For one thing, my political and social views have undergone a rapid evolution. I did not use to care at all about the fact that some of my closest friends were conservatives. It never came up. But as I saw more of the world, I began to recognize that one of the main reasons why humanity is so socially backward is because of conservatives who do everything they can in their power to push back progress in the name of archaic religious traditions.
One of my closest friends was a conservative Christian who though disagreed with me on certain social issues, hid behind statements such as “These are just my personal religious beliefs.” When the same excuse came up a few months ago, I could not stand it any longer. You do not get to contribute to the denigration of the planet and claim that it’s for the betterment of your faith, you do not get to butt into people’s lives with the excuse that you are protecting your spiritual one. Now granted she did not directly oppose me, but if you do nothing when you see someone being oppressed, you are just as guilty as the oppressor.
I broke off all contact with her. Our friendship has been dead for a while now but I tried to revive it for old time’s sake; it did not work. She was not going to let go of her convictions and I was not willing to sacrifice truth.
It’s a sad reality when you realize that someone you thought was a close friend turns out to have been a stranger all along. Were the times we shared truly meaningful? Were we truly blind to what the other person was? These are some of the questions I sometimes ask myself. I do not know the answers nor do I care to find out. If there is one good lesson I have learned over the years, it is to always keep moving forward and never look back. There is nothing to be found there.
