This diary will be quick and dirty, don't worry. I was wondering if there are people on this site who have "converted" from being conservative/Republican to the being liberal/Democratic? I wonder this because given the slander against the left, describing us as un-American, hating America, wanting to destroy America, atheist, fear mongering baby killers, it makes me wonder if some of the people who visit this blog regularly were in that world and found their way out, to see that all of the hit pieces and smears were actually untrue? Was there a period where the dissonance between what liberals were actually saying and the FOX smears? Was it because of a conversion or a change in life circumstances? What was the impetus and what was the reason for the conversion?
First off, it's funny I use the word conversion, as if the two belief systems were somehow a religion, but in many ways it is, and given recent life events in my own existence I felt that the use of the word would be a quirky way of framing the question. I've recently converted back to Christianity after being atheist for a number of years. It has not been exactly the smoothest of transitions and I oftentimes find myself still thinking in the old patterns, but the conversion and transition are happening and it made me think about how our own personal circumstances and thinking change over time. I found myself reaching out to more religious conservative friends who were flabbergasted I was coming to them after years of degrading their religion as the scrawled superstitions of bronze age Palestinian goat herders. It was humbling to say the least, but I got to hear things from their side of the board, including some staunch Catholic arguments on contraception (I still think Planned Parenthood is great and in fact talking with them made me think it was even GREATER than what I previously had thought). I found I now have a synthesis of the two beliefs, where I understand more about their side of the aisle which makes me even MORE set on being on my side of the aisle. Has anyone had a similar experience?