Former friends.

[Burning Water]

I've read several posts lately about conservatives who are now "former friends" of the poster. Evidently, the causes of the break-ups were political differences. For myself, I can't think of a single friend that I have broken up with over political differences, or that has broken up with me. If we don't agree, we just avoid politics and religion. Although I had a conservative girl-friend once. We broke up on something besides politics, though. Another conservative friend I broke up with because she was a back-stabbing bitch. But I broke up with a liberal male friend for the same reason.

So, my questions are these, for anyone who chooses to answer:

Have you ever broken up with a conservative friend over politics?

Was this the only reason, or were there other factors involved?

Did you initiate the break up, or did the other person?

What was the specific issue that led to the break up?

Do you ever regret it?

I'm on a break right now, and have to return to work. I may not be able to post for a while, but I will return later.

[Beware the Beast Man]

1. No. I have friends who are conservative,

and though they are sadly misguided in terms of their politics, I would not swear them off as friends.

[Burning Water]

12. That's sort of my opinion.

However, there seem to be those that would.

[Shine]

2. No, I have never had that happen.

first of all, most of my friends are on the same page as me, politically speaking. But even so, I can't imagine cutting somebody out of my life simply because they have a different opinion than I do. That's just not my style.

And furthermore, I don't think of it as "breaking up" so much as simply drifting apart because we don't have as much in common anymore.

I've had that happen with friends, regardless of their political leanings.

:hi:

I like your username, btw. :D

[Shell Beau]

3. Friendship goes beyond politics!

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

4. I tried to avoid political discussion with my now former friend, but...

he kept bringing it up. When I was moving out of his house, I overheard him tell another friend
(who was helping me move) that he kept bringing up politics to "get me pissed off, becuase he thought it was funny."
The guy's got some control issues with his life. He has no control over his life anymore, so he has to
try to take control of whatever he can. It was at that point I decided he wasn't a friend.

I don't regret it one bit. That hypocritical maggot can take his holier-than-thou life and
shove it up his ass. I say he's "holier-than-thou" because he goes on and on about the "sancticy of marriage"
in one breath (can't let those gays get married, you know) and then in the other breath talks about
filing for divorce because his wife has a gambling problem. And then there was the time I caught him
kissing a "friend" in the hallway of his house while his wife was outside with the kids.
So he's a typical hypocritical Republican: do what I say, just don't do what I do.

So, when I moved out, I decided that I wouldn't tolerate his hypocricy anymore. And I cut him off.
He's one of only two (former) friends I've cut ties with, and that was becuase I put up with a lot of his
crap for years.

The other now-former friend said my dad was evil, part of an evil organizaiton, and was actively trying to bring about the anti-Christ.
My Dad's an architect...and a Shriner...and a Mason. So I took that kind of personally.
(I'm waiting for the anti-Mason tinfoil hatters to show up now).

Don't regret that one. But I have as few other "conservative" friends. But I find it hard to be friends with someone
who doesn't share my values.

[Burning Water]

17. Sounds to me like

it wasn't that he was a conservative; it was that he was an asshole. The two are not necessarily related as I've known several liberal assholes including the friend mentioned in my original post, and a former boss. I've also known some decent conservatives.

Mainly we got along by not discussing politics.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

21. Hah! It think he was both, actually...

I had enough conversations with him in the past to know that he doesn't think he "deserves" what he has
for a life. He's blamed his not returning to college to finish out his major on everyone but himself,
including his wife.

There are assholes all over the place, I'll admit. But as I said, I have a hard time now relating to
anyone who is a conservative (Republican, libertarian, what have you) because they simply don't
share my values. How can I relate to someone who doesn't believe what I believe? Perhaps politics
is too deep in my being now.

Hell, every time my brother tries to talk politics, I hang up on him and don't speak to him for several
days. (maybe just a little bit petty, but you try speaking to someone who talks to you like you're 12
and doesn't reps ct your opinion or any facts you bring to the argument.)
He's finally gotten the hint that yes, I will still speak to him because he's my brother, but
if he wants to try to convince me that we actually found WMD in Iraq or the media is actually liberal,
I'll be talking to him at a later date.

(Edited for spelling mistakes)

[Crazy Dave]

5. A divided nation is easier to conquer than a united one

All these politicians and talk show hosts telling you to hate your neighbor or that your neighbor is the cause of all your problems seems to be working and how convenient for them. One gets more ratings and ad revenues, the other gets more votes and gets to spend more of your tax dollars to make you hate your neighbor even more next election.

[DS1]

6. I typically don't get along with conservative mindsets

so it's never been a real issue

[deadparrot]

7. Where I come from,

you're almost certainly going to have conservatives as friends. And I do...many of them. Like others have said, they are misguided (but several are beginning to see the light--one of my good friends who happens to be fairly conservative just called Tony Blair "Bush's bitch.") in terms of politics, but I chalk that up to them growing up in a kind of bubble--upper middle class, white Catholic suburbia. We've gone through a lot together, though, and those moments will always trump politics for me.

[Burning Water]

13. that's my

situation, too. If I didn't hang out with conservatives, I'd have to stay at home.

[BigMcLargehuge]

8. anwer (with a comment)

Have you ever broken up with a conservative friend over politics?

No. I have several friends who proclaim themselves "dyed in the wool" conservatives. We argue politics then go out for beer. I've known these guys since I was a kid and we have decades of common ground that eclipses any defining argument over something as out of our control as politics.

[Burning Water]

14. I feel that way.

Yet, I read all the time here about people that don't talk to people they formerly were friends with. None of them seem to have answered my post yet, though.

[azmouse]

9. A friend of my husband decided not to be friends with us

any more because we hated the RW god, Raygun. Hey it was his problem not ours to dislike us because of our liberal political beliefs. Good riddance to him.

[jukes]

10. yes

i had a friend, an avowed lesbian (i'm a dude). i am NOT 1 of those guys that think lesbians are just dying for some hairy guy to sit around watching them w/ their lovers. that's just silly.

we had some mutual interests in animal-care. seemed to be quite nice.

one day she casually used the word "nigger" in my presence. i was appalled, both at the gross word used so casually, and the thought of a member of an oppressed minority lacking sympathy for another minority.

we haven't spoken since. i just can't bring myself to accept her racism.

[Burning Water]

15. Thanks for your

reply. That makes sense.

[CanuckAmok]

11. I've had friendships get less intimate.

One of my closest friends is a hard-core right-winger. He's racist, homophobic, and one of those guys who's always accusing people of succumming to "PC" pressure because they don't agree with his oligarchy.

We're still friends, but we don't talk as much, in part because we have less that we can talk about and remain civil.

[Burning Water]

16. Take up chess.

You can be together and not have to talk at all.}(

[CanuckAmok]

20. No, we can't do that.

He's really good at chess.

[Burning Water]

27. You can get

good at it, too. Like anything else, it takes a little study, and thought.

I've joined a chess club, bought some books, and when I think I won't totally embarrass myself, I plan to enter a tournament. Hey, I'm nearing retirement age, and I have to have something to do besides hang out on discussion forums.

[Strong Atheist]

18. There are people that don't talk to FAMILY because of politics. I have

grown apart from friends, but usually not over politics...

I would not dump family over POLITICS. I have over other things (but only distant family; no one close. That would take even more...)

[Gidney N Cloyd]

19. I could probably continue a friendship with a thinking paleo conservative

but anyone who thinks bush is anything more than a bumbling fascist bastard or, perhaps worse, has a 'my party right or wrong' attitude isn't worth my time.

[SOteric]

22. I have a hand full of conservative friends,

and I have never broken off a friendship over politics. The closest conservative friend I have is a woman with whom I've much in common, including our religious faith, our work and our relationships with men. There's a wealth of material for conversation that doesn't involve politics. When we do talk about politics it's more in the line of good-natured teasing. She calls me a long-haired liberal, and I tease her about her devotion to Rush Limbaugh.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

23. I can be aquaintences with conservatives...

but not real friends.

My politics reflect my values - why on earth would I be friends with somone who does't share my basic value system? :shrug:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

24. Mostly just drifted away, not a permanent severance of ties or contact.

I remember one friend in particular, not a super close friend, where the moment it happened was after Colin Powell's speech to the U.N.

He was bought into the idea that this great war would pay for itself. Of course, he had just gotten out of the military not long before. I was almost sputtering aloud in rage.

We've spoken since, but we drifted apart that day.

[TheBaldyMan]

25. My thoughts can be summed up in the well known phrase: "I've often

thought of murder but divorce ? Never! "

Conservative friends are just friends you have more political arguments with. I sometimes get a kick from trying to shock or exasperate them.

[Burning Water]

26. Well, I like to argue

politics, too. But only with complete strangers, or else with friends that I know can take it as well as dish it out. I can do it, myself, but quite frankly have met few conservatives OR liberals that can. A libertarian I once knew was pretty good at it.

[TheBaldyMan]

28. There are several ways you can tell if you have the best of an argument

• They change the subject to something completely different
• They ignore what you said as if they have just been struck deaf for a few seconds
• When really pushed they just flatly deny that you are right
• When asked to provide proof or a single eyewitness they say 'lots of people, all over the place' with a suspicious lack of anything to support this

I remember many moons ago getting one over a RWer calling them to the TV to see this 'brilliant band' and it was the Specials playing 'Free Nelson Mandela', the look on their face was priceless :rofl:

They did see the funny side but stomped off swearing revenge. :evilgrin:

[XemaSab]

29. Nope

I enjoy talking politics with my conservative friends.

[AirmensMom]

30. I have ...

She was allowed to gush about how much she loves *, but I wasn't allowed to express my opinion. She got really mad at me for that. Then we tried to not discuss politics. It was pretty hard when I found out that my daughter might have to go to Iraq while my friend was bragging about packing up her son and sending him to college. I still bit my tongue about that. Right after Hurricane Katrina, she emailed me, asking if I wanted to make plans the next day. All I could picture was * eating cake and strumming the guitar. But I just told her I didn't feel like it b/c I was upset about the hurricane.

I called her after Hurricane Wilma, but she didn't come to the phone and I had to leave a message with her snotty little daughter. I asked how everyone was, etc. and said I was concerned about them, which was true. By the time she called back and left a message, our phone was dead for the next week. But she never even asked how we were -- just said she was calling back. She never answered my last email.

Yeah, I regret it. And I miss her. But we can't get back what's lost. And I don't think the problem is simply that she's conservative. It's more that she's brainwashed and a * worshiper. She brags that she only watches Faux news and about her family's repug connections. I can't hide my disdain for all that, especially the worse things get.

[Ariana Celeste]

31. hmm. 2. but not simply because they were conservative.

1. A chick I knew online that I talked on the phone with too- we were both online a *lot* and chatted in religious "debate" chat rooms on MSN together (where I also met my SO and a couple of other friends...). It really seemed like we were on the same page until just a couple months before elections. I don't know if she is a *real* Freeper or not, but I would not be the least bit surprised- the shit that came out of her mouth, the talking points, every last argument she gave, were the same things we see in their boards. Anywho. She and I got into a heated argument and afterwards agreed (or so I thought) to not talk politics. Well, she didn't stop. So we didn't talk for a couple of months... and since then we rarely talk and when we do it's uncomfortable and just not the same.

2. My grandpa's wife- not a friend- but I did cut contact with the woman by blocking her email, because I got tired of the right wing propaganda that she kept sending me... I had replied to a few of them, we even had a couple of arguments, I had refuted some of the emails- so she knows where I stand, and kept sending them. And the religious ones really bothered me too- they weren't happy religious Jesus-love messages but mean spirited blackmail using scripture against you type of messages, and I'm not down with that at all. Anywho. It's not like this woman was ever a big part of my life, I saw her maybe once a year if even that, and she and my grandpa never went out of *their* way to see us, we always had to see them out of guilt and a feeling of obligation, going way out of our way.

I know others online that send me religious messages, and as long as they are happy and true to Jesus, I don't mind them at all- I can send them to the other Christians I know. I also have many conservatives in my family, and I have a conservative friend that I hang out with regularly- we can discuss politics a little bit, but they aren't malicious and in my face about it. And if I ask to change the subject (or just change the subject) they are cool with that. Friend #1 was not cool with it, and was stubborn as hell.

[reyd reid reed]

32. Most of the people that I know

Tend to believe in the same things I do. I have acquaintances who are conservative but that's all they are. It's just a birds of a feather thing, I think. I don't actively seek out liberals and avoid conservatives but a person's politics do tend to play a role, no matter how subtle, in any real relationship.

[Road Scholar]

33. I've had several ex friends who have become so addicted

to the spin Kool Aid that I don't understand them anymore.They are convinced that everything is ok.:shrug:

[Celeborn Skywalker]

34. I have a few conservative friends that I've known since I was young.

Now that I'm very political I don't think I'd be attracted to that type of person. I could hang with them at a party but probably not become a close friend.