theme, but quickly my amusement turned to disgust as I actually read the text. I can't stand crap like this.
You know, I'm a Christian, and I believe completely and absolutely that I have been saved by the grace of God through Christ's death and resurrection. I also know that in the Bible we are called to make disciples of all nations. I believe that Christianity is the one true faith.
However, one thing I simply cannot tolerate is intolerance (sorry--that statement has always kinda cracked me up, so I had to throw it in here). In all seriousness, that kind of intolerance and blind hatred really, really upsets me. And then it's being thrown at me by my own family, whom I love dearly.
So how do I respond? Do I respond at all? Obviously they're entitled to their opinion, however much I may disagree with it. I feel a very strong urge to reply to everyone who received the email and state that I don't agree with the message on the web site and ask that they not send those kinds of messages to me in the future. At the same time, though, I don't like conflict, especially among family. I've seen too many families split over arguments or differing political views or something else like that, and I certainly don't want that to happen. What do I do? This bothers me in many ways on many levels, and I just don't know what to do about it.
posted by Matt at 4:54 PM
1 Comments:
There's an excellent quote from season three of The West Wing where the President's campaign advisor waxes eloquent about how he hates the fact that "liberal" has been associated with "weak" and that liberals seem trapped in that perception by their own beliefs. I tried to find it but I couldn't, so instead I've posted that lovely summary.
The point being, I'm not convinced that you should feel bad about challenging things that are wrong because people are entitled to their opinion. Especially in a case like this, where the other people obviously give the Everyone's Entitled To Their Opinion maxim very little weight.
On the other hand, I see where intrafamily conflict might be too steep a price to pay. Suppose you could engage your relatives in some sort of e-debate? Or you could look through the website for factual errors or logical fallacies and mock them.
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