REAL AMERICA

1 SURE-FIRE WAY TO IMPROVE THE HOLIDAYS

Exclusive: Patrice Lewis has 2-word exhortation for 'progressive militant activists'

Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and all the days in between are often dreaded. Why? 

Because it’s the time of year relatives gather to share meals and enjoy each other’s company. 

This isn’t always a good thing.

Some fortunate families get along splendidly. Some families have the proverbial Eccentric Uncle Ralph, whose excessive belching or constant bad jokes are annoying but bearable. But some families do nothing but bicker and fight when they get together, often thanks to one “toxic” participant.

Psychology Today gives a list of troublesome “emotionally unstable personality” types (those who insult, argue, belittle, etc.) and offers advice on how to defuse the situation during holiday get-togethers. But now we have a new type of “toxic” personality that afflicts many formerly close families: The militant activist. Handling Cousin Jeremy the Hardcore Vegan is not something most psychological papers have addressed as of yet.

In fact, it’s the opposite. 

When I typed “Handling political activist relatives during holidays” into a search engine while writing this column, I didn’t find methods to defuse Cousin Jeremy the Hardcore Vegan. Instead I found a long list of ways to handle conservative relatives. Clearly, it’s never Cousin Jeremy needling everyone eating turkey who’s the problem; it’s always Aunt Martha the Trump Supporter whose opinions are causing discord.

“Ever since the Obama administration introduced ‘Pajama Boy’ to the world, the ambiguously male coffee-sipping millennial who was used as a delivery device for progressive propaganda on health care,” notes Townhall columnist Derek Hunter, “these [advice] columns have been attempting to ruin holiday gatherings and validate leftists who simply can’t leave people alone.”

Consider this whiny liberal column entitled “How to have a conversation with your angry [conservative] uncle over the holidays“: “Many of us aren’t accustomed to socializing with people who think differently from us, especially about politics. Our political attitudes and beliefs are intertwined with our most basic human needs – needs for safety, belonging, identity, self-esteem and purpose – and when they’re threatened, we’re biologically wired to respond as if we’re in physical peril. 

So how can you talk with people who disagree with you without setting off this fight-or-flight response?”

So today I’d like to offer a simple one-step answer to help militant activists get along with their “angry conservative uncles” over the holidays. Ready?

SHUT UP.

No really, that’s all it takes. Whether you’re the host or the guest, your job is not to create misery and tears among the people around you. Your job is to be courteous.

Not all progressives need this advice, of course. We all have liberals in our families, and most of them are cherished individuals who are perfectly capable of behaving like civilized adults. They can hold pleasant conversations while avoiding politics; and if that forbidden topic is raised, they can actually converse without taking anything personally or feeling like they’re in “fight or flight” mode.

But the militant activists are a different breed. 

Sadly, many have “political attitudes and beliefs” which are “so intertwined” with their “basic human needs” that shutting up isn’t an option. 

They’re spoiling for a fight and can’t let a little thing like a meal with loved ones get in the way of their political agenda (especially if it involves thanking a Deity for their blessings). 

Their only purpose in life is to agitate and ruin get-togethers in an effort to convert others to their belief system.

Then – and this would be funny if it weren’t so true – when the family gathering dissolves into arguments and tears, they can lament their victimhood because they come from such a “dysfunctional” family.

Progressive militant activists believe every time and place is suitable for a confrontation. “You’re morally obligated to call out your racist relatives at Thanksgiving,” snarls an opinion piece by Amy McCarthy, who scoffs at the idea of being “nice to your racist, Trump-supporting relatives at the Thanksgiving table. … 

Being progressive doesn’t just mean clicking ‘like’ on left-leaning Facebook statuses. It requires a commitment to pursuing justice, even when it’s your weird uncle, even when it’s uncomfortable, and especially when there are other people in the room who you care about. … 

It’s highly unlikely that anything said across the dinner table is going to cause some kind of epiphany in the average bigoted person’s mind, but that’s not the ultimate goal of speaking out. … 

I’ve learned that ‘no politics at the dinner table’ really just means ‘keep your mouth shut and don’t upset your grandmama.’ But if you’re so disgusted by what you see in the news, you can’t just sit there and pretend that the people in your family didn’t play some role in getting to where we are today.”

Talking about spoiling for a fight! Well, let me tell you, Ms. Militant Activist: You DON’T have a “moral obligation” to ruin a family gathering just to push your agenda. You have NO “moral obligation” to make Grandma cry because you won’t zip your lip. 

Got that? NONE. So shut up.

If you can’t shut up – if your sole purpose for joining family members is to harangue everyone else and make Grandma cry – if you rub your hands with glee at the thought of ruining a cherished get-together where people are trying to celebrate a Holy birth and see distant family members – if you’re so socially clueless that you’ll actually bring up your particular agenda du jour and shove it in everyone’s faces – then you’re an evil little twit and have no place at family dinners. 

Stay home.

You want to see a real-life example of what happens when a progressive militant activist won’t shut up? Watch the charming young man in the video below (warning: graphic language):

Of course, it goes both ways, to the politically left and right alike. There’s a reason religion and politics are traditionally topics to avoid during family get-togethers. 

They’re divisive, not uniting.

It’s a crying shame when families can’t assemble without airing differences, but that’s reality. I know I’d rather celebrate the holidays in peaceful solitude than gather amid acrimony.

But then, I’m not an activist either.

Read more at https://www.wnd.com/2018/11/1-sure-fire-way-to-improve-the-holidays/#BueojZEx2G3DmB0o.99