I have an islamophobic, valor stealing, uncle.

[GetLucky]

Just take a step back and evaluate. Politics aren't worth losing family over. Calling him out would do nothing but make both of you angrier. Every member of my family was raised in the south. My parents were the only ones to "get out" of the alcoholism and move north; thankfully I was raised with northern values. However, some of my great aunts/uncles and cousins are disgustingly either racist, sexist, or islamophobic. It's terrible, but I put up with it becuase I love them. I may nudge them in the right direction when I see them (by making a discouraging comment or drawing a line and saying, "Please not in my house"), and they usually respect that adn apologize for their out-of-place comment(s), but at the end of the day they still believe it. This is kind of different because it's behind a computer screen. I'm sure, to reiterate what you said, that your uncle doesn't go on crazy, islamophobic rants very often to other faces, but he is experiencing the phenomena that everyone feels- empowerment behind a computer screen. I don't know if there is any "ignore" function on Facebook, as I'm not on it, but if there is any way to not see his posts with no negative connotation (such as "unfriend," "unfollow," or "block") I would do that. It's not necessarily his behavior, or even his personality, that bothers you- because he's not like that in person and he probably never mentions it in everyday conversation- it is his online persona. I'd act accordingly.

At the end of the day, everything "belongs" on the Internet (there are no established or widely-accepted boundaries regarding what to say or how to act), so I try to not take what people post/say there at face value. It brings out the worst in some people, while in reality the phobias, mean-spirited thoughts, and false bravado are probably less than 1% of your uncle's actual personality.

[Ogaju]

I doubt that most people believe what he posts. All biographical information on the internet must be subject to an update of the Reagan Rule distrust until verified.

[slamtheking]

if you're hellbent on calling him out about his Marine status, introduce him to someone who's actually served. 

as for the islamaphobe issues, that typically won't change unless confronted by someone he knows that's Islamic but he doesn't know they're Islamic. 

[feckless]

At the right time, in a friendly, inquisitive, but not challenging tone just ask  " I thought you did not complete boot camp--what happened?"  How long were you in the Marines?

Having made it through Parris Island I saw guys driven out because they would have lowered the D.I.'s percentages on various tests, programs etc..  I still consider my 2 years in the Marines as a rather sadistic experience, I met some great people, but also encountered an extraordinary amount of ignorance.

The Parris Island scenes in Full Metal Jacket are quite accurate, from my time there in the early 1970's.

[indeedproceed]

I feel bad for you JSD. I have a racist brother in law. Drives me nuts. Can't stand it. Unfriended him, won't allow him to talk politics in front of me. Maybe that makes me less likable. I'll get over it.

[JSD]

I realize I seem like I'm more upset about the stolen valor than the Islamophobia. Thing is, I know my uncle is not a hard-line Islamophobic. He just posts a lot of borderline crap memes like, "Something is wrong in this country when this so so veteran only gets $1200 a month while this so and so Muslim refugee gets $1700" and blah blah blah. Like Curt Schilling type stuff. We Christians from the Middle East seem to have to go out of our way to tell people we are not Muslim (Shamefully, I subtly played a part in it too when I was younger). I think that has more to do with it than anything else. It's still annoying to me. It plays perfectly into his "I'm a salty veteran" online persona. The stolen valor stuff really rustles my jimmies. I've been through a paramilitary environment where people who couldn't hack it were dropping left and right. For someone to claim something like that that they didn't earn just doesn't sit well with me at all.

I'm probably going to just take the good advise given here and bite my tongue. If I do say anything maybe I'll do it casually like one poster suggested.

[mef730]

"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it."

-George Bernard Shaw

[dannyboy35]

That stinks. I encounter islamaphobia at many family gatherings as well as homophobia. It's always coming from a " Christian value" stance.  I usually have some facts handy to throw them off and regarding homophobia I steal from Ricky Gervais. " oh, being gay is a choice is it? Well, why don't you have a go? Give it a try." I think turning it on people unexpectedly can get bigoted people to change the subject.

[apc]

I unfollowed a few people on FB, still friends, but you don't see all the BS their posting.

[Emmette Bryant]

Funny story.  I am the crazy uncle in my family.

My politics are center-left. And a I'm a veteran.   My family is all reactionary tea partiers. None have served their country.  They hate gays, Hillary, and libtards. They are all evangelical Christians. They're all voting for Trump.

I have no idea how I ended up different from all of them.

Don't need advice.  Just thought it was funny that my problem was the exact opposite of the OP.

[Roy H.]

"Something is wrong in this country when this so so veteran only gets $1200 a month while this so and so Muslim refugee gets $1700"

Take out the word Muslim and I agree with your uncle.  When we can't take care of our own, I'm hesitant to invite others over here. I also appreciate your uncle's pro-military stance.

I've got plenty of friends who post radical political thoughts on my FB page. My father in law is a leftist who makes Elizabeth Warren look soft. The stuff is irritating, but it's easy to ignore.

[manl_lui]

"Something is wrong in this country when this so so veteran only gets $1200 a month while this so and so Muslim refugee gets $1700"

Take out the word Muslim and I agree with your uncle.  When we can't take care of our own, I'm hesitant to invite others over here. I also appreciate your uncle's pro-military stance.

I've got plenty of friends who post radical political thoughts on my FB page. My father in law is a leftist who makes Elizabeth Warren look soft. The stuff is irritating, but it's easy to ignore.

I agree, I am always in the boat "I want to help, but we can barely feed ourselves...can we fix our problem first before helping someone else?"

[guava_wrench]

People like that are not worth confronting because they're set in their ways and not open to a point of view that differs from theirs, no matter how convincing the evidence is. Your best option is to edit your Facebook settings to prevent any of his posts from showing up in your news feed.

I agree.  I have started to block people that post manure I don't like.  I'm not changing their mind and they sure as heck aren't changing mine.  My Facebook feed is for me, no one else, and I'll make it what I want to see.

Interesting that he's not that way in person.  It's all too easy for people to hide behind their on-line persona.

And just allow him to continue to fool people into thinking he's a veteran?

Does that matter on social media?

[green_bballers13]

What if you threw in little comments like "Ok, Ann Coulter". He almost can't get overly sensitive to that if he's telling people that he's a tough guy Marine.