Thanks Frank for including me in your list of conservatives. I consider it a compliment.

I was brainwashed and I know it.

I used to be a hardcore Republican. My dad did a good job of instilling the beliefs that I feel our country was founded on. He also taught me to question everything I was taught in school. In my room at the Frat (animal house-not preppy) I kept a picture of Ronald Reagan on my nightstand, the one where he’s wearing a jean jacket and a big smile. I had it not just to annoy the liberals in the house (60/40) but because I loved the man.

Then women’s studies 200 came along. It was taught by lesbians. No kidding. Every day I came to class I said to myself over and over “ how can these people be so f----d?” They were saying it was ok for gay couples to adopt children! They outlined the evils of the “White Male System” and God damn it they were talking about me! They covered all the “isms” and put it into a single formula. Blank ism is the belief in the superiority of Blank over Non-Blank therefore giving the right of dominance.

They made excuses for lazy Hispanics (most Hispanics I meet today work circles around the current white labor pool.) They expounded on the righteousness of affirmative action.
Then it came to Native Americans. I have always had some type of “connection” to Indians. My wife and I saw Robert Mirabal at the Quinault Casino last year on the Quinault reservation. Incredible show! You may have seen him on PBS. We held a genuine Indian sweat lodge on our property. A Pima Indian from Arizona named Pete performed the all day ceremony. He does it all over the U.S. charging only his expenses.
Pete was a shaman. When we asked him “what should we call you? He said “Pete”. He does this to share his culture and educate non-Indians about the ways of his people.

Back to WS200. They offered excuses for lazy Indians. One thing they mentioned was that many native societies have no concept of time. This started me to crack. I realized that people’s views of the world were different from mine. Other people had different life experiences, different environments, incomes, and upbringings. I had thought that my view of the world was the only one- sound, certain and unshakable.

Shortly after this, I began a short search for the single truth that would apply to everyone.
I don’t think it exists. If it did we would have found it by now.

So now I can no longer see only in black or white, mostly in shades of gray within thin borders of black and white. The passion for political debate has left. The days of reducing liberals to quivering piles of steaming essence are long gone.

You’ll never change someone’s opinion with argument, logic or reasoning.
You’ll never change someone’s opinion.

Change comes from within.

Rob