Rising Above It

Like the stages of grief, I've gone through several stages of irritation over the use of Facebook by some of my friends to trumpet their political views. Of course, I was initially irritated with friends whose politics differed from mine. But then I became irritated with other friends "on my side of the aisle" who wouldn't let up, either.

Facebook is a great way to communicate instantaneously with a large number of people; it also is a great way to inflame. From Politics Have Turned Facebook Into a Steaming Cauldron of Hate

Nearly everybody reported that they’d blocked, muted, or unfollowed people with extreme — and extremely different — political views.

I refuse to go down the rathole of argumentation and believe the worst about people with different views. Not everyone on one side is a gun-toting, racist homophobe, and not everyone on the other side is an elitist snob with zero real-world experience. In fact, I read a variety of publications, such as the Huffington Post, Slate, the National Review, and the Weekly Standard, along with mainstream big media, and I find that there's reasoning behind the thinking that I disagree with. Occasionally, I change my mind.

Politics is very important to a few--most in my circle post about their families--but that's what friendship is, listening to what's important to others. Nothing that they post about is worth breaking the bond.

Below are Facebook posts from a friend on the left and a friend on the right, both women. And I love them both (the final stage of irritation?).