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How to stay friends with someone with opposing political views
I have a dear, dear, dear friend whose views about politics I totally disagree with. The interesting thing is that when we get together and we start talking, he brings politics up. Almost every time he does that. Not once have we had a fight or gotten into a heated exchange because of his views. Yet, he knows my position and he is aware of what I think of his views. This article is more like a lesson in human behavior.
When someone who you can call your friend brings up a political issue, arguing a case that they know you could be against, think of it as a test of personality. This is not about politics, rather it’s about the two of you. You ought to ask yourself serious questions, despite the views of this person, is the friendship worth it? This is because if you are going to keep the friendship, you’re going to have to give up winning the argument. Now, with that settled in your mind (i.e. choosing the friendship over the argument win), you now make up your mind for a truce. Losing the argument is just as horrible as winning it. This is because if you lose, your friend will get the impression that the argument has won you over to the other side. There’s nothing wrong with being won over, the problem is the way it was done. Also, you don’t want to be the one bitter against your friend because you were flawed in an argument. So, you are going to argue; you are not going to win and at the same time you are not going to lose.
What about just refusing to talk about it? That could work in a few cases, but most of the time, it doesn’t. If the friend is really a friend, whether you like it or not, you will be dragged in. And also, if you are the friend that starts up such talk, there is something to pay attention to. Never try to change a person’s mind or force a friend into agreement. Always leave the friend to discover at their own pace. You can drop the facts, but you must understand that the best way to convince someone is to convince the person that he convinced himself. Let people convince themselves. To make conclusions for others is to rob them of the human right of their own opinion. With that said, we can go forward.
