How would you respond to people who believe the Republicans are evil/racist/incompetent/wrong on every other issue?

[RCIAGraduateAlt2]

Please forgive me for this question is pure indulgence.

How would you respond to people who believe Republicans are racists/more racist/less sensitive/caring/empathetic on racial issues [they do seem to have a race issue [obviously there’s reasons, why minority communities don’t vote GOP and consigning them as people who want “free stuff” or brainwashed seems to explain attitudes] like their side defending Confederate Symbols when the country appears to be moving on race, All Lives/Blue Lives seems dismissive not just to the movement of BLM but the idea/concept of black lives not my argument so I’m poorly articulating especially cause I want a retort], wrong/incompetent on most issues and well, their side seems horrible. They seem like a repulsive bunch who aren’t good at governing.

How would you respond to someone who can build an argument that Conservatives and Republicans seem weak at the holistic message [yes, there’s charity but pragmatically, their ideals don’t have the best results especially for poor and working class people] like immigration and poverty and being the kinder, more compassionate folks [yeah I care about image and how the side looks].

Now this is vanity but Republicans seem like bad guys, perhaps hard hearted pharisees [shallow, hypocritical, uncaring and judgemental Christians, wrong side of history and don’t seem honorable. Could a person balance out my perspective here?

 

[BT3241]

Everything in today’s world is looked at in the extreme all republicans believe the same thing and all democrats believe the same things which simply is not true there are many views within each party. When speaking about the opposite party now its always done in the extreme no matter what you are paint the opposition as darkly as possible - this change has come over the last 10 years people can see it no other way. People want to destroy those who have different ideas then their own. Families are split its getting uglier and uglier.

 

[stpurl]

Well I’m sorry but ‘You can’t argue with stupid’.

I would no more try to ‘justify Republicans’ to somebody with such an ignorant and cliched attitude than I would try to smear Democrats by the usual ‘bleeding hearts, intolerant, morally depraved/baby killer’ rhetoric that supposedly is hurled at them.

People are people. Doesn’t matter what their ‘politics’ are. Doesn’t even matter if they are ignorant, or not, regarding those policies and other policies. You aren’t going to change minds with talk. Prejudices are engrained pretty deeply especially after this election.

I don’t even bother engaging with such talk anymore. Change the subject. If you’re a Catholic Democrat then work for the areas in your party that need to come more in line with Catholic teachings. If you’re a Catholic Republican then work for the areas in your party that need to come more in line with Catholic teaching.

Stop virtue shaming others and stop ‘reacting’ when others try to virtue shame YOU.

 

[MPat]

Could a person balance out my perspective here?

Well, let’s see…

How would you respond to people who believe Republicans are racists/more racist/less sensitive/caring/empathetic on racial issues

wrong/incompetent on most issues and well, their side seems horrible

They seem like a repulsive bunch who aren’t good at governing.

and being the kinder, more compassionate folks [yeah I care about image and how the side looks].

In all those statements you refer to some feelings.

But moral decisions are meant to be made using “cold” reason, while feelings are only to be used in such a capacity when there is no time for reason to work things out.

So, in order for reason to have something to work with, go and read “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church).

For example, it says: “The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to certain forms of centralization, bureaucratization, and welfare assistance and to the unjustified and excessive presence of the State in public mechanisms. ‘By intervening directly and depriving society of its responsibility, the Social Assistance State leads to a loss of human energies and an inordinate increase of public agencies, which are dominated more by bureaucratic ways of thinking than by concern for serving their clients, and which are accompanied by an enormous increase in spending’[400]. An absent or insufficient recognition of private initiative — in economic matters also — and the failure to recognize its public function, contribute to the undermining of the principle of subsidiarity, as monopolies do as well.”.

So, Church does not have this attitude:

yes, there’s charity but pragmatically, their ideals don’t have the best results especially for poor and working class people

Not to mention that, for all this “pragmatically”, you do not offer any actual evidence to support this view…

 

[RCIAGraduateAlt2]

Doesn’t subsidarity warrant higher level help when needed and what if the local authorities won’t or can’t get the job done? Like a lot of poor communities are simply overwhelmed with a poor tax base?

 

[Shakuhachi]

It comes down to how we view the world and judge morality. Specific issues would need to be looked at in depth from both conservative and liberal perspectives. But no one has the time and interest to do that and maybe learn something to change their views.

Then there are people like me who see valid points from both perspectives and have a hard time making decisions or having an opinion.

 

[CoffeeFanatic]

People who actually believe this are brainwashed with propaganda. It’s pure ignorance.

 

[adamhovey1988]

why minority communities don’t vote GOP

Yeah, I’m not sure about the numbers this year, but in 2016, American Indian majority counties overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump, so not sure how true that is.

their side defending Confederate Symbols

Have you seen the Marxist ones in Seattle?

Now this is vanity but Republicans seem like bad guys, perhaps hard hearted pharisees [shallow, hypocritical, uncaring and judgemental Christians, wrong side of history and don’t seem honorable. Could a person balance out my perspective here?

All of that is rich, coming from the party that supported Indian Removal, Segregation, and Slavery. They’re still obsessed with racism, it’s not hard to figure out why. Spoiler, it’s not Conservatives and Libertarians that are racists.

 

[twf]

As a Catholic you aren’t obliged to defend the Republican Party… just an FYI. I know sometimes on this forum is comes across as “faithful Catholic = 100% devoted loyalist to Trump”, but that’s not actually the Church’s position…

On many social issues, Catholics are generally considered “conservative”, but what’s conservative in one country may be liberal in another, and vice versa. Take Poland… far more “conservative” than the US on issues like abortion or gay marriage…but their conservative, traditional values government still enforced strict Covid measures including masks…something considered “liberal” in the US.
Or take my Archbishop here in Vancouver, Canada. He supports the TLM, he supports reception on the tongue, he supports chant and Latin, we kneel at the altar rail even during the OF Mass at his cathedral, etc… all “traditional” values…he loudly condemned euthanasia when that became a political issue here… but the way he talks about social Justice, or dealing with the pandemic, would have him labelled a “liberal” by many on this forum, because it doesn’t conform with Republican talking points.

Liberal vs conservative is an arbitrary dichotomy that takes different shapes country by country. You will rarely find a political party, in the US or otherwise, that conforms completely with Catholic magisterial teachings.

If I were in the US, I couldn’t vote Democrat because of the all important abortion issue. …but that doesn’t mean I would feel obliged to defend the Republicans…whatever that means.

 

[Shakuhachi]

“faithful Catholic = 100% devoted loyalist to Trump”

It is hard to imagine such a thought but we d indeed find it here.

 

[signit]

On the topic of race, this is how you could respond:

Which candidate (Trump or Biden):

• received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, recognizing "patriotism, tolerance, brotherhood and diversity”?
• while he was in office, saw black unemployment reach a record low?
• signed a criminal reform bill, which helped end mass incarceration for nonviolent offenses for many black Americans?

Now, which candidate:

• called young black men “predators”?
• commented that “unlike the African American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community”?
• opposed desegregation in the 1970s and said that he didn’t want his children growing up in a “racial jungle”?
• called President Obama “the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy”?

 

[po18guy]

Well, you are speaking of 99% of the media and each and every cookie-cutter progressive. It is a developmental immaturity. Adults stuck in the terrible twos.

The cure…well…

 

[signit]

How would you respond to someone who can build an argument that Conservatives and Republicans seem weak at the holistic message [yes, there’s charity but pragmatically, their ideals don’t have the best results especially for poor and working class people] like immigration and poverty and being the kinder, more compassionate folks [yeah I care about image and how the side looks].

While we’re at it:

On immigration, poor and working class folks probably have the most at stake. They’re the people more likely to compete for jobs with illegal aliens; they’re the people who live in communities with illegal alien crime.

They’re also the people helped by the Trump tax cuts (which Biden and the Democrats want to repeal). More money in their pockets to feed their families. While the Democrats said these tax cuts were just “crumbs.”

 

[upant]

Could a person balance out my perspective here?

What has the Democratic welfare state achieved? A breakdown of the family unit and a lifelong reliance on the government

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

Mostly I just quietly turn away

 

[EricF]

Is this in-person or online? Online what I tend to see are the extremes. Both sides tend to be pretty rabid about their views online. In person, most people are more measured in their approach.

 

[JimG]

What has the Democratic welfare state achieved? A breakdown of the family unit and a lifelong reliance on the government

Yes, it seems to me that the government war on poverty (LBJ) has only made poverty permanent and destroyed families in the process.

 

[AnaCarolina7]

You know skin color is getting old.

 

[PennyinCanada]

Maybe it would be a different angle to ask that person how they would treat a Republican, Trump supporting voter next door.

Would he be a good neighbour? Would he shovel the walk or cut the grass if the guy had a broken leg? If the neighbour went away for a week, would he keep an eye out on the property?

I think that’s a more productive conversation than arguing the items in your post which will likely be a big waste of time.

 

[Shakuhachi]

My sister is a Republican and Trump fanatic. She is not evil but she is racist. That is part of why she likes him. She also has a similar personality.