I have a few select friends on facebook that, to the outside observer, I shouldn't. Myself being a staunch libertarian, (A real one, not a tea-party version), also a Lutheran, and all around conservative. I am not one who typically shares my faith, but I am making a point. I have friends that run the gamut from just like me, to atheists, uber-conservatives, socialists, and every possible admixture of these. Unlike most people I don't find this to be a problem.
See, most people have used the power of being connected to anyone on earth, to actually narrow their exposure to new ideas. They winnow down their friends list based on who agrees with the thoughtless political talking-points they spew. In the end they have only like-minded friends. This is nonsense. I add or remove people based on the amount of thought behind what they are saying. And believe me, it is readily apparent.
How did we get to this point?
Before computers united the world, you had talk to people you knew, or had met. Friends of friends, guys at the bar, the local society of Odd-fellows, the Moose lodge, the people at the union hall. That is, people who couldn't be ignored with a single click. Sadly this is what most have reduced themselves to. They cloister themselves in the monastery of online thought policing. The end result being a group of friends that share nothing really in common, other than political opinions.
As for me; why do I maintain a group of friends I disagree with constantly? First, it keeps us all sharper. Second, if I am right, arguing against a well-though-out opposing viewpoint will only strengthen my own arguments. Third, I actually enjoy debating the finer points of political thinking, and so do they. (Which puts us all one-up on the politicians). Fourth, and this is a long-shot; there is a chance, however infinitesimal, that I am wrong. If that should ever occur, I would want to know.
So folks, it may not seem like it; but that irritating
