Deep canvassing worked equally well -regardless of political affiliation or preexisting beliefs.
It even convinced people who were initially opposed to transgender rights to warm to the issue.
Imagine approaching someone who said to you (or just believed),
“I believe in working hard and to be anything but a conservative is to put your faith in God into question. How can you be a baby killer? People who are not Christian either never heard about Christ or are bad people who do drugs and commit crimes.”
Yes, I know people who would say that and consider themselves Christian. I have also heard people from other religions with beliefs that are not consistent with the actual religion.
If you want to engage them as human, rather than trying to persuade them that they are wrong, you might establish a relationship and that might have a better chance of success. Remember that we have all been brainwashed and they are simply showing you where they have swallowed whole someone’s teachings.
Don’t judge them for that, if you can.
Remember, we all have really silly or harmful beliefs. Want them to change their belief systems?
Do not confront head on or with facts and figures or logic, because that is not how those beliefs got in there.
Try an effective strategy. Reread the past few posts for more ideas.
Likewise, imagine being in an audience and thinking, “People who were similar to me laughed at those jokes.”
Therefore, I’m more likely to joke because I can relate. They are similar to me. I am similar to them. They are my people. We have this desire to be consistent. We have a desire to be part of a group, to feel included. We do things that people similar to us do.
Imagine if people who are very dissimilar to you laughed at those jokes -would you still be willing to laugh and go along with it?
Research has shown that if the people laughing were dissimilar enough, people are reluctant to laugh, too.
For example, if you had someone tell a racist joke, then cut to a bunch of people in KKK hoods laughing, most people would not laugh or stop laughing. Unless their belief system was similar to the KKK.
People are more likely to donate if people similar to them have donated. Politicians tell you, “These people donated to my campaign” (and they are similar to you, have similar demographics and similar values) because that increases the likelihood of getting your donation.
They’re more likely to do something that people similar to them have done - for example, “I like that TV show -you’d like it, too.” You just might watch a few episodes and try it out.
It really helps if someone who is very similar to you likes it!!!