I was going to start a new thread, but decided that what I was considering might fit in with this older thread. One thing I'm pretty sure of is that we don't change minds by attacking each other. Sadly, social media allows us to do too much of that, imo.
Some of you might have heard of the Black guy who convinced a very large number of former members of the KKK to leave the Klan and start seeing Black people in a positive way. I guess if KKK members can be persuaded to leave the Klan, perhaps we can convince right wing extremists to consider some of their positions are harmful to them and to others.
it's common to feel that a right win conservative or a racist isn't going to listen to a bleeding heart liberal. I get that, but I'm linking an interview where Davis explains how he's convinced so many Klan members into leaving the Klan.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/26/opinion/racism-politics-daryl-davis.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
I think other posters should be able to read the entire article, but I'll post some quotes from it just in case.
Davis claims to have persuaded some 200 white supremacists to leave the Klan and other extremist groups. It’s impossible to confirm that number, but his work has been well documented for decades in articles, videos, books and a TED Talk. He also has a podcast called “Changing Minds With Daryl Davis.”
“Daryl saved my life,” said Scott Shepherd, a former grand dragon of the K.K.K. “Daryl extended his hand and actually just extended his heart, too, and we became brothers.” Shepherd ended up leaving the Klan and gave his robes to Davis.
Davis’s approach seems out of step with modern sensibilities. Today the more common impulse is to decry from a distance.
Anyway, since Davis has been so successful in gently convincing Klan members to leave the Klan and give him their old Klan paraphernalia, maybe the best or only way of convincing those with extreme/hateful ideologies to consider change, is by listening to them, and then giving them some positive reasons to change.
I've never tried this, and I only have one friend who is a Fox News addict, who voted for Trump. We've just never discussed politics or religion. I don't think she wants to. Has anyone here tried the methods that Davis has used to try and convince a friend or family member that they are going in the wrong direction? Did it work? Would you feel comfortable doing what Davis did? I think the only way to heal division is to listen to the other person and avoid judging that person harshly. I'm not claiming this always works, but it must be better than yelling in their faces or telling them they are nuts etc.
If the following quote is true, maybe there is hope.
“Daryl Davis demonstrates that talking face-to-face with your ideological opponents can motivate them to rethink their views,” said Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. “He’s an extraordinary example of what psychologists have repeatedly shown with evidence: In over 500 studies, interacting face-to-face with an out-group reduced prejudice 94 percent of the time.
So, who wants to try and convince MTG that she needs to rethink her ideology?
Would it be possible for AOC and MTG to ever compromise while they serve time in Congress? Okay. I'm kidding about that one, but if Davis could convince many Klan leaders to give up the Klan, maybe anything is possible when people sit down and try to understand each other, that is assuming the person isn't suffering from a mental illness or brain disorder like I prefer to call it.