To be more specific, my parents raised my siblings and me to “respect” them, saying "yes sir, and “no ma’am” to everything they said. Spankings, all of that. Typical super conservative evangelical parents. Before I learned better, I was that way too. I went to college and since then have embraced the left more and more.
They’ll say things now and then that are really distasteful politically. Today I made an Instagram post about DeSantis lying about liberal states allowing post-birth abortions and I got several family members railing against me. I’m tired of staying quiet when this happens. I think that, because how my parents raised me, I’m afraid to speak my mind to older family members. Fuck that though.
Has anyone else had this experience? I wonder if therapy would help. I just don’t know how to explain it.
It’s a good question and you’ve gotten some good answers. I’m going to lock this as it is getting political and we don’t have the bandwidth to mod it well.
Smile and nod, baby! Just smile and nod and they’ll shut up soon!
One of my brothers is in an interracial gay marriage, my sister is in an interracial international gay marriage, and I married a trans woman. So they’re kind of running out of things they can bitch about in front of us.
You need to agree a safe word. That might then allow you to catch up with siblings
If the conversation turns to a point of view where it’s two brick walls then “penguin” or whatever word works.
I don’t argue anymore. You can’t logic them out of something they didn’t logic themselves into.
My father is too far gone and considered an “intellectual” man. My mom thinks she’s “not that smart” (cool, thanks da), but she’s become so much more open and accepting as she’s gotten older and has shifted a lot of her views to be more progressive. Maybe because she realizes that my father, despite being very intelligent, is also an absolute moron who wrecks all his relationships. They’re still together, though.
Therapy can help you cope with the situation, yeah.
My siblings are almost fully split on our views on religion and stuff.
Youngest to oldest: pastor, party girl, anxious wreck withdrawn from society, ex-military, brow-beaten family man, severe mental-illness-ridden mother, literal cult member, golden child/took over family business, ex-Rainbow gathering stereotype, and depressed IT guy who loves drugs, dogs, and the outdoors.
Things get better when you get far away from parents like this. Seriously.
Holy fucking shit your parents had TEN kids?
Religion is a hell of a drug.
Whoever downvotes this man, out of touch. We have almost 8 fucking billion people on this planet. Our resources are already stretching. We have enough kids already, 10 is just purely arrogant, and seriously do people not think about what sort of world their kids will grow up in?
