Letters to the Editor
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more than just politics
Sounds like the problems between the LW and his parents is more than just politics. In some relationships, you can just put these ideological disagreements behind you. My best friend is catholic and vehemently antiabortion... I am pro-choice. We hang out, and we don't talk about abortion or religion. Thats cool - we have a lot of other things to talk about. Like, we talk about movies we went and saw together, or how much we like a certain resturant, or how crap it is that the local dunkin donuts shuts at 11 even though the sign says 12.
I have family who are also staunch republicans, and I hate hanging out with them. They are self-righteous, annoying and generally rather rude. I have nothing in common with them. They do not like the movies I like, they don't listen to the music I listen to, and they probably wouldn't even agree with me about what kind of weather we've been having. It is not their republicanism that is the problem. The fact they're republicans is just an obvious symptom of the fact we don't have anything in common and don't particularly get along.
The LW needs to realise that he's fixated on the republican thing, and as such is getting a lot of flack in the feedback stakes. But really, his question isn't about the fact his parents are republicans so much as it is about how he doesn't much like his parents, and doesn't have much in common with them. If he can't find any common ground, then yeah, it WOULD be painful to go visit.
It is hard to hang out with people who share nothing with you, and who seem to delight in being argumentative. And some people are just jerks - republican or not.