Just In Time For Christmas: How to Talk with MAGA Republicans Without Losing Your Mind
I must confess and say very regretfully that at one point in time I was a Republican and even more regretfully a supporter of Donald Trump. People tried to warn me about him but I didn't listen. It was just like someone said their thing and I said my thing and they got angry and all it did was leave me the same as I was before or perhaps even deeper into the cult because at the time it felt like a bad experience being yelled at and talked at. Although I will admit that reflecting on what I was told at the time once I started to move away from the MAGA cult some of the things that were told to me like how Trump enriches himself by forcing the secret service to use his hotels resurfaced in my mind. So having a conversation with your MAGA relatives, friends or family members can help even if it takes a long time to get results. But you got to be strategic at it and pick your battles. If it just results in someone getting
I recently saw this article: https://jamesbgreenberg.substack.com/p/how-to-talk-with-maga-republicans and I thought it was good. I was actually looking for another article that I saw on Substack a long time ago that I cannot find anymore. If I find that one I'll share it too.
Here's the first part of the article:
And maybe that’s the real issue. We’ve treated these exchanges as if they were about information—when they’re really about identity. We think we’re in a debate, but it’s closer to a ritual. A performance of belonging, not a negotiation of facts.
In some ways, we’re witnessing the replacement of civic ritual with political performance. Where once people gathered to solve problems or deliberate, they now gather around grievance, bonding not over solutions but shared enemies.
So what happens if we shift the terms? What if, instead of talking at them, we started talking with them?
Not about politics. About principles.
Because trying to fact-check a worldview only hardens it. But asking someone what they truly believe—about truth, justice, responsibility—isn’t a challenge. It’s a mirror. And mirrors invite reflection.
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I've posted quite a bit about cults, in my amateur way.
TLDR: Cults offer benefits to people who feel down, usually by projecting common weaknesses, fears and failures onto "others"
Like Emmanuel Goldstein in 1984.
And some forbidden or nasty behavior is "legitimized" such as racism, hate, violence and so on.
But it comes at a cost. One loses judgment, dignity, opportunity, and of course, money. All flow only to the "Don" to use mafia analogy.
Cults are always self-destructive.
Like so.
Finding out you've been suckered is often hard for people to figure.
People are afraid to look in the mirror.
And thank you for the article you quoted. Those are some great ideas.
I look forward to reading your thoughts.
