Do you have relatives who send you right wing emails?

[skygazer]

I've only gotten them from a few people. Most of them, I have no trouble telling not to send them or even writing them off. But now and then, I get them from my dad and I don't want to write off my dad. We have never agreed politically and we've been through patches where we were not in contact (for things other than the political - we don't agree on a lot of things) but he's 78 years old and for the last several years, I've had a relationship of sorts with him. I don't want to end it over politics and feel guilty when he's dead that I did.

Yesterday, he sent me some canned email about Jane Fonda. I didn't even really read it - something about "a traitor being honored!!!!!" and a long bunch of capitalized crap. I wrote back, mildly asked him not to send me this stuff.

He writes back and tells me that "there are important things in our history that we need to be reminded of occasionally."

JANE FONDA?! Couldn't help it - had to reply -

I have far more important things to think about than whether or not someone wants to honor Jane Fonda. The leadership of this country is a disgrace. We have crooks and liars on an uparallelled scale inhabiting the White House, doing their best to drag this nation's honor and good name in the mud. THESE are the things that people need to be reminded of, along with the values that this country was founded on - values of freedom and a government OF the people, BY the people and FOR the people, not one in which those who question (quite rightly and legally) what their government is up to are told that they are unpatriotic and that they have no say in what goes on - ("I am the decider" he said the other day, "I get to decide what we do." Like a little kid who's been chosen the captain of the stickball team).

We have men and women dying every day in the quagmire that is Iraq, a place we had no business going into and no reason for invading, a place where your daughter will soon be and you're worried about JANE FONDA?! We're beating war drums about Iran and speaking openly about using nukes and you're worried about JANE FONDA?!

Please honor my wishes and quit sending me these canned emails.



So how do you deal with relatives you care about and don't want to write off who send you this crap?

[Kali]

1. I usually look up the Snopes debunking,

choose a few good quotes and reply all.

Your answer was pretty good.

[skygazer]

2. While it can be fun to debunk them

I don't like giving them that much legitimacy. I don't want to get 'em in the first place. I've told him more than once that I'm delighted to debate with him as long as HE is the one debating. Use your own words, I've told him, express your own opinions. I have no respect for a debate which involves me doing all the legwork simply to debunk someone else's canned crap.

Personally, I just wish he'd lay off it altogether. We are never going to agree politically and I can accept that. It's almost as if he has to goad me which makes me want to tell him to get lost. But I don't want to tell a 78 year old man to get lost.

Family!

[salin]

3. Try telling him that while you love him

you are going to just start responding by sending the email back to him, unread. That the more he sends, the more that comes back to fill his inbox. That you love him, but would appreciate being off his RW email list. But if he can't be bothered to take you off of it - well you can't be bothered to read what he sends. Then ask him that if he sends an email that is personal - not political, that he let you know in the subject line so that you will know to read it. I think this can all be done gently - and without fireworks.

[thecrow]

7. My relative used to send me this stuff until....

I had had enough and hit the "reply to all" button and gave him and his entire mailing list a shot of the truth.

Since then anything he sends me is to "undiclosed recipients" which have just made me laugh out loud.

I made a deal with this one. I said that since neither of us were going to convert to the other's side, let us call a truce here because, after all we ARE relatives. So let this end before we hate each other.
Now we exchange news of family and hobbies and science, which is much better, exept that he believes oil is self-replenishing and probably that earth is ony 6,000 years old.

It is hard to believe that the same family spit both of us out onto the planet's surface.

[Kali]

5. I see your point - although a quick Snopes hunt is not much work

He is older - sometimes they get childish - maybe just ignore the behavior that is annoying but basically harmless?

fortunatly, my close relatives are pretty much the same politically, the ones who send me the crap I don't really care that much what they do so I just slam them with the truth.

One thng about e-mail button pushing by family is that it a hell af alot easier to ignore than the in person kind!

[riona]

6. Maybe he's trying to convert you

[sam sarrha]

4. they quit after i emailed the truthorfiction.com explanation to them with

out comment

[kineneb]

8. my relatives are better trained

They know I would ream them a new orifice if they sent me RW garbage. Grandpa trained me in the fine art of argument.

(One German-American is a certainty, two German-Americans is a argument, four German-Americans is a religion, and eight German-Americans are two religions arguing with each other.- From "German Humor: On the Fritz" It explains so much about my family.):)

[napi21]

9. I only had ONE relative who used to send stuff like that.

My husband's sister. Since I never responded to any of them, she must have gotten the hint, and simply doesn't send them anymore.

In my experience, folks who send this junk are looking for people to agree with them, or at the very least, give them an argument. When they get NO RESPONSE at all, they usually stop.

I know there's no way I could ever change their mind, and it wasn't worth a family feud.

[Robbien]

10. It was a bad day and I blew my cool when responding

to my one of my sister's "patriotic" emails.

We are in a mutually agreed cooling off period now.

The good thing is that the emails stopped.