Quelling the Dogmatic and Familial Opposition

[squarethecircle]

Does anyone here know of any effective strategies for dealing with family members who hold largely Christian fundamentalist viewpoints? I'm finding it increasingly difficult to coexist with people who, while I care about, are less than appreciative of my Anarchist and Atheistic Pagan leanings.

[Broletariat]

Effective strategy is not to bring politics/religion up, ever.

[Kamos]

Well, buy some Aspirin. Their sayings are gonna give you a real headache. Other than that, there is no foolproof way in the present moment to convince those people.

[squarethecircle]

Alas, silence will not suffice any longer. Especially, since they have started to call my positions into question. My step-mother openly scoffed at me when I called myself an Anarchist. It's amazing how logic just fails on these people. As soon as I take a coherent stance in discussion, they become inflamed and emotional. :confused: My father seems to have the light-bulb go off, but stays relatively quiet - I get the feeling that he is afraid of stepping on his wife's toes...

[Revolutionair]

I'm not an expert on this issue at all. But here's my 2 cents.

Everyone wants to be as free as possible. Just tell them that you believe that anarchism will lead to you being free. Be sure to ask something like: "do you think that I am able to think about the world and state it is in?" This forces them to acknowledge you as autonomous and will help them respect your thinking.