Touring the Dark Side(TM)

So, for several reasons I've been posting over at a site for British reactionaries called Going Postal:

• I wanted to see if I could place behavior over politics.
• I wanted to see if we could find any common agreement on major topics.
• I wanted to see if it would change me at all, influencing my behavior or my politics.

My experiences with Going Postal are that they have been welcoming, and we've found ourselves in agreement over several major points: Honoring Brexit, our distaste for the corporate ruling class, our horror at the state of the political landscape in general, our frustration at the lies of politicians, and our concern for what happens next. I've even updated some of my views, like I'm far more empathetic for the plight of UK citizens in the face of their immigration crisis - it's ugly over there right now.

The downside is the virulent racism is hard to take. That's really the main thing that makes the site cringeworthy to me, but there's no changing some people. So my best option is to look to myself for solutions, and one solution is to not respond to it, or to ask pointed questions about it. I alternate.

One surprising thing to me, is while it took months, I've found myself more empathetic of them in general. I guess it's easier to understand people and harder to hate people who treat you like a neighbor and fellow human being, and it's hard to hate people you insist on humanizing. That's important.

The other major surprise I had was just how welcoming they were. They knew I was leftist right away (for reasons) and it didn't matter. They were friendly. This is so important!

I've even come to appreciate some of their politically incorrect humor, like insisting that putting pineapple on pizza is why I'm gay.

I'm not the only one that was influenced by this experiment. The folks at that site, in large part have been more welcoming of trans people I think, because of me. Furthermore, several have acknowledged that the immigration problems in the US are far different than those of the UK, per our conversations.

My conclusions are thus, and should be obvious to anyone that's familiar with Christ's teachings: First, love your neighbor. Everything else follows from there. It's more important than politics. It's more important than opinions. It's maybe the most important thing you can do in terms of your fellow human beings. It's also difficult at first, but gets easier once you're past that initial meet, because it opens your eyes to the humanity of the person sitting across the table.

Ideology is no substitute for any of this. Ideology is barely secondary. Without loving your neighbor, you won't change your neighbor. Arguments only get you so far. First, find each other's essential humanity. Go from there.