Another Texan here that was in education but I got out because of people like the one you described (and a general feeling of burn out).

Sorry to hear that about the interaction and the fact that the guy is integral/HR. I’m sort of amazed that he didn’t change or grow as a person after having traveled and moved around like that, but I guess that goes to show you can’t really teach someone who doesn’t want to learn. Having grown up in Texas I can understand that way of conservative thinking, but luckily thanks to having been exposed to different ways of thinking and cultures, I can never empathize with that kind of thinking. I’m tired at this point and if a republican coworker of mine really wants to fight me over how great their cult is, I’m just gonna turn the cheek and walk away, like I don’t think it’s worth the effort anymore to even engage with them over politics.