Michelle Cottle gives advice to politically mixed families on Thanksgiving:
On some level, such frictions have always been a part of getting together with family. (If you didn’t argue about politics, you argued about religion or sports or the proper way to cook brisket.) Some experts, however, see things growing actively more tense of late, for many of the same reasons that the broader political landscape has become so polarized.
In terms of our substantive beliefs, the nation has not become radically more divided, clarifies relationship specialist Richard E. Hall, author of the book This Land of Strangers. The big shift, he says, is that “we have exaggerated our differences and joined tribes that celebrate and exaggerate those differences and do battle over them.” As the battle intensifies, notes Hull, so do people’s sense of being wounded.
The Dish 