Advice

On red state respect

I read your piece on red state/blue state relations and I agree with you. My problem is as a multi-racial, atheist, feminist, gay man in my mid twenties, I find it very hard to give respect where I feel such little respect is given to me. These are obviously only parts of my identity and there is more to me as a person, but these things are pretty fundamental to my person. Is there a way to be able to respect the people who are wholly against me on a personal level?

Sure, you can respect people without respecting their world view, but that shit takes a lot of enlightened patience, and I don’t recommend doing it unless you’re forced to spend time with certain folks due to geography or genealogy.

But hey, why make it about respect? Fuck ‘em. You don’t need their respect. You shouldn’t waste any negative emotion taking red state ignorance personally. Don’t make it about you or your identity. Save your energy for when you need to defend your civil and cultural liberties. That’s the hard line to draw.

The red staters can believe whatever backwards bullshit they want. What they can’t do is use their laws or their customs to try and force their beliefs onto you.

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