Convert my father to the Revolution!

[pulp8721]

Show him this to show the fallacy of the neocon foreign policy:



And this one to counter the "they always hated us argument because of who we are":

 

[Voluntary Man]

1. ...He always counters that groups in the Middle East have Always hated us, and that they would try attacking us no matter what.

First, acknowledge that your father may be a lost cause. That doesn't mean you have to give up, but face it: the guy is hardwired into the propaganda machine (Limpboy, Manatee, O'Biley), he loves YOU, but he respects them a whole lot more (he didn't change their diapers). So, don't fixate on unplugging your father. Be prepared to move on.

Having said that, ask the genius why he believes America is the #1 target of "the terrorists."

Is it because we aren't a muslim country? If that's the motivation, why not Russia, China, Ireland, or Switzerland?

Ask him if he believed Dubya's claim that "the terrorists attack us because we're rich and free." If that's their motivation, then ask him to create or find a comparative chart of countries ranked according to their prosperity and civil liberties. If Dubya was right, then other prosperous and free countries ought to be experiencing attacks by muslims in proportion to their relative wealth and freedom.

When all else fails (and it will), ask him how he'd feel if he came home from work next Wednesday, and found a bomb had been dropped on his neighborhood and his family had been killed. Ask him whether, when he discovered that the bomb said "made in China," he would passively accept that his home and family had the bad manners to place themselves between China and her belief that her national security interests depended on a demonstration of international military strength. Would your father turn the other cheek, or would he go Old Testament until those God-less Chinese wished they knew what the Golden Rule was?

Then, ask him if maybe -- just maybe -- it's possible that one tiny fraction of the motivation for the terrorists hating our guts (aside from our wealth, freedom, and religion, of course) is that of the hundreds of thousands of faceless men, women, and children that have been killed with our bombs (or with the ruthless, robbing, raping, and murdering dictators our politicians have propped up) a few of them had loved ones who survived them, loved ones who found bomb fragments that said "made in America."

Ask your father if there is even the remotest possibility that his beloved son is right about any of this. If he says "yes," your seed has taken root. If he says "no" ....if he says "no" ...then you just may have to face the possibility that your christian father, like millions of other Americans, has been irreparably neoconned.

 

[ericthethe]

Chomsky has written extensively on the foreign policy of the US. Show him some articles/essays/interviews but don't let him know they're from Chomsky. Change the names if you have to.

 

[marhlfld]

He always counters that groups in the Middle East have Always hated us, and that they would try attacking us no matter what.

Well, I don't know how old he is, but exactly when did they begin hating us? I remember growing up hearing the adults say thing like this country was respected world wide. Yep, that's changed, and I'm sure there were parts of the world they didn't like us, but generally we were loved and respected. No so today, the U.S. government has incrementally forced itself upon the world and now we are hated almost everywhere. We are called stupid Americans for putting up with the government we have today. You could always use the Sweden analogy. They don't try policing the world and they don't have the military we do, yet the terrorists don't go there.

Rome was hated throughout the known world for trying to invade and occupy other lands. Remember the Crusades? That came from the Roman Catholic Vatican. They tried forcing their religion on the world. Believe as we do or we'll kill you. Look what happened to the Roman Empire. We have taken their place.

 

[millercards]

So I'm back home from my parents house, and we had LONG Ron Paul discussions throughout the day. With my fiancee, brother, dad and mom.

I brought up a lot of talking points, showed him a handful of videos (As much as I could while he was interested), and I also had him and my mom read the article written by a baptist pastor. - Someone posted a link to the article in this thread.

I also actually showed him this thread, and said look how many people responded within only a couple hours.

In the end, I think I may have reached him to a certain extent. He asked me while smiling and half-joking after our talks, "So what do I have to do to get you to stop pushing him on me? Vote for him?"

I told him, "No, I want you to vote, put up a sign in your front yard, and express your support to others."

He joked that he would put it up when he knew I was coming over. But, knowing my Dad, I know I've scored a victory to some level. I talked to him about becoming a delegate, registering Republican, and going to vote.

I think we are going together next week to change our registeration to Republican. I won't be backing off.

I think one of the main selling points was when I told him that this wasn't his country anymore and that he needed to stand up for his grandkids' futures.

Lesson to all: Don't give up on your friends and families, they are the ones who will listen to you most. If every Ron Paul supporter had the support of most of their friends/ family, we'd be sitting pretty.

Thanks again for all the help. I'll update again as we continue to have talks.


Current Projects:

Very stubborn friend who thinks we need to keep doing what we're doing world wide.
My gay-liberal brother.
My fiancee's pot-head brother and his friends.
A handful of apathetic friends.
My mom. I just need to keep talking to her.

Converts:
1 very smart and kind friend from KS.
1 open-minded smart friend from OK.
My loving fiancee.

 

[wgadget]

+rep

WOW...Great ending to a great (ongoing) story.

To me, this is the meme of the day: Winning converts to Ron Paul can best be done one-on-one, which gives us time to plant the message of liberty. After someone is converted, it's mandatory that they tell the next person, etc., etc.. God knows the media won't help us! Side benefit is we don't have to send massive amounts of money to the MSM to run commercials.

 

[Pisces]

Rome was hated throughout the known world for trying to invade and occupy other lands. Remember the Crusades? That came from the Roman Catholic Vatican. They tried forcing their religion on the world. Believe as we do or we'll kill you. Look what happened to the Roman Empire. We have taken their place.

I hate to derail the thread but you're way off in your understanding of the Crusades. Western Europe and Rome became involved when the Byzantine Emperor asked for help in fending off the invading Turks. This was why the First Crusade was undertaken in 1099. The reasons for the 2nd and 3rd Crusades were a little more complex but still not about forcing religion on the world. Religion was used as a motive but it was seen as helping persecuted Christians and protecting pilgrims. Most of the Middle East was still majority Christian at that time so converting people had nothing to do with it. Sorry, but if we're going to use history to try and persuade people, we need to get our facts straight. I'm not trying to pick on you, I see this misunderstanding about the Crusades all the time, especially in Hollywood movies.