My dad keeps spamming me with political hate mail

[viba424]

My dad has really been annoying me lately by spamming me with political hate mail ever since the election. What I mean by that is that he forwards me (and half his address list) lies and tall tales that are simply ridiculous. You know he never bothers to fact check anything...he just forwards it.

We have always been very close and we would always understand and respect each other. However, ever since the election he seems to have gotten weirdly opinionated. He is a veteran and businessman and I can understand someone his age being opinionated, but there is a time when you stop. Especially when someone asks you to stop. Talking politics and family doesnt mix. We have gotten into it many times and I told him he seriously needs to shut up about it. He kind of just laughs it off.

He stopped for a while and now today I got something else. DH tells me to stop taking the bait. Today when I got that message I replied and said I thought he was going to stop this. I also did a "reply all" and placed a link to a snopes article debunking what he said and said you shouldnt believe everything you read; that just because it came in an email doesnt make it true. If he wants to spam me, well then bring it.

What do I do? Ignore? Is it fair that I am frustrated? I just feel his behavior is so inappropriate and I dont want him to turn into an old crab. I feel irritated like he is trying to provoke me, at least sometimes. Yuck, I wish he would stop this!

[kdeunc]

Just hit the delete button. I decided long ago that it wasn't a fight worth fighting. Anyone who believes some of the crap that gets forwarded to me isn't going to change their mind with a snopes link. If they want to believe that Obama is a secret closet Muslim communist born in Kenya or George Bush perpertrated 9-11 let them. I don't have time for that mess! :shrug:

[edurnemk]

I also have resorted to deleting the emails without even opening them. I have responded to one or two with links and real information and asking them not to forward things that they don't know is true, but I kept getting the emails. Worse still, my mom and an aunt have resorted to forwarding every piece of cr@p that comes in their inbox, asking me if it's true or if I can find out for them... yeah, like I don't have enough to do.

So my rule is that if it looks from the subject line or the attachment like it's a dumb, corny or annoying forward I autmatically delete it without opening. I'm not getting into any more arguments, but I'm not wasting my time reading it either. And if they ask me if I read it, I'm honest and say "no, sorry, you know I don't read forwarded emails like that"

I don't think you can really do anything to prevent your dad from adopting this attitude, but fighting him may fuel it more.

[viba424]

I agree.

I have a small child now and have more important things to do than debate with him.

Can't he just send me an email thanking me for the lovely framed picture of his infant granddaughter I sent him for fathers day? Nope. Can he send me an email asking how she is doing or how big she is getting? Nope. Instead he wants to spam me and 20 other people with lies. I dont care who you voted for. Forwarding stuff like that around is toxic and fuels so many people in a negative way. He doesnt seem to think there is any harm in it. I didnt ask for this. He needs to seriously leave me alone right now.

[larig]

My dad has really been annoying me lately by spamming me with political hate mail ever since the election. What I mean by that is that he forwards me (and half his address list) lies and tall tales that are simply ridiculous. You know he never bothers to fact check anything...he just forwards it.

We have always been very close and we would always understand and respect each other. However, ever since the election he seems to have gotten weirdly opinionated. He is a veteran and businessman and I can understand someone his age being opinionated, but there is a time when you stop. Especially when someone asks you to stop. Talking politics and family doesnt mix. We have gotten into it many times and I told him he seriously needs to shut up about it. He kind of just laughs it off.

He stopped for a while and now today I got something else. DH tells me to stop taking the bait. Today when I got that message I replied and said I thought he was going to stop this. I also did a "reply all" and placed a link to a snopes article debunking what he said and said you shouldnt believe everything you read; that just because it came in an email doesnt make it true. If he wants to spam me, well then bring it.

What do I do? Ignore? Is it fair that I am frustrated? I just feel his behavior is so inappropriate and I dont want him to turn into an old crab. I feel irritated like he is trying to provoke me, at least sometimes. Yuck, I wish he would stop this!

I think what you did is appropriate and mature. It's right to fight ignorance with facts and information. If you don't maybe someone on your father's list will be influenced negatively by false information. Your approach is what my mom takes when a friend sends something she thinks is misleading, false etc. and I think she is the epitome of class. You can be classy and still not tolerate this nonsense.

Alternatively, you could see if you could just "bounce" the email back to him.

[JTsMom]

I had a family member who did the same thing, and I eventually changed my email addy, and didn't clue her in. It's very annoying.

[lizzywednesday]

My stepfather does this all.the.time. but it increases in frequency when he's anxious about something else.

He is a cancer survivor, vet and has a diagnosis of OCD (with a hoarding bent) ... and has been going through treatments for bladder & prostate cancer lately.

There have been times I've been tempted to filter him into my Spam folder.

I like the guy, but we don't see eye-to-eye politically and he knows it.

[cvanbrunt]

I hear you. My FIL is the most hateful, racist, political junkie with trigger finger on the forward button. Been going on for years. It gives my DH a stomach ache everytime something from him shows up in the inbox. My husband has been archiving all of them in a special folder that he is planning to show his dad when he finally asks why we won't let him and his wife near our children. There is just no way we will expose our girls to the vile stuff that regularly comes out of their mouths. One of their older grandchildren was visiting once and called them on their racist chatter. They put him on the next plane home and haven't spoken to him since. Lovely people, they are.

We don't know if he thinks we think the same way too because we never respond. Anyway, there's nothing really to do about it. My thought is to delete without reading and save yourself the heartburn.

[boolady]

My FIL emails us political junk almost every day. We just delete it without reading.

[kijip]

I took the step of just blocking my relative's email. She only ever sent political crap (this was before Obama but I shudder to think what she must be sending now, her stuff years and years before was openly racist towards African Americans) and I never wanted to read it, so no need to inconvenience all my legit email senders with a change of address, I just blocked all of her emails. She is oblivious to this, but that's ok. I don't need to change her mind, I have better and more effective things to do with my time. :)

[ewpmsw]

I sent out polite requests for family to stop sending me their political crap and it got me nowhere. The more emotional, cease-and-desist message I sent (under the inflluence of pregnancy hormones) was more effective. I wouldn't do it again under saner circumstances, but it did work. Mentioning that you delete or ignore all their emails might make a difference. "Gee, I'll probably miss something important someday, that would be a shame..."