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How should a person present new philosophic beliefs to his family and friends?

When a person decides that Objectivism is his own personal philosophy, how does he present that to family and friends? The point would not be to try to convince them to follow , but to say "look....this is what I believe, these are the principles by which I now live my life, please respect my right to do so?"

Anonymous , 19.03.2011, 07:49
Idea status: completed

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Jennifer Snow, 01.06.2011, 22:45
I have actually come to the conclusion that you shouldn't "present" your beliefs to your family, unless they ask you about them--and then it depends on how they ask. Different types of relationships are based on different things. Your family relationships are based, first and foremost, on the fact that, well, they raised you. They don't entail love, friendship, philosophical agreement, shared financial support, or whatever (although all of those things and more can be nice to have in a family.)

If you first establish proper boundaries within your family relationships about what they are and are not entitled to dictate to you, then you won't need to specially ask for respect for your new philosophical beliefs or sexual lifestyle or living arrangements or job or WHATEVER.

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