If you want to keep up your friendship, you're going to have to institute a "No Politics" rule with the guy.

You can limit his exposure to your fb page with customized settings. And of course, spare a moment to pity him--he obviously operates from a place of fear--common with many in the GOP, I think.

You'll have to decide if he has enough redeeming qualities to make continuing the relationship worthwhile. If so, then contact him off line and say, "look, we're never going to see eye to eye on some things, let's just try to respect one another's differences and get past them."

Personally, I've never been able to argue politics or religion with family members. I usually just avoid the subject entirely.

I've posted a political picture that represents my POV, usually with a small comment from me. And he hasn't been responding to them. I don't respond to his gun and other "offensive to me" things. We had a pretty good system going. And he lost it about 2 weeks ago. I'm not engaging him (much) but my friends are. Luckily, one of them already mentioned to me that she had blocked him. I suspect most of my friends will end up doing that, so this problem might solve itself. But I don't really want to stop sharing political pictures I like. I don't want to censor myself.

As an aside, I feel this huge desire to apologize to my friend who blocked him. Why, I can't fathom. He isn't me. He isn't even a blood relation and even if he were, it's not my job to apologize for his "bad" behavior. I guess it's the codependent shadow still lingering.

but I do not (and will not) allow that to drive a wedge between me and my family.

If politics becomes a significant point of contention at a family gathering, I clearly state that politics is not something that I will discuss at a family setting.

After all, when all the dust settles, they are still family.

My advice? when he starts down the path of a political screed: just ignore it. you aren't going to change his mind via a back and forth across facebook.

if they bother you, please just move on. Mostly, I'm not the one engaging my brother. My beloved chosen family is the one raking him over the coals. I know there is no changing a closed mind. I wish my friends did.

a lot of people's politics have become. There used to be a way for people of differing politics to get along outside of the political sphere. It was done with humor, and a sense of basic respect, even though the differences were huge, and serious. Now it seems a lot of people actually think that anybody with differing political views is barely human.

Ever since Reagan and possibly back to Nixon, Republicans have been adversarial and divisive. Some Democrats finally started fighting back, but only during the past decade or so. We can either fight or capitulate. Republicans will have it no other way.

This way he only sees posts that you make public, not the ones you make just for your friends. He doesn't get notified and he still sees you as his friend. He just won't see your private posts so he won't comment on them. You can still see his posts and you can still message each other whenever you want. win-win.

I had not thought of that. Eureka. I'm glad I posted here if for this only. I don't want to ditch him but this is getting tiresome.

I usually don't "Unfriend" on FB and I don't "Ignore" here because I like the discussion. But some families are different. So far in my family, we all just get along even if our politics are radically different. We just avoid the discussion or "agree to disagree". Other families don't do it like that though. My wife lost her paternal family back in the 90s because of a dispute over choice and my BFF just said something over the weekend about having problems with his family over politics.

Well, at least content fit for a Democracy. This has lead to a super angry, non-rational attitude. Their "heads" are made up. You don't have a problem, he has a problem.

It was about religion and gay marriage. She's a "devout" Catholic and against it. Of course, her husband's vasectomy doesn't go against her religion? Could have said that to her, but didn't. I TRIED to explain the difference between civil marriage and the Holy Sacrament of Matrimony, but she refused to see the difference.

The ironic part is that her older sister and twin brother are gay, in addition to her cousin (my daughter). My daughter married last August and we never told her about it. All her sisters, brother, and her mother, are fine with it. The only reason my SIL was upset was because she wasn't invited to the wedding (very small ceremony). She would probably be horrified at her own mother wanting to participate in a SIN.

Best thing to do with closed minds is to not talk to them at all.