Can you maintain friendships with people you strongly disagree with?

H

hypochondriac

Senior Member
Location
Australia
Depends on the issue. i can respect some of my siblings political views even they are opposite to mine. I think they are misguided but i know their heart is in the right place. In an emergency they would be there to help me.
Part of maturity is accepting that others have a different world view. Not that maturity is my strong point. 😂
 

I consider people with political views that are opposite of mine to be my mortal enemies and if I were dictator I would have them all executed. Except for my two sons. I would commute their sentences to having a warm beer poured over their heads. After all, family comes first.
 
It takes 2. I can if they matter to me and if they reciprocate. Priorities in place. When it comes to family and good friendships, it matters. But if they can't reciprocate then the tie is broken. *Sigh* That's sad. One of my children disagrees with my opinions but we just don't go there. We continue on as usual in peace and harmony. Tolerance is a virtue.
 
Lara said:
It takes 2. I can if they matter to me and if they reciprocate. Priorities in place. When it comes to family and good friendships, it matters. But if they can't reciprocate then the tie is broken. *Sigh* That's sad. Half of my family disagrees with my opinions but we just don't go there. We continue on as usual in peace and harmony. Tolerance is a virtue.
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"we just dont go there". that is SO true. politics and religion so easily divide us. then we are tempted to go down the "demonise those who disagree with us " path.
 
hypochondriac said:
Depends on the issue. i can respect some of my siblings political views even they are opposite to mine. I think they are misguided but i know their heart is in the right place. In an emergency they would be there to help me.
Part of maturity is accepting that others have a different world view. Not that maturity is my strong point. 😂
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I respect other's viewpoints as long as they don't come across with an arrogant attitude of, "I am right--you are wrong".
Most viewpoints come from ones upbringing and past experiences (or) from an educated study of the particular subject.
I find that listening to an opposing viewpoint can either enlighten me, or validate the opinion that I already had.
True friendships ought to be based on more meaningful things than ones viewpoints. Great questions "Hypo".
 
I find it very hard but a better word would be "challenge." When others voice their opposite opinions I often laugh. Actually more of a giggle. I try to see their points too.
 
Peachy said:
I respect other's viewpoints as long as they don't come across with an arrogant attitude of, "I am right--you are wrong".
Most viewpoints come from ones upbringing and past experiences (or) from an educated study of the particular subject.
I find that listening to an opposing viewpoint can either enlighten me, or validate the opinion that I already had.
True friendships ought to be based on more meaningful things than ones viewpoints. Great questions "Hypo".
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as you say peachy
friendships should be based on more than just shared worldviews.
otherwise we just live in unchallenged narrow echo chambers.
 
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I have a very good friend who loves to talk politics. I don't like political discussions at all. She knows this and respects my feelings and will not discuss or post anything that has to do with that subject. If I am in her home and someone else brings up the subject I sit quietly and grit my teeth.
 
But I guess outrageous views which encourage violence for example need to be promptly dismissed. If we can learn to express our disapproval of the view, not the one holding it. Or not?
 
Religion and politics were never discussed in my parent's household as I was growing up; in retrospect, I am glad for this. Although my parents had many admirable qualities, they were racists and homophobes. Seeing their belief systems as an adult made me take them off the high pedestals that I had placed them on as a child, but I maintained a sense of family obligation to them, and never ceased seeing them even while inwardly conflicted over core elements of their mind sets. One must accept what one cannot change, in family and beyond.
 
Fyrefox said:
Religion and politics were never discussed in my parent's household as I was growing up; in retrospect, I am glad for this. Although my parents had many admirable qualities, they were racists and homophobes. Seeing their belief systems as an adult made me take them off the high pedestals that I had placed them on as a child, but I maintained a sense of family obligation to them, and never ceased seeing them even while inwardly conflicted over core elements of their mind sets. One must accept what one cannot change, in family and beyond.
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Everyone was a homophobe in those days dont you think?
 
It takes two (or more)people to form a friendship, and if they strongly disagree with each others points of views, then they should just make friends with other people instead and avoid each other, it's just common sense. It works for me.
 
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I have thought about my statement above and have decided to add to it. I would have difficulty having a friendship with individuals whose characters are questionable. For example people that are totally self absorbed, manipulative or deliberately contentious would be a dealbreaker for me. (This list is not all inclusive). I don’t know about you but after about 1 hour I know whether or not a person is someone I could spend time with and get to know further. Conversational style is a real telling factor into a person’s character and if he or she has a difficult time sharing conversation and not wanting to know a little bit about me those are usually red flags. I might have gotten a little bit off the subject but that’s what was on my mind! Sorry about that LOL
 
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