Nosy Contentious People

[Christphr]

What do you do when you encounter persons who expect you to express opinions about politics, society, or anything, when you have no interest in doing so? A contentious person who will be upset no mater what you say or if you stay silent. They often seek to provoke you to reveal your beliefs or faith practices and then they engage in innuendos and other impolite speech. One’s belief and faith practices are often a source of curiosity and contempt by such persons.

 

[Edward_H]

Ask your Guardian Angel for help.
Ask his or her Guardian Angel for help.
Then smile, and mortify yourself by not saying anything at all, letting the pressure build, but don’t break it yourself. Then invite them for a coffee or a beer or a hamburger.

“let’s get a coffee and catch up on your children/last vacation/what you’re reading/that new car” smiling, mortifying yourself, offering the pain to God.

 

[fredystairs]

Of course, if you can stay away from those people as much as possible.

Then if it is something that you really do not want to talk about, then ask, why do you need to know? This might not work in every instance, but it has been known to stop inquiries.

And like Edward_H said, pray!! Especially pray for guidance and peace.

Blessings

 

[Rozellelily]

Personally I engage in active listening.
Showing the person that I am interested and open minded regarding what they think and might perhaps ask them what caused them to form that viewpoint,what experiences they have had in the past etc.
It’s also good to agree with them with certain viewpoints that you both agree on as finding some common ground can often help dissolve if there’s any tension.

For example,if the discussion was politics and immigration and the person expressed strong views,and I didn’t agree,I would probably try to listen intently and then say something affirmative and empathetic like “I share your concerns regarding the safety and security of people in our country”.

If the subject was religion and they were very anti religious then perhaps I would say something like “it’s really great to be able to discuss subjects about spiritual stuff with you as often it’s not talked about” (referring to in general society).

It’s also helpful to have a solid foundation of why you believe or think what you believe in or think about something so you can give them a well formed answer and also to practice a lot of patience and compassion.

https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/active-listening.html

 

[daverod]

tell them what your interests are… If someone asked me about a topic I had no interest in, I might tell that person, sorry, I was never interested enough about that topic to have any opinions or beliefs formed about that topic. Sorry.

It’s not a crime to not be interested in any given topic. Not everybody likes hearing about Medical practices over morning coffee…