Family and Politics

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shannyk

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Lord help me…

Am I this only one who lives amongst family sharply divided along political lines?

Presidential elections are PAINFUL in my family, and just serve to highlight the deep moral, philosophical, and religious differences we all have.

It’s usually bad, but this election tops all.

My brother won’t talk to my mom because she’s voting one way and he the other. And he’s an Iraq was vet, so he’s convinced he’s beyond reproach in this matter. There is no reasoning or even talking to him rationally about it. At my son’s birthday party he started calling my mother racist for not liking his candidate…and my mother is the least racist person I’ve ever encountered.:rolleyes: He won’t talk to me either for the same reason.

One of my sisters is giving mom and I the cold shoulder because we’re on the opposing party’s ‘side’.

My dad even went so far as to bring my DD home from his house early, because she spoke up about the issues she has with his favorite candidate, and he was not happy.😦 That really got me angry.

Then, a certain sign outside on my front lawn mysteriously disappeared…It’s getting really ugly.

Then, we have Thanksgiving soon after the elections, which is normally hosted at my house but with all the ugliness, I don’t even feel like being hostess this year. We’ll see what happens.

So, does anyone else have family nastiness due to this election or politics in general? Or is my family uniquely wacky…
 
When I was in the second grade my teacher taught us that the right to vote was the secular analog to going to confession. The right to vote one’s conscience in privacy was sacred and central to our Constitution. My teacher specifically taught us that we should not even pressure members of our own family to tell us how they were voting, the privilege was so important and personal.

I believe this to this day.
 
Nope… we did in 2000 because I, regrettably, decided to cross-vote in the hope that the candidate might actually help the Pro-Life movement as he stated. The fiscal policies of my party had helped to decrease the number of abortions during the 90s and I felt like a couple of more judges might do the trick to reverse RvW - silly me. Not only did that not happen once he was elected but actually the reverse has happened and abortions are starting to rise.

We discuss the issues and all add information we have gathered but my entire extended family and I are in complete agreement this election on how best to promote our values.

Joe
 
shannyk said:
So, does anyone else have family nastiness due to this election or politics in general?
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I am sure this happens in a lot of families. My conservative relatives have ceased email communication with my liberal relatives. The devil wants division, but only Truth can unite.
 
We have one consistent dissenter in our family. My personal thought is that it isn’t really a holiday until someone leaves crying. We once had a Christmas day argument about the Clinton health care plan. That’s just how it is in our family. When we were kids, our family regularly discussed politics at the dinner table and we still do. No one thinks anything of it, and the dissenter is just the person who likes to disagree on everything anyway.
 
DH and I don’t even discuss candidates let alone parties. He doesn’t tell me who he votes for and I sometimes tell him and sometimes don’t. I don’t discuss my vote with anyone else either.
 
shannyk
My situation is not a hostile as yours BUT yesterday I was pretty overwhelmed with the constant onslaight from my son and daughter in law. This is the FIRST election where I will break party lines. Traditionally, our family has NEVER discussed our votes or politics. I have two sisters who have never shared their political positions with me, although this year it has come up a few times. I really didn’t need to discuss it with them as I have gathered, over the years, where they stand. But it’s my son and his wife that are causing me the most grief. Amazingly, liberals like to think of themselves as so tolerant. Yet, since I returned to the Church and my entire moral persepctive has shifted, they can’t refrain from picking at me about every little thing.

We dine together once a week and invariably they arrive at my door loaded for bear. Examples:
“Did you know S. Palin made women pay for their own rape kits?”
“Did you know S. Palin’s daughter got pregnanat out of wedlock?”
“Did you know S. Palin shot wolves from a helicopter and ENJOYED it???”

My daughter in law is OBSESSED with S. Palin.

We have a measure on our ballot in Washington State to legalize assisted suicide. The kids, at our last meal together, listed all the reasons why people should be allowed to have a doctor assist them with suicide. No wonder I have heartburn and acid reflux every Thursday night!

So yes, I feel your pain. But I am also very grateful, after reading your post, that we don’t let our political differences interfere with our relationship. I am grateful that we can disagree without getting nasty.

Pray for your family members. I’ve been plowing through three rosaries a day for mine!😉
 
jwashu said:
Nope… we did in 2000 because I, regrettably, decided to cross-vote in the hope that the candidate might actually help the Pro-Life movement as he stated. The fiscal policies of my party had helped to decrease the number of abortions during the 90s and I felt like a couple of more judges might do the trick to reverse RvW - silly me. Not only did that not happen once he was elected but actually the reverse has happened and abortions are starting to rise.

We discuss the issues and all add information we have gathered but my entire extended family and I are in complete agreement this election on how best to promote our values.

Joe
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National Right To Life published an article a few months ago listing 30 pro-life laws that President Bush has been personally responsible for helping to pass. They call him one of the best friends that the pro-life movement has had in the White House.

Hope this isn’t a violation of the CAF rules, but I think it’s important that our current President be given credit for all the good he has done for the unborn and their parents.
 
kage_ar said:
You might want to pray the Novena for Faithful Citizenship.

www.faithfulcitizenship.org
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Good idea thanks:) 👍 It can only help.
DH and I don’t even discuss candidates let alone parties. He doesn’t tell me who he votes for and I sometimes tell him and sometimes don’t. I don’t discuss my vote with anyone else either.
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This is the kind of think I think would be appropriate in my family, and really, I haven’t discussed my vote at all, I’ve just been barraged with WHO ARE YOU VOTING FOR!!! in the tone of , I have a right to know. And when I say I’m not discussing it, I get a barrage of nastiness thrown at me. After the last time it happened here in my home, I said there is a moratorium on political discussion here henceforth. I’ve gotten the silent treatment ever since:rolleyes:
Amazingly, liberals like to think of themselves as so tolerant.
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Don’t get me started…

:mad:
We have a measure on our ballot in Washington State to legalize assisted suicide. The kids, at our last meal together, listed all the reasons why people should be allowed to have a doctor assist them with suicide. No wonder I have heartburn and acid reflux every Thursday night!
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Oh dear…blessed that would be too much for me to bear, especially if i was hosting the meal, I don’t think they’d be having dessert. I feel for you.
National Right To Life published an article a few months ago listing 30 pro-life laws that President Bush has been personally responsible for helping to pass. They call him one of the best friends that the pro-life movement has had in the White House.
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Hope this isn’t a violation of the CAF rules, but I think it’s important that our current President be given credit for all the good he has done for the unborn and their parents.
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Cat how true. Give credit where it is due. Tough there are things I might not agree with GW on, he certainly does deserve credit in the life department.👍

Praying…yes we must. Everytime this election even crosses my mind, I say a Hail Mary to myself. :signofcross: :gopray2: :crossrc:
 
We are lucky I have 8 brothers and sisters and all of them plus their spouses are pro-life Republicans. My son, daughter and daughter in law are too. We may disagree on some things, but politics is not one of them.

My dear departed grandfather hated FDR with a pure white hot hate and voted for him in every election. Why? He was a Democrat. When he found out my grandmother had voted for Eisenhower he didn’t speak to her for a week. Of course if my dear grandfather saw the course the Dems are following, he wouldn’t vote for them now. He was a man who loved his church and his family and the Dems support for abortion would have horrified him.
 
Angels_Unaware said:
When I was in the second grade my teacher taught us that the right to vote was the secular analog to going to confession. The right to vote one’s conscience in privacy was sacred and central to our Constitution. My teacher specifically taught us that we should not even pressure members of our own family to tell us how they were voting, the privilege was so important and personal.

I believe this to this day.
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Me too.

My dad and I debate politics a lot but we do it for fun and it never gets ugly. My mom and I can’t see eye to eye on the abortion debate (I’m pro-life, she’s pro-choice in cases of rape and incest) and it turns emotional so we don’t discuss it but we agree to disagree.

I am moderate-to-liberal and pro-life. I am tolerant of people’s political views and how they exercise the right to vote. I don’t care, as long as they VOTE. If they don’t, they shouldn’t complain. I recognize that no candidate will be 100% perfect on the issues and I vote for the one I believe can bring about the most (good) change. I also pray for our politicians. They could use them. It’s a hard job and very stressful.
 
Cat said:
National Right To Life published an article a few months ago listing 30 pro-life laws that President Bush has been personally responsible for helping to pass. They call him one of the best friends that the pro-life movement has had in the White House.

Hope this isn’t a violation of the CAF rules, but I think it’s important that our current President be given credit for all the good he has done for the unborn and their parents.
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Wow, that’s cool, when I get a chance I want to see if I can find info on that. I feel sorry for Bush, its seems like people think he is the root anything bad that happens to anyone.
 
I have a very close Uncle who is not religious and is completely enamored with a certain pro-choice candidate. He tries to discuss things but we all just ignore him because he has already had 2 heart attacks and gets very worked up. During the primaries I told him I didn’t care who won the Democratic nomination because as a Catholic I have to vote pro-life…so…he already knows how I’m voting. I’ll be happy when the election is over.
 
Yeah, this election is really annoying. Almost everyone I know is voting for Obama and I really don’t feel like making any more enemies when everyone is so staunch about their candidate. But it’s the same when it comes to Catholicism and morals, I hardly know anyone who adheres to those values nowadays.

You wouldn’t know I was related to most of my relatives (outside of my immediate family) based on my traditional values, ha. They used to call me “the priest”. :crossrc:

Well, that’s modern culture for ya.

Reminds me of what Pope Benedict XVI’s cousin said about his family, “Nobody else in the family wanted to visit them because they were so religious”.

Anyway, I don’t know what they see in Obama, he’s just like Gore and Kerry…except the propaganda and commercials his supporters put out is too much and borderline hypnotic. It doesn’t help that the media is so biased.
 
Yeah, this election is really annoying. Almost everyone I know is voting for Obama and I really don’t feel like making any more enemies when everyone is so staunch about their candidate. But it’s the same when it comes to Catholicism and morals, I hardly know anyone who adheres to those values nowadays.
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I can totally relate. I’m pretty sure I’m thought of as the religious ‘nut’ of the family, well, me and my mother, whom almost everyone has just written off completely. As for friends…for get it. I don’t even think they know or care about any of the issues, they just go with the flow, and we all know which way the flow is going…😦
 
Hey, Shanny–we must be cousins–your family sounds a lot like mine!

My attitude: If you wave a red flag in front of a bull, it’s going to charge. ANSWER: don’t wave the red flag if you don’t want to get gored. It simply isn’t worth it.

If your family can’t handle discussing politics with those who have a different opinion/values–find some like-minded folks and skip the discussion with family/friends with different world views. You are not responsible for people being unable to control their hostility, but if you keep running into the same brick wall you might want to consider another pasttime–you certainly aren’t changing any minds…
 
Island_Oak said:
Hey, Shanny–we must be cousins–your family sounds a lot like mine!

My attitude: If you wave a red flag in front of a bull, it’s going to charge. ANSWER: don’t wave the red flag if you don’t want to get gored. It simply isn’t worth it.

If your family can’t handle discussing politics with those who have a different opinion/values–find some like-minded folks and skip the discussion with family/friends with different world views. You are not responsible for people being unable to control their hostility, but if you keep running into the same brick wall you might want to consider another pasttime–you certainly aren’t changing any minds…
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I don’t think shanny is waving ANY red flag to her family or anyone for that matter. It sounds like her family is conducting their own little inquisition on how people should vote. My prayers are with you shanny as I don’t think I could be patient as you are without shaming the hell out of them for this.
 
Shanny, I’m right there with you! Oh boy…elections are never a fun time for my family, but esp. this one.

My parents and siblings thankfully are all on the same page as DH and myself. It’s the rest that aren’t. My grandpa would be rolling over in his grave right now if he knew how some of his grandchildren and children are planning to vote this election. Hopefully, he’s praying for them extra hard in heaven!

I have a cousin who is working for one candidate’s campaign and she wrote some really nasty things to my brother in regards to his stance - mainly personal attacks on our family. Her dad also called mine up (they’re brothers and have never agreed politically) and asked him WHY he would want to vote for who he is planning to vote for and then tried to convince him otherwise.

Then, we have DH’s family who couldn’t care less and I think it’s almost just as bad because we are electing a leader and they do have a lot to do with our freedom and such - and esp. those we’re electing into Congress and such.
 
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