What is with the rise in be nice to "conservatives" posts here?

[chervilant]

244. What do we call

a blanket condemnation of a group based on an allegedly ubiquitous trait (for example, skin color, gender, age, religious belief, political stance, etc.)?

My sister is a conservative Republican. Each and every time she gives me an opportunity to refute a 'talking point' she's heard on the radio (or television), I begin by asking her questions about her assertion(s), and then I use Gandhi's Satyagraha. Typically, she will say, "I don't know all those facts and figures; I just know what I believe!" Despite this, I will continue to provide her with provable truths, because she is one of a significant number of conservatives who are NOT

...bigots, gun-happy crazies, sociopaths who would will death on the poor and uninsured, religious whackos, haters of the government and of taxes, and anti-science nuts.

In my current research, I have learned that intuitions trump strategic reasoning almost always. I cannot hope to 'change' my sister's mind, just as Democrats cannot hope to 'change' the minds of most Republicans.

However, considering that

In moral and political matters we are often groupish, rather than selfish. We deploy our reasoning skills to support our team, and to demonstrate commitment to our team.(Haidt, 2012)

perhaps one can deduce that using Satyagraha is more likely to get results than calling our conservative brethren derisive names.

BTW, much of the research in moral psychology shows that our species tends toward obdurate intellectual arrogance when it comes to religious or political beliefs, even in the face of irrefutable contradictory evidence.

Reasoning can take us to almost any conclusion we want to reach, because we ask "Can I believe it?" when we want to believe something, but "Must I believe it?" when we don't want to believe. The answer is almost always yes to the first question and no to the second. (Haidt, 2012)

If we hope to be successful in our efforts to recover our democracy, we might consider an intuitionist approach, with a bit more humility about individual abilities. Name-calling and chest-thumping may feel good in the short run, but are clearly not feasible for effective long-term change.

(P.S.--when I find myself facing a political bully (of any ilk), my responses are quite different. However, I will not tar every single conservative on this planet with that brush...)