Kells, just wanted to say that I'll be thinking of you and your H - and SD too.
Plenty of less extreme examples of people accepting difference out there - millions, actually.
It can be particularly difficult to see now, with a lot of rhetoric promoting rejection of difference as somehow the right thing to do. Acceptance and tolerance are not en vogue, at least according to the media...
Whatever is behind SD's current views, you've always had her best interests - and H's - front and center. On some level, SD must know this.
I agree- it's not only politics, it's how a pwBPD processes political messages and their own lack of a strong sense of self, along with modern media.
Politics seemed to be less of a focus when I was a teen. I knew when there was an election and who my parents voted for but it wasn't a part of their identity. During the early days of the "women's movement" my mother joined a group with her friend but the ideas didn't lead to her taking action. The focus was women being able to get into the workforce- which this friend did, but BPD mother didn't act on the ideas. Dad rarely mentioned politics.
I think the combination of political rheroric and black and white BPD thinking may enhance each other. One side all good, one side all bad but each situation is more nuanced than this. In more recent times, I'd hear BPD mother repeat a slogan about a candidate that I think she must have heard from a friend or read somewhere but if we discussed it further, I am not sure she entirely believed the slogan either.
19 year olds are impressionable and also lack the experience and critical thinking skills of an adult. They are also more concerned with peer pressure and fitting in. Add to this, a parent with BPD and how that parent processes- and their peer group. I agree that Kells- you and your H have provided a lot of stability and done a lot of good for the girls and I think they know that at some level, even if they aren't able to comprehend it all yet.
