Messages on friendship related with politics and religion
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So many people I know are getting into Facebook fights, Twitter wars, Instagram arguments, and Snapchat squabbles. What begins as an ideological dispute ends in bitterness. People are provoking others, demanding those who do or don’t support their candidate leave their networks, cutting ties with friends and family, and all because of political differences.
I can’t even imagine what the Thanksgiving table will be like this year!
People perceive the stakes this year to be that high. To be sure, political philosophy does matter and does carry high stakes. However, the partisan struggle for the control of the state apparatus by this or that temporary manager doesn’t matter as much as election season seems to suggest. You might be being manipulated, and friendships and families are actually too precious to throw away for transient reasons.
It’s a pity to cause permanent rifts, and so unnecessary. The people who rearrange their personal relationships for the election imagine that they are taking control of their lives. They don’t seem to realize that they are actually letting strangers control their lives – strangers who care nothing for them in a system that actually seeks to divide people so it can conquer them. To permit politics to fundamentally alter something so important as friendship is to give politicians more importance than they deserve.
As far as I'm concerned, my TRUE friends are the people I have a number of things in common with, including similar viewpoints on the "hot topics" like religion or politics. OR alternately, they like some good debate and aren't the type to make our differences a negative instead of a positive opportunity to have a good discussion.
And yes, some people can get TOO wrapped up in one topic and become a bore or just plain irritating to have around after a while. But IMO, that's equally true for people who just can't stop talking about sports or reality TV shows they watch as for those really into religion or political issues.