Friends with opposing political views

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

EmilyBono

The Fly
Joined
Nov 5, 2002
Messages
103
Yay, my first post in this very interesting forum! I got a new job over the summer and now have a lot of new friends who work there. I am a very liberal person and all of these new friends are very conservative, but I still get along with them very well. We just don't really talk about politics much because we already know we don't agree with each other and nothing is going to change that. My only problem is that they will talk amongst themselves about things when I'm there and it seems that they pretty much think anyone who doesn't believe what they believe is an idiot. That's just not right to me. When I say that I am liberal, I am liberal to the point where I just believe everyone should have the right to think what they want to think, and I'm not going to think someone is "stupid" just because they disagree with me! That's just silly :) Open mindedness is the key.
So how do you interact with your politically polar opposite friends?
 
My parents are die-hard conservatives and I'm a liberal (at least I am compared to them.) It's really, really difficult sometimes. I think we have finally reached a point where we have an unspoken agreement to try to avoid the subject. They still make cracks about Kerry or whatnot now and then, but I try to bite my tongue. At least my dad doesn't listen to Rush Limbaugh in the car anymore when I'm going somewhere with him.

I went to a family get-together last weekend and I was afraid it was going to be one big fight about politics with the election so close (my siblings are much more liberal than my parents as well - poor mom and dad, they probably wonder every day of their lives where they went wrong), but nothing happened.
 
EmilyBono said:
Yay, my first post in this very interesting forum! I got a new job over the summer and now have a lot of new friends who work there. I am a very liberal person and all of these new friends are very conservative, but I still get along with them very well. We just don't really talk about politics much because we already know we don't agree with each other and nothing is going to change that. My only problem is that they will talk amongst themselves about things when I'm there and it seems that they pretty much think anyone who doesn't believe what they believe is an idiot. That's just not right to me. When I say that I am liberal, I am liberal to the point where I just believe everyone should have the right to think what they want to think, and I'm not going to think someone is "stupid" just because they disagree with me! That's just silly :) Open mindedness is the key.
So how do you interact with your politically polar opposite friends?

I've always found "work friends" different than friends. And I try not to discuss politics or religion at work ('cause no one ever agrees with me! I think most are convinced I'm going to Hell! Imagine! Me!:angel: ). If their discussions irritate, leave if at all possible, just walk off. You won't change them, and work isn't the place to try anyway.
 
I don't discuss religion or politics in public. Well, I do talk religion with someone at work who's also a practicing Catholic, but that's it, and not very often, only when we're praying our way through some sort of crisis like an assault followed by a visit by the friendly local police officers. I'm a liberal and a Kerry supporter. Most people in my parish are conservative and will vote for Bush. I really don't mind because I think the most important thing in public life is freedom of conscience, the freedom of every voter to decide who they want and then to vote for that person. Without my conservative buddies our democracy wouldn't work and that would be disastrous for everyone.
 
some of my great guy pals are staunchly conservative, and we get along fabulously anyway. we often have heated debates about politics, the economy, international goings-on, etc., but it's all in good fun and no one ever walks away feeling personally attacked or offended. it helps that we all have sharp senses of humour, so a lot of the time our exchanges are tempered with good-natured ribbing.

i welcome getting to know people with different points of view. they challenge me by helping me to see the world in a different light. who wants around people who agree with everything you think all the time?

at work, i do my best to keep my views under wraps. for most people, work is not the place for heated political debate--too much at stake.
 
What matters most to me is how someone conducts his or her self when expressing political views, and what type of person they are. Hey I even like a few Republicans :D

I can get long perfectly well w/ someone of opposing views as long as they're not rude or insulting while expressing them. And as long as they respect my views and discuss things w/ out wigging out. It's refreshing when people can see past partisanship and perhaps consider new ways of looking at things.
 
None of my friends share my political views. They're all very well informed though so I don't feel it's my place to try to change their minds.
 
I try to avoid it. When I'm in a group of people and the debate story comes on, I just say, oh no, not politics. I really don't want to know where people stand on issues for 2 reasons, one, I don't want to fight, and two, I can't help but lose respect for people as human beings when I find out some of the evil crap they support or justify and I don't want to do that so I'd rather not know. People do judge each other by where they stand politically, me them, them me, so it's best to not discuss it if you want to stay friends. I have noticed that, other than on this board, most of the people I have chosen as friends turned out to ironically be on the same side of most issues as me and many times it took me years to find this out because I don't discuss it.
 
LarryMullen's_POPAngel said:
Nothing is worse than going on a huge rant about Bush then having a good friend look at you and say, "I'm a Republican, April."

:eek: :reject:

i've done that :ohmy:

i TRY to be as polite as possible. but when my arch nemisis is such a jerk that even his fellow republicans absolutely loathe him and are ashamed of him it's difficult to be nice. for instance he and i had a point/counterpoint article on bush vs. kerry for the school newspaper and today he got in my face and said "my article is better than yours!" i bit my tongue and kindly said "its all a matter of opinion." i could go on and on about what a mean/arrogant person he is but i'll stop.
 
I have friends and family members who are waaaay more conservative than I am and a few who are a lot more liberal...it doesn't matter to me. I have one son who is an ultra liberal Democrat and another who is an ultra conservative young Republican and I respect both of their veiwpoints.

I am not offended if my conservative sister-in-law goes on a pro-Bush rant or my nephew threatens to move to Canada if Bush is re-elected...those are their views, not mine. If I happen to agree, great, but I'm not going to get angry or argue with them about it.

One of my closest friends is horrified that I was a life-long Republican and was thrilled when I re-registered as an Independent but I doubt she would have distanced herself from me had a stayed with my original party.

That said, I also make it a point to avoid most political discussions with my close friends because I don't like to argue :wink:
 
Bono's American Wife said:
I have one son who is an ultra liberal Democrat and another who is an ultra conservative young Republican and I respect both of their veiwpoints.

I think that's really cool. You can rest easy knowing you've raised your kids to be open minded and make their own political decisions. :up:
 
Bono's American Wife said:
I have one son who is an ultra liberal Democrat and another who is an ultra conservative young Republican and I respect both of their veiwpoints.

:up: BAW.....
Just got off the phone with my son 10 minutes ago who before we hung up, I was pounding the arm of the couch saying he can't think/speak that way.
Even if he is my son. I wasn't quite so accommodating when, as he put it, "Teresa Hines Kerry should shut up and step back where she belongs untill after the election". Yes I want Kerry elected, but I just go off on anyone stating someone should stay in some pre-conceived place.
But then we agreed to meet for lunch tomorrow. So all's well. For the moment.
(just for the record he was a staunch Bush supporter - last year)

Edited to say: Then I mentioned I really like Keith Oberman, who he was also watching on MSNBC at the time, and he said "that's just because you're a democrat?? Lunch will be interesting tomorrow.
 
Last edited:
The majority of the loved ones in my life have opposing view than I. I still love them the same. Some I talk politics with, some I don't.

This week I've been out of town at a convention. I was speaking to some collegues of mine and we got into the discussion of politics(which seems impossible not to this close to the election). But I heard the most disturbing thing I've ever heard. There was a group of us talking about the election, people from all over who were in the same industry as I. One girl brings up the fact that she's embarassed by how the president still can't speak proper english. One of the men in the group started to jump all over her and called her ignorant and intolerant. He said "you can't judge him because of that, that's just how Texans speak." :| He didn't know that my co-worker and I are from Texas. I couldn't believe that people have this stereotype of Texas, especially a conservative. I was dumbfounded and crushed. I've never been more embarassed that W's from Texas than that at that moment.
 
I have friends from all different walks of life. I can tolerate different viewpoints even though I may not agree. The only thing I cannot tolerate is racism. If that were to happen that person would be crossed out.
 
LarryMullen's_POPAngel said:
Nothing is worse than going on a huge rant about Bush then having a good friend look at you and say, "I'm a Republican, April."

:eek: :reject:

My mother has done that about a million times. She and I have different personalities, I'm like my dad. She actually thinks it's funny. I don't.
 
I could not tollerate one friend after they went left, and kept on driving. Justifying mass murder and saying the world would be better off after a genocide (wiping out Israel) was off-putting. Anyway I have new friends, better friends - apolitical friends.
 
A_Wanderer said:
I could not tollerate one friend after they went left, and kept on driving. Justifying mass murder and saying the world would be better off after a genocide (wiping out Israel) was off-putting. Anyway I have new friends, better friends - apolitical friends.

Yeah, I avoid hanging out with people that believe that the world would be better off after a genocide too. :(
 
There's a verse from a Billy Joel song I particularly like:

I believe I've passed the age
of consciousness and righteous rage
I found that just surviving was a noble fight
I once believed in causes too
I had my pointless point of view
But life went on no matter who was wrong or right
 
Back
Top Bottom