(6 of n): I wrote back to my uncle:

Four year old children are being abducted from their families for the misdemeanor crime of being with parents who crossed the border without documentation?

And that justifies destroying these families forever? Many of these children will never be reunited with their families.

Why are you defending this?

(7 of n): My uncle responded with:

"Please stop

What about all the aborted babies that you demonorats enthusiastically cheer to their death

Selective outrage over ILLEGALS

No outrage over babies RIPPED from a womb - give me a break

Please stop

I don't want to hear your pious ranting while demonorats support abortion

Im just going to delete any more from you until you denounce abortion"

(8 of n): The whole exchange with my uncle ended with my response:

I will be happy to discuss abortion (again) elsewhere.

We must put a sharper point on this:

The federal government has sentenced children to an entire lifetime without their parents...

...for a misdemeanor they didn’t commit.

If you want to block me and break off all contact with me, I can't and won't stop you.

Sorry to bother you, but this whole thing is awful beyond words.

Love,
-Eric

(9 of n): Sorry to repeat my uncle's vile responses here.

But this whole exchange made something crystal clear to me. We're in a "pre-genocidal" moment.

My uncle has been sufficiently brainwashed to accept any horror or level of violence that right wing media demands that he accepts.

What can we do about this?

@ekansa
I don't think there's much we can do accept keep protesting and start to accept they will come for the rest of us next. I had it with a friend who's against immigration, the next day I wasn't sure what to do or think. But we keep going, because if we compromise our values everything is lost.

@ekansa
Some people you reach out to will get the message and will have the courage. All you can do is keep reaching out with a modicum of respect. Even if they give you none. You are on the right side of history and the right side of humanity

@onepict

Yes. Agreed, and thank you.

@ekansa
NP we all need the encouragement to keep going and know we aren't completely wrong, or course that's all à matter of opinion. But I think having compassion for others is part of being a human being. Cooperation is what kick-started bits of civilisation.

@ekansa I have no answers but I have felt a marked reduction in my desire to see and talk to some in my family. So either agree to still meet and not talk about politics, or don't talk at all, or be prepared for some serious shouting that won't end well. I picked option 1.

@kensanata

Well yep. If "should we abduct children and cage them in for-profit concentration camps" becomes a wedge issue that disrupts family pleasantries, then any family gathering has reached a profound level of dysfunction.

I'd prefer to confront the problem head on. Otherwise what relation are you actually saving? That and kids will still end up in concentration camps.

@ekansa But think about this, magnified by a few million people. Where will it end? Civil war? And then what, after the war? People will still be there. But now finally we will learn to be quiet. The Nazis are still judges, the Slave Owners are still mayors, many Croats and Serbs are still alive, but so many are dead and some people will wonder: was this bloodshed really worth it?

@ekansa That's why I think we need to be careful. Go for the politicians. Go for the streets. Demonstrate, write, shout, but if you make it personal, confrontative, individual, what then: will you punch your family? Will somebody in the family pull a weapon if you keep escalating? So yeah, we can stop all contact with the other side, but that will also not heal any wounds. I keep wondering about that: how will we find our way back from the brink?

@kensanata

No. Punching family. Keep polite even if they scream insults at you. But don't back down.

@ekansa One way to find back from the brink is to keep in touch. Focus on the things we can share. Hiking. BBQ. Kids playing. Smalltalk. It's not much.

@kensanata yes, but still don't back down.

That said, an effective strategy may not be direct confrontation. Obliquely getting a point across with finesse may work the best.

@ekansa I agree with don't back down. But in this case you sent your uncle the email, first, right? When my dad sent me that email about muslims praying on the streets of New York and the police protecting them I wrote to him: don't ever send me any such emails again. And he didn't. And I still visit him. And we still go hiking. I think that was a good-enough outcome. It wasn't good. But it was better than breaking off all contact.

@kensanata

The Slave Owners may be mayors, but at least there are fewer slaves.

I'm not advocating hate, but I am advocating confrontation.

@ekansa I'm just not sure how much it helps. I don't think I ever managed to change anybody's mind using that tactic. Or any tactic, I fear. And if you're not going to change their mind, why bother as long as there are other options?

@kensanata

I'm all ears for improved approaches. I don't pretend to think I've figured it out. I need something that works for the long term.

@kensanata BTW: Gotta run now. Offline world is calling me...

@ekansa
I don't know. Short term: vote and volunteer. Long term: 1) people are hurting and will blame others for it. Fix that. 2) Reduce segregation. Integration is key.

The best I have for now.

@marshdrifter Yes. And march and demonstrate to make clear to at least some public officials (and people with guns) that human rights matter.

@ekansa
Also (and not sure if it will work): less logos and ethos in the arguments. More pathos. Make it personal.

@marshdrifter

We need more stories about people who have had their kids abducted, and from the kids themselves. Pictures matter too.