Baffled, I asked more experienced members how they approached this. They explained they avoided getting emotional over issues and separated views easily for the sake of their friendship. I’ll be honest, this felt a little tone-deaf to me and didn't help me much with a resolution. What did come easily to me was asking questions to try to understand those with a different political view, and that is what I began to do.
As I got older this process became a little easier. I began to realise that different political views didn’t necessarily mean that friendships couldn’t flourish. Instead, my friendships with people who had different views became stronger as we engaged in debate and discussed important issues. Through this process I have learnt how to listen to opposing side and try to understand different thought processes. As I engaged in new debates, I understood that a lot of these beliefs stemmed from human experiences at that point of our life. People can believe in something different and still be good people (most of the time). People also have the right to change their mind about what they think and feel about something. These are rights exercised to us in a democracy.
However, I do agree that the personal is political, and so if someone’s fundamental beliefs clash with mine, I can tolerate them, but it doesn’t mean I have to be friends with them – and that is okay! If you can engage with healthy debate, understand your boundaries and what you can tolerate, the process of navigating friendships with opposing views becomes easier. There may be instances where you feel you need to terminate a friendship if politics is getting in the way, which is acceptable, but that is something only you can call.
