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I nearly lost a good friend over political differences yesterday on Facebook. We’ve known each other for thirty-two years, and worked together for the first eight.
In the time following President Trump’s election, I’ve learned that there is no point in arguing with a Trump supporter. This will sound pessimistic, but as far as I an tell, if someone still supports Trump at this late stage, there really is no common ground to form the basis of agreement with someone who doesn’t support Trump.
We were both polite. We stopped the conversation without unfriending or blocking each other. For a period of time, I wasn’t sure if we’d have such a fortunate outcome. I don’t know what the future will hold. Maybe it’ll just take one more Facebook post for us to part ways forever. For now, we’re still friends.
But… I doubt our relationship will ever be the same.
This has caused me to think about my values. I had to consider — which is more important: my friendships, or my position on political issues? And the answer is, it depends.
Position 1: Friendship Over Politics
Before the campaigns for the 2016 Republican and Democratic nominations for President, I had always maintained a sense of political optimism. I always believed that, whoever won, they were fundamentally decent people. Let’s…