I'm currently in a tough crossroads point as an activist as in the past year I've converted to a belief system called the Consistent Life Ethic, which is promoted by groups like Rehumanize International. I've gotten pretty involved with Rehumanize and find it pretty rewarding. My beliefs on most issues haven't changed as I'm still extremely pro-environmental, pro-animal welfare, vegan-leaning vegetarian, pro-LGBT, etc. and my beliefs on some issues such as being anti-war and anti-death penalty, but the CLE is also conservative on some notable issues. I will not get into a debate as debating it has been the opposite of "sparks joy"(arigatou, Marie Kondo!), but conversions are very difficult as one can alienate your previous friends and supporters by now promoting views that much of the "base", if you will, of environmental and animal rights supporters does not agree with. On my mer-page for the most part I stick to eco and AR issues still, and I try not to go into detail about the more, shall we say, controversial aspects of the CLE, as I've got another non-mermaid FB page where I do post in detail about it, but I do still like to promote Rehumanize as their message is something I believe in. What I'm trying to say is I'm asking for advice: have any of you changed your opinions on an issue before as an activist, and found yourself in a tough spot between staying true to yourself and not alienating old friends? I think there's a cycle everyone goes through when they've converted to a new belief system, there's that over-zealous evangelist phase that tends to mellow out over time as you get used to your beliefs as the "new normal" for you. Have any of you also ever found yourself in a tough spot where you're too liberal for the conservative crowd and too conservative on some issues for the traditional liberal circles?
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