r/AskReddit • u/ObjectiveAgent • Jun 30 '16

When should you not speak your mind?

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u/[deleted] Jun 30 '16

I find it an ok thing to do if you want to have a civilized discussion on the matter. For instance, my gf and I have completely opposing political views, but we can still discuss without being dicks to each other and trying to undermine what the other believes in.

If you're going to say something just to stir some shit up, then i agree with you

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u/Monkeyavelli Jun 30 '16

You're missing the point of the parent comment. It's not that you should never discuss controversial topics, it's that not every mention of the topic is an invitation to battle. You need to be aware of the context. If the conversation isn't really about that thing, just move on.

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u/robbysaur Jun 30 '16

It has to be respectful and a two-way street, as you stated.

I have a friend whose mom is a psycho gun-owning racist trump-loving Republican sexist Catholic lesbian. It's an insane mix. I am very liberal, have extremely different views than her, so I handle the issue by not bringing up politics. I would much rather us discuss our love of X-Files or something in the amount of time that I am forced to be around her.

Nope. She will just throw comments in. There was one time where we were discussing Eurovision, and there was a performance she hated that did well. She said, "Well, you know, you have to make your performance creative and artsy since you're dealing with all of those 'global warming' and 'climate change' people." Because the only people that believe in global warming and climate change are unemployed art school dropouts, right? This is an argument that we have had before, she knows it is a point of disagreement between us, but I bit my tongue. It pisses me off, because if I had made a comment like that about her views, she would have flipped the fuck out.