Evangelicals are going to evangelize. It’s right there in the name. Since 81% of the white ones voted for this frightening administration, thats a lot of evangelizing skills that are not just being used to spread my religion but prop up this administration. Add the fact that corporations who live or die based on their ability to sell a message have incentives to favour the right wing, and you have a lot of messaging talent on one side of the political spectrum. I’ve been a pretty effective evangelist, though some I’ve met over the years are wildly better. So I hope sharing a few of my methods can be useful for some people.
Black Hat vs White Hat Evangelism
There are ethical and unethical techniques for converting someone. Call them white hat or black hat. Unfortunately black hat done right is just as effective as white hat and a lot less effort. I’m guessing that you want to be ethical and not control or manipulate people so I will focus on white hat. In the past my focus on black hat has only been to help people avoid cultish or controlling churches and to make sure I’m sure I’m not doing any of those techniques myself (some of them can be done inadvertently but are unethical). I might cover them in another post. For now I’ll just explain some effective white hat techniques.
Avoiding the Project
Never let anyone feel like you are pretending to be their friend to convert them. Never let anyone feel like they are your project. To succeed in this long term (if you are using the white hat approach) you need to actually not have these motives. Your desire to convert them needs to come from the same source as wanting to be their friend in the first place — aka, a genuine care for them. If you don’t care about them be honest with yourself and pray until you do (if you are religious. If not, perhaps you can suggest something to do instead). Once your heart is in the right place here are some tips to communicate that you care for them on a deeper level than a potential convert.
If you ever have a deep conversation about the conversion topic (religion, or in this case politics) make sure you have a social meeting with them later that week where you do not discuss the conversion topic so that they know you are interested in them.
A deep conversation about religion or politics is an intimate experience. It needs to be followed up by a casual experience. So invite them to something fun which your friends are going to anyway.
Serve them without drawing attention to it. This lets them know that you do not see yourself as better than them and breaks the otherwise inevitable power dynamic that occurs when you are trying to convince someone of something with ethical content.
Home Turf Advantage
Bring the person you hope will change their mind to a situation where their view is in the minority; a dinner party, for example, or a social gathering with other friends who think like you. This normalizes your views and prevents superficial rejection of your view through things like associating your views with something nefarious. They will less likely see you as a deceiver or a nutter if there are many of you that like them. Make sure any talk about the conversion topic is sandwiched between conversations about casual things so the relationship doesn’t become single focused, unhealthy or too intense.
Lose the Argument, Win the Friend
This may surprise people but sometimes it is better to deliberately lose an argument, especially if the person you want to change is very passionate about their point of view. I’m not talking about anything deceptive. Find something genuine to compliment about what the other person is arguing. Compliment their motives if you know them (don’t guess!) or their compassion if they have demonstrated it. It’s not that rational argument has no value in changing peoples minds, but there are preconditions to rational analysis of a claim. Those obstacles lower with familiarity and if they like you. Losing the argument and winning the friend enables them to eventually use their cognitive skills to examine their own points or later receive your points more calmly and give you a fair hearing. Often they may even come up with a way of answering their own objections once their emotional defences are lowered.
Is there any time winning a debate is useful? A calm debate with a friend can have some use. Also a debate with a third party which your friend witnesses is useful. They can see arguments rebutted without having their pride at stake.
Avoid Jargon at All Costs
In Christian circles this is called “Christianese”. Don’t talk about the blood of the lamb, sanctification, justification or any Christian jargon. Similarly you should avoid “Liberalese”. That doesn’t mean you don’t explain the concepts behind the jargon, you just use every day language. You can in principle use the jargon if you define it immediately after you use it the first few times. But it’s difficult to do this without coming across as condescending. It’s better to avoid jargon all together. There is some jargon in economic speech (fiscal levers, countercycle monetary policy, etc) and a lot of jargon in identity issues (white privilege, the patriarchy, toxic masculinity, mansplaining, etc.) Even the way liberals use the word racism to mean a system of advantage based on race rather than prejudice is jargon even though it contains the correct concept. If you are attached to the jargon don’t worry, the person will come to use it if they convert! But it’s the concepts not the jargon that matters, and the jargon is a stumbling block to communication. I wonder if the jargon heavy nature of liberals is part of the reason why there are difficulties in reaching white working class non-college-educated voters? A more innocent reason could be that education provides a shield against propaganda, especially identity-based propaganda. It’s probably true that both factors contribute.
Know When to Back Off and Let the Seed Germinate
If you pressure someone to make a commitment when they are on the fence there is a danger that you have permanently lost them. Back off and talk about other things until they are ready for more. This is a tough skill to learn so it might take practice. Watch their body language. Are they fidgeting or looking uncomfortable? Mention their body language and ask if they would like you to change the topic.
Other Tips
- Take an interest in them. Learn their interests and do anything you have in common or ask them to teach you about their favourite hobby. It’s humbling but it’s worth the investment.
- Make sure they know that you will care about them regardless of whether or not they ultimately choose to change their heart and mind about the conversion topic.
- Make sure you understand their arguments before you answer them. When converting someone, listening is far more powerful than talking. You need to repeat what they say in your own words until you are sure you understand them. Then you are ready to answer someone. It is a good idea to be pretty familiar with conservative arguments and why you think they are wrong before you do this.
- Imparting your values is more important than imparting your facts. If someone obtains your values, then they will be motivated to find the flaws in their old values without your help. If someone is smart enough to understand an argument from their former position (even if they got it second hand) they are smart enough to come up with a counter argument if they are willing.
-Be open from early on that you want them to be converted and why. Believe it or not this transparency actually helps in the long run. Also, if you see a quality which you admire tell them they would make a great liberal (or whatever the conversion topic) because they have that quality (if you mean it of course. Don’t lie).
-Compliment! You don’t have to prove you are better than them to convert them. It is SO important that you communicate that you don’t see yourself as better than them if you wish to reach them (and it should be true!!). Be okay if they are more compassionate than you, for example (great! Their compassion might later cause them to change).
In Case You are Wondering
Have I used these techniques to change peoples minds about politics like I have about religion? Yes I have, and successfully so. I have also flailed around in anger, demeaning conservatives which is, as you can imagine, less effective. It’s harder to use these techniques when it isn’t really the normal approach. In any case I hope you experiment with them because I worry about the country.
