The discussion of politics belongs in the bar

It would be great if politics and religion could be discussed anywhere, anytime. I've had constructive debates and discussions in many places, and I've also had them blow up in my face in the very same places. If you know the person well, then you might be safe having that debate. If you don't then you might just have it blow up on you. If you don't know, then you might just be bast served if you saved the debate for another time with another person. Unless you know that you are heading into a debate with someone who knows the same, then most definitely the first two sentences out of your mouth should not be politics or religion. If your politics and religion are dirty laundry, then they shouldn't be aired in public when the situation doesn't call for it. If the first things you tell your potential spouse's parents are such things as politics and religion,then they have nothing to judge you on. What about your intelligence? What about your sense of humor? What about how well you treat your potential spouse and what kind of mate you will be? Those are much more important things to be concerned with. But if your politics or religion differ with your gf's parents, then they won't think of any of those things. If they do, it will be through the filter of their political or religious differences with you. If they get to know everything else about you first and like you because of it, then their opinion of you won't change much once they do learn of your political and religious stances, assuming they differ. If those two things are the first thing they learn of you, and you differ in any way and get into a heated debate. then you're doomed from the beginning. A woman's figure will most likely not offend the people you're sitting there with. Now, if you're there with an uber feminist friend or your significant other, and you comment on how hot someone else is, then you can surely bet that you'll ruin your night. But at least you know who you're there with in those scenarios. Imagine if you didn't know who you were talking to, but they held the same kind of beliefs. Then you would have started something with someone who has little reason to keep things civil with you because they don' know you. If you manage to ease your way into a debate and it works out, great. But you shouldn't go into a situation like that assuming you can bring it up. That's why, as a rule of thumb, just leave these topics at the door unless a natural situation arises where a debate becomes welcomed and constructive. These situations will most likely not arise in a bar, however, because most people do not find pleasure in debating politics and they are in a bar to most likely relax and have fun. Debating politics or religion with these kind of people will most likely not grow into something constructive. In fact, you're probably going to start ruining their time there. All of the people you mention were purely political people who brought out their politics in arenas where it was expected. We all expect to hear politics from someone like one of the candidates now, but if you were sitting down to a beer with Barack Obama, would you really want to hear more politics from him? It might be fun for a bit because we expect it from him and we all love politics (otherwise, we most likely wouldn't be on this site), but at some point you would just want to get to your beer. I bet you he would too after such a long campaign so far. Bars are for relaxing and having fun. If you enjoy politics and you're with someone who does too, then of course, go ahead and have a debate. But most likely, even if you are with someone who loves politics, they aren't going to want to discuss it in a place where they are just trying to relax and not use their brain. These maxims exist because too many good times have been brought to a screeching halt by the inappropriate injunction of politics or religion into the discussion. if you're sitting around the tv watching a debate with your friends, you can bet that politics will be brought up as you talk with your friends. If you are having a polite meal with business contacts or thanksgiving dinner with family that might not agree with you, then perhaps you should just enjoy the good times and leave the debates for a situation that might better call for it. These maxims are suppose to get you to err on the side of caution, but they don't keep you from discussing them altogether. Just have more tact with it. That's good that you finally got a grasp on neoconservatism because of your discussion with the person you mentioned, but I'd figure you wouldn't need to discuss it around dinner to learn about it. I love politics and love discussing it, but I didn't need to sit down over dinner with someone to learn something political. That term, and all that it means, comes up enough in the media that no one who cares about politics should have to talk about it over a polite dinner to learn what it means. Being a liberal democrat and its lack of definition has as much to do with the party's fractious nature and conservatives' ability to define liberal at will. No matter how many liberals get up in public and try to discuss it, they seem to fail on a lack of articulation. That isn't a failure to discuss it around the dinner table or in a bar, that's a failure of the left to adequately defend itself. Sam Adams was a great man. Its a shame that the beer that bears his namesake sucks so much.