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Anonymous
| I am a fairly liberal democrat. In the past, when I was much younger, I had a narrow view of the world & would only associate with individuals that shared my views. Now that I am older, & DH & I are in a much higher income bracket, we have friends with diverse views. Good friends of ours are republican & I am finding that I no longer want to publicly post my liberal views on facebook or wherever to keep from offending anyone. Anyway, I never thought that I would be friends with Republicans - I am trying to figure out whether I am being true to my cause by no longer shouting out my liberal views, or is this just how mature individuals act in society? |
Anonymous
| OMG, I can't even believe this ridiculous question. There are so many things I want to say but my answer will be short. YES, mature individuals are friends with people on the opposite end of the political spectrum from themselves. and YES, mature individuals manage to be true to their views without shoving them down their friend's throats. |
Anonymous
| I am the same way and think it's probably maturity. For me it helps that Bush is not in office because I seriously had a hard time being with anyone who voted for him. |
Anonymous
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wow. the OP sure is an openminded and accepting "liberal". I personally think Obama is the biggest mistake as president we have had in well over 100 years. I can't think of anyone more unqualified for any office, and his first year in office has unforunately proven my opinions correct. BUT, great friends of mine are huge Obama supporters as are members of my very close family. What does that have to do with anything? We debate politics as part of our relationship. Would you rather be surrounded by an echo chamber of Yes Men? Opposing views are not a good thing?
Certainly being friends with liberals, socialists, libertarians, republicans, democrats, athiests, born-again types, catholics, jewish, baptists, hindu, whatever, and traveling all over the world has been great for me as my views and opinions have always been very fluid. I try to be a free thinker. I'm pro gun control, very pro immigration reform ("amnesty"), pro science, don't really care one way or another about gay marriage and ok with some forms of healthcare reform - all despite the fact that I usually vote the republican ballot 100%. I learn from others, and my views change as a result. Perhaps you being friends with these evil republicans will change their views as well? |
Anonymous
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I am staying away from facebook myself, so take this with a grain of salt, but it seems to me that posting your views there isn't necessarily shoving them down anyone's throats.
I think it's possible to post your views in a way that sincerely reflects your beliefs and doesn't foreclose the possibility that there are people of goodwill on all sides. If you want to post that you think it's a shame that we don't have a system for ensuring everyone can go to the doctor without going broke, that seems fine to me. If you want to say, it's a shame that our political process seems so partisan and broken, again that seems fine to me. If you want to say D's are always on the side of the angels and R's are demon spawn, you might think twice. You might be surprised to find the amount of common ground people can find, or I think it is also ok just to accept that you will likely not change anybody's mind and that you won't press the issues. |
Anonymous
| Yes, the Facebook problem. I'm very polite in person and avoid discussing politics with people who don't share my views. But should I have to tone myself down on Facebook? That doesn't seem right. Don't know which way to go on this yet. Hmmm....wonder what Miss Manners would say? |
Anonymous
You answered your own question. If you avoid discussing politics with people who don't share your views IN PERSON, wouldn't the same thing apply online? There are still people behind those FP accounts! 
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Anonymous
Yes but then that means that anyone I follow shouldn't say anything that might upset me. (And there are people who do.) But then they would need to guess at what offends me and any of the many other Facebook friends they have. And how are they going to do that and be consistent, especially since their other friends may have different views from me? To take it even further, none of my friends should write letters to the editor that disagree with my views since a person with real feelings (me) is reading the Washington Post. It gets pretty absurd when you try to be consistent. So go ahead and roll your eyes, but it's not anywhere near as cut and dried as you're making it out to be. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
| Just curious, OP. How old are you? |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
*cough* PALIN *cough* OP, I think it's maturity. We saw how damaging the Bush years were to our national political culture when they steadfastly refused to make bipartisan efforts. We can't very well bash them for that, then turn around and exclude conservatives from our own lives. Though, one of my closest friends from high school just "became a fan of Glenn Beck" on facebook. I'm not sure the kumbaya circle can get THAT big! 
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
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OP, you can control what level of access these friends have to your page. You can restrict what they see.
I feel your pain. I hesitate to post things I want too because of conservative friends. I don't want to be offensive to them. I don't find your question offensive. |
Anonymous
| I'm conservative and don't post anything political to FB. I don't care to have my FB page become a battleground for my liberal and conservative friends. For one, they all know how I feel about specific issues and two, there are other places for that type of discussion. Like DCUM. |