Dear Jeff, this is a great question that fascinated me many years ago. I find myself in your situation, not necessarily with Born-Again Christians, but with people who are absolutely confinced of their beliefs to the exclusion of their awareness of other peoples' beliefs. All that stuff I've written on Master/Slave and Power of Passivity, etc. represent my solutions to the problem. But I think you have a specific question here - how to deal with it. So, let me be serious. There are two things I wanna say. I think it easy to Validate someone. And let me go further. I think that to Validate someone you must feel free to be and think differently. I don't think you Validate anyone when you think you agree. It could be that I am pretty picky about that word "Validate." (Look this up elsewhere on my website.) Thus Validating this person is a matter of listening, seeing their points of view, reflecting to them you grasping of their points of view. In doing this I am maintaining my point of view happily in my hands, while the other person isn't getting to hear it. "Oh, I get it. You really value such-and-such, and believe that all people should do so-and-so, because you believe that behavior is what you call right, and you want them to be happy. Did I get you?" I think the other part of your question is "how to skillfully get them to also see your point view as valid, too." This is more tricky. What I have done with these people is to a) never attack them or their beliefs, b) mirror and validate them, and c) provoke them (very gently) to curious about my beliefs. I did that with a wonderful client some years ago who was a very strong narcissist. It took quite a while. I mirrored and Validated him for hours and hours. He talked a lot. Every 15 minutes or so, I would drop into the conversation a brief and gentle comment that "I see things differently. But go on..." I saw myself as tickling him with my diversity. On he would go, chattng. Then again I would drop in that little note, "Well I don't agree with you but please tell me more." This went on for about 7 hours of therapy time. Then once he asked me, "Well what do you think?" I didn't think he was really seriously curious, so I just deflected him by a, "Well, but your last story was so interesting. Please go on." Finally at the end of 9 hours he stopped dead in his tracks, verbally. He was quiet. Then he said, "Look, Al, I didn't come to you to have you tell me I was all ok. I am messed up. I really need help." (Mind you in all of the 9 hours he had never referred to himself as being a problem or having difficulty. Everything was always someone else's trouble.) My response to his stopping and asking for help -- "Well, I think that now therapy can begin." I believe these self-centered people have to be invited into contacting our diversity, not pushed. Good luck.