OT: Does knowing someone's political standing change your view on them?

Knox in Box said:
Middle pickups? Harp players?
Solicitors?

Where do we draw the line?

;-)
Click to expand...

I have no problem with middle pickups.

I own a harmonica.

As long as I'm not sleeping, I'll not be too rude when the guy with a freezer full of meat in the back of his pickup knocks on my door.

Does anybody else get the freezer full of meat guy, or is it a WV thing?
 
Religion never directly factors in. I'm not particularly religious, but I generally respect any individual's faith...until it starts clouding their view of the rights of others to think, feel, speak, and believe as they wish.

Politics can be harder because more folks seem to want to convert me. Religious folks have never pressured me, but when it comes to politics I've met too many people that can't have a rational conversation if you don't completely agree with them about whatever they think is the most important thing (usually ANYTHING they believe). So if I can't have a differing opinion without you losing your shit, then we're not going to interact.

That said, this only becomes an issue once we starting actually talking about beliefs (political, religious, or otherwise). Often I'll avoid getting too deep with folks to avoid this possibility, especially when and if I find out our POVs are significantly different.
 
Reading through the responses, I guess I am much more hardcore about this than the rest of the group.

There are businesses I will not patronize and products I won't buy for political reasons. Some of them are notably high-profile but others would probably seem subtle. It's my choice of where I spend my money.

Of course, if those companies would just focus on providing good products and services instead of tying themselves to political issues, I would use them. I loathe "buy from us and support this cause" marketing. That's just a pet peeve of mine.

And, yes, there are a few businesses on which I actively wish failure because I think they do great harm.

On an individual level, I just avoid people who annoy me as much as I can.
 
Prages said:
I have no problem with middle pickups.

I own a harmonica.

As long as I'm not sleeping, I'll not be too rude when the guy with a freezer full of meat in the back of his pickup knocks on my door.

Does anybody else get the freezer full of meat guy, or is it a WV thing?
Click to expand...
Funny some lady from back home in western PA just complained about that. Maybe he runs the whole tri state area.
 
USian Pie said:
Reading through the responses, I guess I am much more hardcore about this than the rest of the group.

There are businesses I will not patronize and products I won't buy for political reasons. Some of them are notably high-profile but others would probably seem subtle. It's my choice of where I spend my money.

Of course, if those companies would just focus on providing good products and services instead of tying themselves to political issues, I would use them. I loathe "buy from us and support this cause" marketing. That's just a pet peeve of mine.

And, yes, there are a few businesses on which I actively wish failure because I think they do great harm.

On an individual level, I just avoid people who annoy me as much as I can.
Click to expand...

I'm trying to not violate the political discussion rules at MWGL forums. There are plenty of businesses that I never or no longer patronize due to the beliefs of owners/management as well as their impact on the community and how they treat their employees. There are a small group of artists that I enjoyed at one point whose work I will no longer listen to or support.

Avoiding annoying people is what stops me from causing harm to myself and others.
 
Dogsinotpalc said:
I'm trying to not violate the political discussion rules at MWGL forums. There are plenty of businesses that I never or no longer patronize due to the beliefs of owners/management as well as their impact on the community and how they treat their employees. There are a small group of artists that I enjoyed at one point whose work I will no longer listen to or support.

Avoiding annoying people is what stops me from causing harm to myself and others.
Click to expand...

Hypothetical: If those businesses or artists didn't publicize their positions, would you patronize them?

For me, the answer is yes.

I don't want to help anyone promote causes I think are harmful but, unless somebody makes it known, I don't have time to find out.
 
99.9% of my core beliefs align with one political party. The .01% that I don't agree with, is a huge deal breaker. It's so important to me to not support either party that, I don't vote. So I don't like pretty much anybody that expresses their political views.
 
Mark Wein said:
No. It's how they behave around me that matters. I could care less about someones politics if they are a decent person.
Click to expand...
This is it exactly, it takes all sorts. Me and my wife had Christian wedding last year and we had vegans, straight edge, drunks, fucks, bible thumpers, bush bumpers, pagans, muslims, catholics , transgender, bipolar, satanists, polygamists, Beatles people, Elvis people, pro-choice, pro-life, pro-death, a banjo player, gun nuts, closet cases glitter sneezers, Right wing nuts , left wing nuts, coco butts, straights, menthol and unfiltered types and it was glorious.
You know, you were there
 
Rand: Hey, poor boy! Go and have all your parties with all your new friends! I can see it now, Andrews. You and all the knee-jerk, bleeding-heart liberals, sipping tea and playing patty-cake. And those useless hippie pot-heads, those commie-pinko leftists. The bunny huggers, the pillow biters...

Droz: Whoa! Whoa! Which ones are the pillow biters again?

Rand: The BUTT-PIRATES! And those beastly man-haters, tell those chicks to shave their pits then call me! And those goddamn whiny crybaby minorities, you can keep them all!
 
Prages said:
Rand: Hey, poor boy! Go and have all your parties with all your new friends! I can see it now, Andrews. You and all the knee-jerk, bleeding-heart liberals, sipping tea and playing patty-cake. And those useless hippie pot-heads, those commie-pinko leftists. The bunny huggers, the pillow biters...

Droz: Whoa! Whoa! Which ones are the pillow biters again?

Rand: The BUTT-PIRATES! And those beastly man-haters, tell those chicks to shave their pits then call me! And those goddamn whiny crybaby minorities, you can keep them all!
Click to expand...

You're gonna wear the t-shirt of the band you're gonna go see? Don't be that guy.
 
Prages said:
As long as I'm not sleeping, I'll not be too rude when the guy with a freezer full of meat in the back of his pickup knocks on my door.

Does anybody else get the freezer full of meat guy, or is it a WV thing?
Click to expand...

We have them out here as well. Being in an apartment where they cannot get to your front door does have its advantages.
 
I'm kind of torn on the meat guy.

On the one hand, it's a couple of dirty guys in a pickup truck with a freezer full of questionable meat.

On the other hand, we have several neighbors who actually have cows and when they go to market, they will often bring us by some meat just because they are out of room in their freezer.

I've never bought meat from the meat guy, though. :embarrassed:
 
It can color my opinion of them, but in a lot of cases I let it slide.

Religion is a private matter that has no place in policy. Your religion in no way trumps or dictates the law. ever.

So, businesses or officials who cite religious beliefs as a rationale for denying services to anyone are IMHO full of shit and deserve to be publicly called out and shunned. Maybe a different line of work is in order.

Individuals that simply cannot keep from spouting their political or religious views get on my IRL ignore list.

But the fact that I know that forum member X holds views contrary to mine on a matter holds no water in other discussions. They have a right to their beliefs, as do I. As long as we do not tangent into disputed territory, I look at them no different than anyone else.
 
IamSeaDevil said:
This is it exactly, it takes all sorts. Me and my wife had Christian wedding last year and we had vegans, straight edge, drunks, fucks, bible thumpers, bush bumpers, pagans, muslims, catholics , transgender, bipolar, satanists, polygamists, Beatles people, Elvis people, pro-choice, pro-life, pro-death, a banjo player, gun nuts, closet cases glitter sneezers, Right wing nuts , left wing nuts, coco butts, straights, menthol and unfiltered types and it was glorious.
You know, you were there
Click to expand...

I want to party with you!
 
I have a lot of FB friends on both sides of the political aisle. I make no bones about where I stand on things. I have been "unfriended" for some of those political issues, but the way I see it is if someone can't accept your differences in opinion on political matters they weren't your friend to begin with. A certain pickup winder called me an asshole and jerk before editing his statements and unfriending me three years ago. Since then I have neither given him any business nor any endorsement of his products. His loss.
 
You know what, as long as you accept Cthulhu as your #1 deity and believe in the saving grace of non-Euclidian angles, you're OK in my book. The rest of you can kick rocks. :embarrassed:
 
335clone said:
It can color my opinion of them, but in a lot of cases I let it slide.

Religion is a private matter that has no place in policy. Your religion in no way trumps or dictates the law. ever.

So, businesses or officials who cite religious beliefs as a rationale for denying services to anyone are IMHO full of shit and deserve to be publicly called out and shunned. Maybe a different line of work is in order.

Individuals that simply cannot keep from spouting their political or religious views get on my IRL ignore list.

But the fact that I know that forum member X holds views contrary to mine on a matter holds no water in other discussions. They have a right to their beliefs, as do I. As long as we do not tangent into disputed territory, I look at them no different than anyone else.
Click to expand...

I think this is it, really.

The question was "Would knowing" affect your perception? It seems that most say "No. It wouldn't"
The underlying tone of the question is "Would being an asshole about it" affect your perception? The answer appears to be a resounding, "Yes!"

It reminds me of that meme about religion being like a penis. It's fine that you have one, but wave it my face and we're going to have a problem.
For me, the same applies to politics, views on someone else's lifestyle, etc.
'Opinion' could replace 'penis' in this context. If I want it, I'll ask for it. Wait.... That's not what I meant.

Unless and until there is some adverse affect directly related to me or someone I love, I don't care about what you believe in. Have at it and enjoy life. Let me do the same.
But if you crank up the volume and get obnoxious about what you believe in, I'll be uncomfortable and I will probably avoid you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top