So I chatted with a beloved professional magat friend today

[lindysalsagal]

This is not a redemption story.

We work on a very blue state.

I admire and respect this person (ll keep switching between male and female pronouns)

This person avelanched a frumpian word salad of contradictory gop/fundie bumper-sticker slogans. She became increasingly incoherent and irrational as she attempted many of their common conceits.

I kept pretty quiet, but managed to label frump a gangster and god a phony. He persisted well after those.

I heard DU voices reminding me not to attempt aline-by line dismissal. I did ask him straight up, "then, why doesn't god kill the virus before it kills us?"

No direct answer except that we are just on deck for the afterlife and don't deserve his love....

It's a cult. And I think letting her fail at persuading me might have left some cracks in the thinning veneer.

Little by little
They have to hear voices of dissent.

[Girard442]

1. I've been a long time getting to this point of view, but I now believe the Trumpers...

...see exactly the same Trump we do.

This has not made me happy.

[Claustrum]

2. ask them this

If god is punishing the gays (as some pastor claimed), why didn't the virus happen when marriage equality is passed? Why would the virus happen when their chosen one, Trump, is in office then? Is god punishing electing Trump instead?

[procon]

3. Very confusing read.

What's the purpose of the mixed pronouns? The gist I walked away with was more a conflict over religious POV than politics? Sorry, but the whole screed is a head scratcher.

[renate]

6. isn't "they" pretty standard these days for people who don't want to be identified as either gender?

I read an article about Sting and Trudi Styler's kid in Vanity Fair the other day, and the pronoun used was "they." And that's what the nonbinary friends of my kids prefer. But those are my only reference points, so I don't really know.

[lindysalsagal]

8. I just didn't want to reveal this person's gender.

[procon]

9. Clueless why that matters in such a big country.

It would have been easier to read if you just assigned this person a nickname.

Have a good day.

[gibraltar72]

4. I just posted we do it one at a time. Believe me it has a toll on them. I don't ever expect them

to admit they were conned. I do think they will say he's changed. In my profession I learned people will even make excuses for being conned. It is just hard to say I was wrong. Ask Fonzie.

[Wounded Bear]

12. It is far easier to fool someone than to convince them they've been fooled...nt

[ibegurpard]

5. You lost me at beloved MAGAt friend

You do you but no way can i consider anyone whose moral compass allows them to support such an evil and amoral political philosophy as the current Republican party's either beloved or a friend.

[Girard442]

7. I'm ready if some Trump-supporting Evangelical accuses me of being intolerant of...

...their "Christian" views. I'll just pull out my membership card from the Satanic Temple and say, "Well, I guess we can disagree without being disagreeable."

[lindysalsagal]

11. This person is completely brainwashed and his/her entire life is built around the cult.

If he/she drops any of the charade, his/her entire life is meaningless. I was told it's the only thing holding the marriage together, and the 3 grown kids have been raised on it.

This is the only way to understand how otherwise good people can allow such fiendish behavior in their elected leaders.

I hope by listening to the rant and not validating it, this person will see the fault-lines. I could be the off-ramp for this person out of delusion because of our 20 year professional relationship. This person trusts me, all the while trying to maintain the lies.

So, I told this person that I care about him/her and our professional relationship matters to me. I hope that's a lifeline. I really do.

[cynatnite]

10. They will praise him even if they're upon their deathbeds because of him...

There are a few who might change their tunes, but not many.