• Sabata@ani.social
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    8 days ago

    Got to hang out with the hard-r racist uncle, my ‘pretends she a smart bible reader that hasn’t fallen for 4 different(in name) pyramid scams’ military sister, and my mentally disabled but violently aggressive brother that may have figured out that the cops will go easy on him every time.

    These people wonder why I dread family gatherings and can’t function socially.

    • bradd@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      Be yourself, accept your family into your heart, and try to help them.

      Show your racist uncle that whatever he dislikes about other races is also true for the supposed superior race, and that the things that make certain races seem inferior could be explained in other ways, like cultural issues (like racism).

      Help your sister find passages in the Bible that speak to pyramid schemes, scams, gullibility, and remind her that her focus should not be on whatver these schemes are but on her Jesus and her salvation, and thank her for her service.

      As much as you may hate dealing with people like this, I kinda think it’s the only way to help people. You have to build relationships with people that you dont agree with, search for good values in people and try to salvage them, pull them out of their tail spin.

      My very imperfect father, whom I love and respect, has been a Trump supporter for a very long time and so any time a conversation can turn political, it does, and we all have to hear about the Democrat boogiemans and Trump the savior. As soon as it turns that way, even if I agree with his points or whatver, I just “oh shit here we go again” and what happens is, everyone in the room starts laughing because we all feel the same way. After a few of these I think he gets it, and I’ll talk with him about his ideas around Democrats and Trump, but in a curious way, and I’ll agree where we agree, and I’ll challenge him where I disagree. Sometimes we have to agree to disagree, I learn more about his perspective and we carry on.

      Everyone on Earth is flawed and all we have is each other. I am so thankful for the people in my life that invested in me and I want to do the same for others.

      Thank you for reading my TED talk.

      • Sabata@ani.social
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        7 days ago

        I’m happy if the day ends with no violence or screaming where we pretend to be normal, and that’s not expected. It depends on if my brother is agitated that day and what shit that kicks off. I’m dipping the first elevated voice.