As the title says, a friend on Facebook chose to unfriend me today. It probably has happened before – ‘cleansing’ our friend’s list is probably a pretty common occurrence. The circumstance, however, was unique for me.
I met this person two years ago, as I was trying to expand my horizons. My political and religious views had been pretty fixed, but I was looking to expand my understanding of situations other than my own. Enter this young woman – smart, sexy, and very opinionated on some of the most divisive topics today. I was single, so we started spending time together. It was refreshing to get a new perspective on life, have intelligent, alternative conversation with someone for whom I had a great respect.
She introduced me to many topics and opinions that I hadn’t considered before. As we spent more time together, I learned more and more about other people’s lives, situations, and some of the injustices that many feel exist today. I owe to her my continued curiosity about seeing other perspectives and adjusting my views to meet that new information.
On the recent Ferguson grand jury decision, I posted my opinion, and she counterposted hers. In return, I posted back to her, commenting on some of the fallacies in the argument. I got no response. When I checked a few weeks later, she had unfriended me on Facebook.
Not a huge deal; I am happily married to another woman, we have no real mutual friends, so life goes on. What concerns me is that she would rather not hear opinions that don’t echo hers rather than maintain a friendly relationship. If we disagree, does that mean that we have to hate each other? If you don’t believe like me, look like me, sound like me, think like me, can we associate?
So I have one less friend on Facebook, and her ‘right to free speech’ was exercised by muting my side of the conversation. While I’m sad I can’t get her perspective on things anymore, I am more sad that she doesn’t care about open and honest debate. It also seems that her views are more important to her than finding a solution that can make the USA a united and great nation, and make the world a united and better one.
businessthinker25 