Chimera said:
Not everything is a Conflict. Not everything needs to be seen as Winning and/or Losing. Not everything needs to be handled as being one extreme or the other.
Alas, for people with really strong beliefs (be they religious, political or whatever) that's not the case at all. If you say that, they might argue, then you're just siding with the Xists/the Y party/the Q scum or what have you.
If you have beliefs that strong, you have to appreciate it's going tobe a burden on your social life. I have an uncle who is a major member (and has been for decades now) of a political group, and we rarely see him because it's simply impossible to have him in a room without someone saying something he'll take umbridge to and leading to a huge, all-night warbling session. Anyone who behaves like that at the game table (or any social occasion, really) has to realise that if someone doesn't agree with them, it's only a matter of time before someone (maybe them) has to leave, because that's no fun to sit through at all.
In my own game we have people of varied politics and ethical stances, and since everyone I play with is a friend I've spent plenty of time talking with them in general before: ethical queries are, in fact, a common pondering point with us over lunches and what not. There is one player in paticular who can be a bit heavy on labouring his point and how all other points are CRAP!, but frankly we've known him enough years that we filter him out at times. Still, at the game table, we have no formal rule about politics coming up: but if I was playing with people I didn't know or people I thought it might be a problem with, I might consider implementing such a rule.
In game I don't tend to write scenarios with overtly preachy goals: but since I studies Politics and Religious Studies at University, there's no denying that sometimes bleeds into some of my ideas. In paticular, my game world has a city called Stardust which was a former patriarchal theocracy with legal slavery (especially of women) that recently had a revolution and the female slaves, under a Goddess of Liberation's cult, have deposed the current government. The players have heard of it often but have yet to visit, and if they do I'd make a point of showing dodgy elements to both groups so as to create a genuine "who the hell's side are we on?" situation. Perhaps there are elements in the set-up which might offend people: but if I may be so bold, only the kind of people who get offended about
something sooner or later. ;-)
So, back to HellHound's problem: In that situation, I'd probably speak to all the other players and say that the guy in question is coming off to you as quite abrasive and you find it hard to continue to play, despite enjoying the game otherwise, because you feel he's being incredibly impolite by refusing to drop the subject. Some of them might tell you they feel similar, or at least sympathise, and then from that you can broach the subject with the dude in question and tell him that his preaching is ruining your enjoyment of the game. He'll either think he's made a faux pas and make an effort to patch things up, or he'll tell you how wrong you are blah blah blah, at which point you can leave safe in the knowledge he's not a very nice person.
That's not even about politics. None of my friends gets to wish death on any of my other friends, and remain my friend. That ain't how it works.
