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10 steps to take when talking politics with someone you disagree with this holiday season

Before we can change anyone’s mind, we first must change the way we talk to each other

Perspective by
Lily contributor
December 23, 2018 at 10:57 a.m. EST

Having meaningful conversations with people we care about who disagree with you about politics is hard.

It can feel like a concession to something you hate, or even like giving up a part of yourself to just sit calmly and listen to someone explain their point of view. It can boil the blood and fire up a fight-or-flight reflex. But if we can’t have civil conversations with people we care about in hopes of changing their minds, how can we hope to change culture at large?

In this piece I offer the pattern I try to keep to when talking about politics. Often our politics come from our past, our upbringing and our emotions. Before we can change anyone’s mind, we first must change the way we talk to each other, filling our dialogue with more compassion and imagination.

Sources: David Fleischer and The LARA Method.