There is a time for politeness

Hello! Thank you for reading the intro post for The Polite Liberal.

This blog is for you, if you want to talk to your liberal friends but don’t know where to start. If you’ve tried to join a conversation but it got nasty. If they started nit-picking about things you’ve never heard of. If you tried to see it their way but they assumed from the start you were a bad person.

I’m going to assume you’re a good person.

This blog is for you, if you want to talk to your conservative friends but being nice takes energy you don’t always have. If you want a helping hand to reference some nuanced ideas. If you aren’t sure where to start because you don’t know where they’re coming from.

I want you to feel good about sharing this blog at the dinner table.

This blog is for you, if you think people get too worked up about politics and wish they would just get along.

This is me trying to help everyone get along.

Now a bit about me.

I’ve been on the very conservative side of the spectrum and moved to a rather liberal one. Living through those changes wasn’t easy, but I think it’s helped me build bridges this country desperately needs.

In high school I was a home schooled Evangelical in Lancaster, Pennsylvania who won top prize in Bible memorization. Before that, I was a grade schooler and gymnastics kid in San Diego, California where all my little neighbor friends were a rainbow of colors. I went to a Christian college in rural Pennsylvania. Then I was a wannabe filmmaker in Los Angeles, California who got lucky by getting into tech instead. Now I’m a technical writer by day and live with my lovely significant other in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

I grew up listening to Focus on the Family radio dramas and Veggie Tales. I learned what forgiveness meant and that the greatest sacrifice was laying down your life for your friends. I also learned that wearing tank tops was a sin and that Pokemon was practice for summoning demons.

I lived through the fundamentalist movement and found liberal Christianity in and after college. I learned the significance of Jesus appearing first to women after the resurrection. I learned about racial profiling and bank bailouts. I researched GMOs and learned that without them, corn would look like grass and the world would starve. Humanism and futurism inspired me. I found that agnosticism (leaning towards atheism) made more sense to me, but I’m always open to further evidence. I became a tech geek and spent a year in Brooklyn. Christmas is still my favorite holiday.

Welcome to the table! Grab a plate — the biscuits are warm. Let’s talk.

—The Polite Liberal

P.S. Religion: Christianity is the most important thing to many conservatives. I was a child and became an adult immersed in Christian perspectives, so I intend to speak to that view even though I’m no longer religious myself.

P.P.S. Rudeness: Politeness takes extra energy. I promise to be polite on this blog but I don’t promise to be polite everywhere on the internet. Sometimes there’s not time.

P.P.P.S. Monetization: By day I’m a professional technical writer. Writing is real work and I reserve the right to make money from this blog in ways I consider ethical.