Can a liberal and a conservative be friends?

I've been watching this thread go along, and at least in my opinion, it's rather shallow and self-absorbed to have someone's political beliefs be the most important criteria by which you choose your friends. Just my opinion. :shrug:
 
chcr said:
I've been watching this thread go along, and at least in my opinion, it's rather shallow and self-absorbed to have someone's political beliefs be the most important criteria by which you choose your friends. Just my opinion. :shrug:
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Its worst than that...to place your political opinion above all others and to allow the party that you support to tinge your every decision is rather sad.
 
chcr said:
I've been watching this thread go along, and at least in my opinion, it's rather shallow and self-absorbed to have someone's political beliefs be the most important criteria by which you choose your friends. Just my opinion. :shrug:
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Since your politics are a direct reflection of your core values I think its a very good basis on which to base who you would like to keep close to you and spend time with.

I have plenty of liberal and/or gay friends, but the ones I prefer to go on vacations with are the ones with values that more closely reflect my own.
 
ResearchMonkey said:
Since your politics are a direct reflection of your core values I think its a very good basis on which to base who you would like to keep close to you and spend time with.

I have plenty of liberal and/or gay friends, but the ones I prefer to go on vacations with are the ones with values that more closely reflect my own.
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That says what I attempted to say very well.

BTW I spoke with RM a while on AIM, he seems like a nice guy. Too bad he's so misguided :D
 
markjs said:
That says what I attempted to say very well.

BTW I spoke with RM a while on AIM, he seems like a nice guy. Too bad he's so misguided :D
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Lies I tell you! I am not nice!

Would I hang children upside-down in caves if I were nice?

punishment5.JPG
 
Liberals and Conservatives are natural enemies

See if you can get him to post the one
where he beat that one across the face
with barbed wire!
rofl3.gif
 
ResearchMonkey said:
Since your politics are a direct reflection of your core values I think its a very good basis on which to base who you would like to keep close to you and spend time with.

I have plenty of liberal and/or gay friends, but the ones I prefer to go on vacations with are the ones with values that more closely reflect my own.
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Sorry, but most people's "politics" change from issue to issue. Because I disagree with one person about, say, gun control is no reason I can't be friends with them (although it does make it a little unlikely we'll go to the firing range). Liberal and conservative are arbitrarily imposed labels, and most people don't fit neatly into your categories. I've tried to make the point before, but as you approach the extremes on either the right or the left, the tactics, stridency and closed-mindedness are the same. Only the rhetoric differs. Honestly, I don't have any friends who are fanatically one way or the other. I don't think I'm better than them, I just can't relate.
 
chcr said:
Sorry, but most people's "politics" change from issue to issue. Because I disagree with one person about, say, gun control is no reason I can't be friends with them (although it does make it a little unlikely we'll go to the firing range). Liberal and conservative are arbitrarily imposed labels, and most people don't fit neatly into your categories. I've tried to make the point before, but as you approach the extremes on either the right or the left, the tactics, stridency and closed-mindedness are the same. Only the rhetoric differs. Honestly, I don't have any friends who are fanatically one way or the other. I don't think I'm better than them, I just can't relate.
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I don't think that I could've said it better. Depending on the issue, I'm either fairly conservative, or fairly liberal. F'r instance... I'm for the Death Penalty, but I'm also Pro-Choice...seems like the same thing, but one's conservative and the other liberal.

Makes me kind of hard to pigeon-hole, eh? If I'm friends with someone, I know (and hopefully they do too), which topics we have in comman and which topics to avoid. I can live my whole life being friends with a group of people and avoid unnecessary conflicts by merely talking around them (the issues).

Should my viewpoint affect where I meet people? Whom I work with? Where I relax? These are the places where I meet my friends.

So, we may not agree on the idea of Gay Marriage...but we still both like hockey, play RPGs, talk computers, like the same music etc... :shrug:
 
chcr said:
Sorry, but most people's "politics" change from issue to issue. Because I disagree with one person about, say, gun control is no reason I can't be friends with them (although it does make it a little unlikely we'll go to the firing range). Liberal and conservative are arbitrarily imposed labels, and most people don't fit neatly into your categories. I've tried to make the point before, but as you approach the extremes on either the right or the left, the tactics, stridency and closed-mindedness are the same. Only the rhetoric differs. Honestly, I don't have any friends who are fanatically one way or the other. I don't think I'm better than them, I just can't relate.
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I see we agree somewhat, my point allows for degrees of friendship. Those that more closely reflect my own values are the ones I prefer to spend more intimate time with. That is not to say I can’t be friend with people I disagree with, and certainly does not mean I cannot have a professional relationship with them.

The labels are not arbitrary; they are definable to degrees on specific issues and values. This is more of the ‘everything is gray’ philosophy isn’t it? I find the quality of time spent with a person is directly proportionate to how well we get along.

I have fiends that believe guns should be outright outlawed; I am certainly going to take this guy hunting with me now am I?

I have fiends that believe abortion is a good method of birth control, and yet believes that; driving my truck off road in the desert in search of wholesome adventure and life experience for my children endangers the breeding grounds the Mojave Purple Headed Sidewinder*. They value some poisonous viper they have never even seen, and think killing an unborn child is OK.

I can tolerate them and engage civil conversations with these people. I would not, by choice, share my dinner table with him. I would not want to expose my children to the values revealed of this person that are reflected in any type intimate discussion. Secondly, I don’t want hear it either.

I know many people that call themselves liberals, but I find the ones I continue to seek the company of are more conservative than they realize. I find that people that share my values are more relaxing for me to spend my time with, and I value my time.



[size=-2](* -is not an independent species of snake)[/size]
 
You miss my point. Friendship for me has nothing to do with personal beliefs on specific political, economic or religious issues. It has everything to do with what type of person they are, whether they are trustworthy, honest, etc. While I agree that "liberal" and "conservative" are quite different philosophies, I find the application of such labels to be generally arbitrary and largely non-sensical (Bish made the point in another thread that "pro-choice" is liberal and yet "pro-death penalty" is conservative. Does this make sense to you?). In my experience, it is only the people who consider themselves one or the other (and your point about conservative liberals emphasizes this) to whom such labels are important, perhaps even meaningful at all.


I don't like being referred to as liberal or conservative myself simply because I find either end of the spectrum to have more similarities of application than differences and I don't like the application. My first reaction when someone wants to tell me whats good for me (which is what both sides seem to want to do most) is to put one hand on my wallet and duck.
 
chcr said:
Friendship for me has nothing to do with personal beliefs on specific political, economic or religious issues.
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Well we certainly differ there for sure. I choose my close friends carefully.

I know many people, few are close fiends.

Ever have one of those embarrassing moments on vacation? The family you are checking into the hotel with is trying to pay for their room with a housing voucher and asking when and where the local coven meets.
 
ResearchMonkey said:
Well we certainly differ there for sure. I choose my close friends carefully.

I know many people, few are close fiends.

Ever have one of those embarrassing moments on vacation? The family you are checking into the hotel with is trying to pay for their room with a housing voucher and asking when and where the local coven meets.
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I don't have any close fiends. Quite a diverse collection of close friends though. Even a number of wiccans. All religions are equally bullsh*t in my eyes, so I certainly don't care what religion my friends are. Your christian prejudices are showing, BTW. ;)
 
eh there a free Ie spell checker here...
http://www.iespell.com/
I use it all the time.
anyway, back to the subject....
(lastly discussed)
I have several friends, but not very many "close" friends.
I'm a scorpio, and tend to keep people at a distance.
I tend to express my more true feeling online here, more
than I really do in person.
 
chcr said:
I don't have any close fiends. Quite a diverse collection of close friends though.
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Are you aware of little sense that statement makes?

chcr said:
All religions are equally bullsh*t in my eyes, so I certainly don't care what religion my friends are. Your christian prejudices are showing, BTW. ;)
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Your assuption, awareness, and disdain of my choice of belief is also very evident. Yes you are tolerant aren’t you?

Your statement should make it very clear as to why I would choose to spend quality time with people that have values that more closely reflect my own.
 
I have only this to say...If Felix Unger and Oscar Madison can be friends, then anybody can be friends... :grinyes:
 
ResearchMonkey said:
Are you aware of little sense that statement makes?
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Sorry, I forgot the j/k per Leslie's sig. Your typo made me laugh coming as it did with the comment about wiccans. It was a joke. I didn't think I needed to point it out.


Your assuption, awareness, and disdain of my choice of belief is also very evident. Yes you are tolerant aren’t you?
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No I'm not tolerant. I never have been and as I grow older I grow less so. I was not, however, disparaging your choice of belief. Just commenting on it. This theocentric attitude is common among peole of all faiths, even atheism (if that's a faith rather than a lack of one).
j/k j/k j/k
Everybody thinks they're right and everyone who disagrees is wrong. I just happen to be correct when I think it.
j/k j/k j/k

I give up, you guys are too touchy. I hope that isn't taken as a personal attack.
 
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