I think it’s possible to be friends with someone who has opposite political views, but it really depends on whether respect for each other as people outweighs the need to constantly convince each other. At the end of the day, friendships should be about connection, not just shared beliefs. It’s about being able to disagree without it defining your entire relationship.
It depends on how extreme you and/they are. If both are relatively moderate but on opposite aisles, it’s probably not an issue. If one is a extreme right wing and the other extreme left wing, they’ll likely have issues.
I can agree to disagree on many things, but I don’t align myself with those who disagree on the way human beings should be treated. In today’s political climate, that means no.
I know people like this, and we can be cordial and engage in polite conversations, but I wouldn’t really call them friends and I doubt they would call me one either.
Only if you’re not immature and can realize that “political opposites” doesn’t actually mean polar opposites given that the overton window exists. You’re not a staunch Maoist trying to play a board game with an AnarchoCapitalist.
Yes in that I believe most of us want similar things. We may have different ideas on how to solve problems. There may be a few core things we disagree on but we also share common ground. Most people don’t align perfectly to a party. We’re not extremists. We can be friends.
No, if someone is truly a complete opposite you probably can’t be friends. If you’re on the fringe and are an extreme no compromise on one side, I don’t think you can be friends with someone on the other.
I’d say yes, you can be friends with someone who doesn’t have the same politics, but no, as there is no such thing as “complete opposite” in politics. Someone who just disagreed with everything you said is probably just an arse.
I have never encountered anyone who believed “the complete opposite politically”.
Like I don’t know anyone who is completely pro-slavery, pro-eugenics, pro-theist dictatorship, pro-pollution, pro-crime, anti-education, pure isolationist.
I do have lots of friends that have opinions I disagree with.
Differences over tax policy, defense spending, 2A interpretations, agricultural subsidies, etc. Sure. Generally even with fairly significant differences.
If someone is all “yeah, I support the government sending people to concentration camps, why didn’t we start doing this sooner?!” chances are we’re not gonna be friends.
If the policy doesn’t actually effect either you substantially. Sure.
There are alot of things so specifically targeted to a person however that you can’t actually be friends.
Take any of these trans issues. You cant support these awful policies and be actual friends with them.
If you support a policy that imposes your “friend” is not valid. YOU are also saying your “friend” is not valid. There’s no excuses or mental gymnastics or loop holes around it.
Yes, I’m friends with people with complete opposite views of myself politically, we just don’t discuss politics. Have plenty of other stuff in common. If you’re helping your buddy build a chicken coop, the nail doesn’t care what the beliefs are of the idiot swinging the hammer 😂
Depends on what the “complete opposite” means exactly.
If I’m, let’s say, a gay or trans person, and my “friend” thinks all gay and trans people should be stoned to death because something something the Bible, then no actually, I don’t think we “can be friends”.
Similarly, if I’m Jewish and another person is a white supremacist who thinks “the Jews” are secretly masterminding some global cabal and that they should all be genocided (again), then no, we can not be friends either.
We can disagree about sports teams or music preferences, but we cannot disagree about basic human rights.
Yeah? I’m doing it right now. I spent a lot of time working in the middle of a city (so all my colleagues are left-leaning) but engaging in hobbies out in the burbs or rural parts of the state (so all my friends are right-leaning).
It’s…not really that hard. Remember that studies have shown that the most-shared social media posts are the most outrageous. The same phenomenon occurs with media like news, especially during election cycles. Upset voters vote. Chilled out voters who think the system is working fine stay home.
Like, I am liberal with my general views but my best friend is very conservative
We will have frequent political conversations, he’s changed my mind on stuff, and I have him
It really just depends on the maturity of both parties involved and to remember it’s important to look at every aspect of a person, because you’re already friends with them, you like them, political views are going to differ, but i just don’t think it should damage a good friendship, just avoid those political conversations if you cant handle it.
I think it depends on how much the relationship depends on that subject as the common thread. I consider myself moderate or whatever the label is for being in the middle but I feel like all of my relationships are with people who are very much leaning one way or the other. It’s harder listening to ones on one side that I don’t agree with and so I try to gently point out some things they’ve missed and be non confrontational. Or just avoid politics in general. The ones I feel are a bit much on the other side I have no issues discussing things and they are less defensive and it feels more like a conversation than walking on egg shells. But if all I had to talk about is politics with any of them, it would just get old for me. I can’t live with all that negativity every moment of the day.
Yes, if they are respectful of my beliefs and a good person in their actions. I think too many people think their beliefs make them a good or bad person when really that is a very small factor.
Are you honest, helpful, generous, good humored, supportive? But you believe the opposite of me? I still think you are a good person, at least good enough for me
Or
Are you full or yourself, toxic, dishonest, disloyal, abusive, etc but your political belief align with mine? Gonna hard pass on that friendship
Its actually super easy provided you or them don’t become physically violent with one another and act like adults. I think Chocolate is a better flavor than strawberry. doesn’t mean I can’t coexist with someone who thinks the opposite.
Absolutely, my father and I are opposite sides of the political spectrum yet we can find common ground on many things. I think it’s very interesting to hear from the other side on why they think that way. I don’t have to agree with any of it but I think it’s very important to understand where they come from.
I would like to think so. I really liked reading P.J. O’Rourke. We were definitely on different ends of the politcal spectrum… but I like to think we could have been friends.
Yes very easily . Why? Because I don’t talk politics ever! It’s actually an awesome feeling to just shy away from any politicians especially if you know their opposite isle from you..
At the end of the day I’m going to treat everyone around me with respect and love, even if you’re extremely left leaning or right. Because really at the end of the day, one individuals opinions don’t actually do much on the grand scheme of things and I’ve learned how to take what I like and leave the rest.
There is disagreeing on politics and then there’s someone being a MAGA moron.
I have cut a friend of 20 years out of my life because he literally believes that Donald Trump‘s presidency will make him rich. Also watching him chant Hunter Biden, and over again it’s too much.
Yes. I have a couple of friends who we don’t agree politically, but we can talk about it openly and have conversations without the vitriol. Even have 1 friend who he and I ENJOY talking about politics. Which made the last 10 years baffling to both of us.
I think it depends on if you’re the type to talk to solve an issue with no ego. If you’re planting flags instead of finding common ground, it’ll never matter what political faction you support because you’ll just be arguing.
Here’s the thing. You don’t have to talk politics with all your friends. I have get togethers where political discussion isn’t allowed. Amazingly, everyone gets along!
Yes, absolutely. Anyone who says no is being ridiculous. If you are treating your friends as adversaries to defeat or as a missionary to convert them, then you are a crappy friend. Your friends are not your projects.
I used to have a friend that asked me about political issues and when we didn’t agree he said we had to remove this topic from our future conversations or we can’t be friends anymore. Unfortunately, he was still not able to get over our disagreement (that he brought up, pushed to discuss, and berated me for not agreeing with him) so we don’t really talk. As far as I’m concerned, we are still friends, but he hasn’t answered or responded to me in any way in years.
On a related topic, if you can’t disagree with someone without trying your best to understand them, then you are missing the point of having a conversation and very likely don’t understand your position well enough. You should be able to have a reasoned, compassionate, thoughtful, and peaceful conversation with anyone about any topic. Debating topics in any setting other than an official debate is just annoying.
My spouse is a democratic socialist and I’m a Maoist, so we’re pretty opposite but we get along just fine. I’m also friends with some post-Soviet Socialists, anarchists and even some liberals! So plenty of differences but friendship remains.
Yes. If the friend is mature enough to voice their thoughts and ideas without being violent or butthurt about topics of discussion.
It makes for good conversation/debate. I don’t see the point in hanging around and talking with a circle of people who are essentially near exact clones of yourself. We should be able to agree to not agree sometimes then still chill and enjoy each other’s company when political ideology is not on the table.
Politics and culture today are so polarized that it’s like a religion and people take any disagreement as an act of defiance/war, so it’s much harder than it used to be. “Back in my day” we’d just disagree and let the legal system do its thing since barking at each other solves nothing, and only causes animosity.
I’ve had friends from most walks of life on and offline. We also did most of our life problem solving discussions over several pitchers of beer, so it was never taken seriously lol.
Of course, it’s not always so simple if the other guy believes you shouldn’t exist, but I’m of course talking in general. Taxes/ guns/ traffic law/ what have you. These are things you can agree to disagree on and go back to laughing at the dude on the dance floor that just elbowed his date.
You can by just not talking about it very often. I am left-leaning, so I always keep my mouth shut around conservatives because I’ll just get myself pissed off. Mostly, if they try to engage me on it, I just tell them, “I look forward to being on the right side of history when this is all over.”
In the current political climate, having opposing political views is less of a difference in opinion, it’s become a difference in morality. I cannot be friends with someone who’s moral compass has been compromised by politics.
It doesn’t matter who they support. What does matter is why. If they support a right wing policy that is fairly anodyne that’s fine. If they support racist, sexist, misinformed bullshit then yes, we’ll have a problem.
I used to say sure back when my friends who disagreed with me politically were more like variances in how taxes should be spent, but at this point, if it’s the complete opposite to me, we’re probably not going to be friends. And that’s more because if you’re the complete opposite of me, I don’t even really consider it a political stance. They may say it is as a way of shielding themselves but if you’re cool with women’s body autonomy being taken away or trans people being demonized for nothing thats more a reflection of your ethics as a person and that’s not something I can just look passed because we both like the Packers or whatever.
Co-workers are different. You have to be professional because you don’t usually get to pick them, so I have to find ways to get along with people in that situation. However, I can control my personal life a lot easier.
this question comes up frequently and the answer is the same:
if by “politically” you mean some nuanced and informed differences on tax policy, then yes.
if by “politically” you mean morally and/or based on misinformation/russian propaganda, then no, absolutely not.
A solid bedrock of a friendship, for me, is being able to respect each other’s intelligence and moral compass. The second point above violates that. It’s a common fallacy these days to characterize differences in morality as differences of opinion.
If this question was asked pre Trump, absolutely. Now, I honestly could not do it. I had to break it off with a guy after finding out how deep of a maga supporter he is coupled with his extreme views
Let’s see, politically I believe that people who are not Christian, cis, straight, abled-bodied, white, and male should have equal rights to those who are. No, I don’t think I can be friends with someone who believes the complete opposite of that.
I used to think i could. But im watching how this administration is playing out and can easily see myself being executed for hiding a family in my garage or refusing to stfu when shit goes down in my presence.
I’d argue that whats happening right now in the US (and across the western world…) is not really about politics.
In general, obviously you could and should accept people across the spectrum. Whats happening right now is about human rights, it ridiculous and completely unacceptable..
if it’s “politics” as in who should be in charge of city planning, which causes grant money should go to, how we should pay for new roads etc, sure maybe.
if it’s “politics” as in how we should treat the homeless, who gets to have rights, and if we should be giving survivor benefits to children, absolutely the fuck not. i can be polite for extremely short periods of time in surface-level conversation when required for work and that’s it.
It really depends on the issue. A lot of what we see as “political” issues are actually our values. Like, should we allocate a 14 billion dollar surplus to infrastructure repair or public education? That’s a political question. Should transgender people be allowed to exist in the open in American society without being persecuted? That’s a values question. I’m perfectly fine being friends with someone who doesn’t share my political opinions. I’d rather not share oxygen with people who don’t share my values.
The current environment? No. Anyone who still supports Trump at this point is too far gone. They have no place in my life.
If they’re just a Republican, OK. But Trump support specifically reflects badly on one’s character. We’re getting to a point in USA where hard lines are being drawn.
Some people call things like human rights political and isn’t. When you’re on the side of bigotry and sick capitalism, I just don’t think we can get along.
Most normal people (right or left) care about safety, family, freedom and fairness. But if someone is in full Fox News or equivalent rabbit hole they might be too brainwashed to relate to and so it’s probably best to step back from that.
Yes, it can be done, even with pretty far left/right views. You just have to remember that you are both human beings, and friends, and you can discuss, even argue emphatically, and still get along. Your political views don’t have to dictate treating other people like shit, that is just whether you are an asshole or not.
And just because someone disagrees with you, doesn’t make them an asshole, or even necessarily wrong.
Enjoy civil discourse, and continue to learn and grow.
I used to say yes. But then my differences grew too great. The TLDR of it is I had a group of friends that I’d been close to for 30 years in some cases, at least 20 in others. We were tight. Then Trump came along. I live in a heavily red rural area. They bought into what Trump was selling. I didn’t. We started to have disagreements over some yahoo none of us knew personally. Then the great lie of the 2020 election and January 6th happened and I went 100% anti-Trump, while they backed his lies and claimed Antifa caused January 6th. They had visual evidence in front of them and could clearly see many of those people were rednecks from the deep south and yet what I heard was “Nope. Antifa.” It sickened me.
4 years later and they all voted for him again. We hardly talk anymore. I honestly can’t be friends with people that support Trump. I’m not a Democrat. I’m a registered independent that leans left, but I’m not what I would consider either liberal or conservative. I voted for the person, not the party for most of my voting history. I just can’t stand that man or his policies. His beliefs and what he represents is reflected in my friends now whenever I see them. I see Trump in all of them, and I hate that. They believe whatever he says. It’s embarrassing. I still love them and want good things for them, but I don’t want to be around them anymore. So no, I don’t think you can be friends with people that are your opposite, politically. I don’t hang out with my old group of friends anymore. I see them occasionally, but not often, and we rarely talk politics when we do because neither side is willing to listen anymore. That’s the state of America. Exactly what China and Russia wanted because we’re too stupid as a people to think for ourselves.
I live in a Southern state where the people need help in the worst way, yet they voted Red like crazy. A couple of them are my friends that I have loved since Jr High, over 50 years.
Now that some of us are retired, we have breakfast together once every few weeks. We have one guy who is die-hard Southern Baptist right-wing about everything, and goes to a church that confirms that.
The other guy is an Evangelical church pastor who grew up very Pentecostal/fundamental. In his older years he has learned that he can still maintain his beliefs, and yet show love to everybody.
I grew up very fundamental, but not Pentecostal. I moved a couple hours away for a job in the city and worked with a multitude of people and cultures. After several years of deconstructing what I had always been taught I ended up in a contemporary KLove-style church that probably seems to be very liberal to my friends.
When we meet for breakfast, the first guy will either get started with his extreme right wing stuff (that must be right because he got it from his church), or he will go silent. Sometimes I get carried away with my (probably) left wing stuff. The preacher guy does a good job of hearing both sides and landing somewhere in the middle.
Because my parents were never able to have any more children these guys are the closest to brothers that I have ever had. I love them and I am not going to be the one to stop that. We have given our small field of hay to the first guy for 10 years since my dad died. I have gone to his farm a couple times to help him with projects he was working on. I am going to love on him as much as he will let me, if the point comes that we can’t be friends any more then that is going to come from him. These are the guys I would help bury a dead body for/with.
I don’t have the energy to be like this with everybody around me, because most of them are similar to my first friend. Because of the Bible I am going to love on everybody, no matter what they believe. But I am not going to be that committed to everyone in my area because it would make me tired and it would make my heart hurt to see good people believe something so contrary to what they say they believe.
Thank you for asking this question, it has caused me to stop and think about how far I am willing to go to keep the peace.
Two of my best friends are full-on MAGAts. There’s no reasoning with them, so I’ve quit trying. The funny thing is, we align politically on most things, but i find Trump unacceptable and would like to see him and his political cronies in a Nuremberg-type setting to answer for their crimes.
We don’t talk about politics anymore.
Yes. I worked with a guy side by side that was a good friend and he was the exact opposite politically from me. We enjoyed working together and talked about life. We just never talked politics. People are more than their politics. You vote your way, I’ll vote mine, and I’ll see you at work tomorrow.
Yes, I have several friends that are opposite to my political views that I have been friends with for decades. We just don’t talk about politics when we get together. We have so many others things in common that we have no problems avoiding that subject.
Not true friends. You can be friendly and even have shared interests. But you can’t have a deep meaningful friendship with them. I know, I have tried. It’s like an atheist and theist being friends. They can be to a point. But at some point you just can’t have a rational discussion with someone who is irrational.
I’m friends with pro Palestine gay and transgender friends. The fact that they would be tortured and killed by the Palestinians they support makes no sense but I gave up trying to point out the irony.
Yes because that’s what my country (USA) fought for. Everyone has different beliefs based on their personal experiences and I was lucky enough to befriend people from all over the US and the world that showed me all walks of life see the world different. Someone from a well off family that never saw poverty firsthand will tel you that we might put too much money in helping the poor whereas someone that grew up in poverty might say the rich need to be taxed more. Debating others is a great way to learn about the world. A lot of politicians don’t agree with each other even though they are on the same team which in theory should help with ideas. Imagine if the question was about something else personal like religion, that would be crazy.
Fun fact everyone in N Korea has the same political beliefs
Considering the core of my political beliefs is that people should be allowed to live their lives in peace as long as they aren’t hurting anyone, with all the same rights to actually affordable healthcare, food, water, housing, and a livable wage and the opposite of that is bigotry and greed— no. I can’t be friends with someone who believes the opposite of me, politically.
I have no interest in being friends with someone who supports concentration camps, redistribution of wealth to oligarchs, and hurting people just to hurt them.
Casual friends, maybe. Good friends, I don’t think so.
There’s a lot of well-meaning centrists out there crying and wringing their hands about how political discourse used to be polite and can’t we all just be friends? Well, no, some of these issues are really important and divisive. We can just agree to disagree on little things like the drinking age or tax rates. If you think I “love killing babies” and I think you like to put Latin American asylum seekers in internment camps and let the cops execute black suspects without Due Process, we’re fundamentally not Friends, because you’re an asshole.
Sorry if that’s upsetting because you just want peace and quiet, but you getting upset is not as upsetting to me as people dying.
I’ve had similar conversations with ex-friends from Russia about the war in Ukraine. They couldn’t understand why their Ukrainian relatives wanted to know their stance on the war and were really “upset” that everybody kept stressing them out about it and wasn’t it so inconvenient for Russians to travel to Europe now. Guess what? Ukrainians are dying and having their cities destroyed and their land stolen. They don’t care that you’re “upset” having conversations about it. Amazingly, that’s not their primary concern right now.
In the past? Absolutely. Now? Nope. If someone voted for Trump, I can’t trust their judgment and our morals don’t align. Hard no from me. I’ve ended friendships and have distanced myself from family that support him.
Conservatives can, because their beliefs are acquisative nihilism. Humanity is impossible to truly govern and selfishness and cowardice will always creep in so there will still be lots of wrongs.
Anyone with real empathy cannot be friends with the other side because the cruelty and domination of the entire point.
Comments
I’m mature enough to politely disagree, yes.
No.
We can’t disagree about human rights and be friends. It’s a values issue.
I think it’s possible to be friends with someone who has opposite political views, but it really depends on whether respect for each other as people outweighs the need to constantly convince each other. At the end of the day, friendships should be about connection, not just shared beliefs. It’s about being able to disagree without it defining your entire relationship.
I’d personally have a hard time with it. Difficult to be friends with someone who doesn’t think you should exist or have rights.
It depends on how extreme you and/they are. If both are relatively moderate but on opposite aisles, it’s probably not an issue. If one is a extreme right wing and the other extreme left wing, they’ll likely have issues.
I can agree to disagree on many things, but I don’t align myself with those who disagree on the way human beings should be treated. In today’s political climate, that means no.
Yes I have several friends whom I don’t agree with politically. We are mature enough and respectful enough not to let be an issue.
I know people like this, and we can be cordial and engage in polite conversations, but I wouldn’t really call them friends and I doubt they would call me one either.
Not anymore. The disconnect with reality is too large.
Yes and I have friends from all manner of places in this life…
yeah, im a gun-loving catholic who doesn’t like cats and im friends with an anti-gun reddit-communist who has a cat
Different beliefs: yes. Different realities: no
Depends on what you call “politics”: I’m queer – what most people see as ‘politics’ is real life danger to me and my family.
I try to see the line between conservatives and fascists, but the more I squint the harder it is to see the difference.
Only if you’re not immature and can realize that “political opposites” doesn’t actually mean polar opposites given that the overton window exists. You’re not a staunch Maoist trying to play a board game with an AnarchoCapitalist.
Yes and no.
Yes in that I believe most of us want similar things. We may have different ideas on how to solve problems. There may be a few core things we disagree on but we also share common ground. Most people don’t align perfectly to a party. We’re not extremists. We can be friends.
No, if someone is truly a complete opposite you probably can’t be friends. If you’re on the fringe and are an extreme no compromise on one side, I don’t think you can be friends with someone on the other.
I’d say yes, you can be friends with someone who doesn’t have the same politics, but no, as there is no such thing as “complete opposite” in politics. Someone who just disagreed with everything you said is probably just an arse.
Yes, but it’s sometimes a struggle!
If you’re both mature then yes
Yes, I have many friends that have the opposite political point of view as me.
I have never encountered anyone who believed “the complete opposite politically”.
Like I don’t know anyone who is completely pro-slavery, pro-eugenics, pro-theist dictatorship, pro-pollution, pro-crime, anti-education, pure isolationist.
I do have lots of friends that have opinions I disagree with.
Depends on how opposite.
Differences over tax policy, defense spending, 2A interpretations, agricultural subsidies, etc. Sure. Generally even with fairly significant differences.
If someone is all “yeah, I support the government sending people to concentration camps, why didn’t we start doing this sooner?!” chances are we’re not gonna be friends.
Yes
If the policy doesn’t actually effect either you substantially. Sure.
There are alot of things so specifically targeted to a person however that you can’t actually be friends.
Take any of these trans issues. You cant support these awful policies and be actual friends with them.
If you support a policy that imposes your “friend” is not valid. YOU are also saying your “friend” is not valid. There’s no excuses or mental gymnastics or loop holes around it.
When they say they like to watch certain nationality people die in videos. Yeah…. I dont know.
a lot of political stuff is rooted in morality and what rights you believe should be inherent so it is possible, but not likely
Yeah if you don’t talk about politics. It can be done.
Yes, I’m friends with people with complete opposite views of myself politically, we just don’t discuss politics. Have plenty of other stuff in common. If you’re helping your buddy build a chicken coop, the nail doesn’t care what the beliefs are of the idiot swinging the hammer 😂
For sure, I think it’s necessary even. Otherwise my only exposure to opposing viewpoints would be in the media, which I don’t trust.
Depends on what the “complete opposite” means exactly.
If I’m, let’s say, a gay or trans person, and my “friend” thinks all gay and trans people should be stoned to death because something something the Bible, then no actually, I don’t think we “can be friends”.
Similarly, if I’m Jewish and another person is a white supremacist who thinks “the Jews” are secretly masterminding some global cabal and that they should all be genocided (again), then no, we can not be friends either.
We can disagree about sports teams or music preferences, but we cannot disagree about basic human rights.
I’m moderate right. I’ve got friends all across the political spectrum.
Yeah? I’m doing it right now. I spent a lot of time working in the middle of a city (so all my colleagues are left-leaning) but engaging in hobbies out in the burbs or rural parts of the state (so all my friends are right-leaning).
It’s…not really that hard. Remember that studies have shown that the most-shared social media posts are the most outrageous. The same phenomenon occurs with media like news, especially during election cycles. Upset voters vote. Chilled out voters who think the system is working fine stay home.
So, yes, and no?
I guess it depends on you and them
Like, I am liberal with my general views but my best friend is very conservative
We will have frequent political conversations, he’s changed my mind on stuff, and I have him
It really just depends on the maturity of both parties involved and to remember it’s important to look at every aspect of a person, because you’re already friends with them, you like them, political views are going to differ, but i just don’t think it should damage a good friendship, just avoid those political conversations if you cant handle it.
a lot of my friends and i don’t agree on politics so we just stay away from political topics!
I have friends who have the opposite political views to me
I do not have friends who don’t believe in human rights
Some people try to justify the second one as “politics” when it is not
I think it depends on how much the relationship depends on that subject as the common thread. I consider myself moderate or whatever the label is for being in the middle but I feel like all of my relationships are with people who are very much leaning one way or the other. It’s harder listening to ones on one side that I don’t agree with and so I try to gently point out some things they’ve missed and be non confrontational. Or just avoid politics in general. The ones I feel are a bit much on the other side I have no issues discussing things and they are less defensive and it feels more like a conversation than walking on egg shells. But if all I had to talk about is politics with any of them, it would just get old for me. I can’t live with all that negativity every moment of the day.
Yes, but there has to be mutual respect there.
Yup I have multiple friends with different political beliefs, we just don’t talk politics n bond over common interests like golf fishing etc
Yes. If you NEVER discuss politics.
Yes, if they are respectful of my beliefs and a good person in their actions. I think too many people think their beliefs make them a good or bad person when really that is a very small factor.
Are you honest, helpful, generous, good humored, supportive? But you believe the opposite of me? I still think you are a good person, at least good enough for me
Or
Are you full or yourself, toxic, dishonest, disloyal, abusive, etc but your political belief align with mine? Gonna hard pass on that friendship
Sure. Most of my extended family are diametrically opposite to me politically but we laugh at each other with love and affection.
Its actually super easy provided you or them don’t become physically violent with one another and act like adults. I think Chocolate is a better flavor than strawberry. doesn’t mean I can’t coexist with someone who thinks the opposite.
20 years ago I would have said yes, absolutely, and even encouraged it!
Today, that feels almost irresponsible. At minimum it’s a lot more difficult, though I am open.
Absolutely, my father and I are opposite sides of the political spectrum yet we can find common ground on many things. I think it’s very interesting to hear from the other side on why they think that way. I don’t have to agree with any of it but I think it’s very important to understand where they come from.
i have plenty of friends with different viewpoints. Discussing them is how we make it to compromise.
Yes.
I love to have my beliefs civilly challenged. Who better than a friend.
I have changed what I believe in as I’ve gotten older, mostly due to the civil discourse I’ve had with others.
Even if we agree to disagree, it helps me empathize with someone else’s view.
I would like to think so. I really liked reading P.J. O’Rourke. We were definitely on different ends of the politcal spectrum… but I like to think we could have been friends.
Yes very easily . Why? Because I don’t talk politics ever! It’s actually an awesome feeling to just shy away from any politicians especially if you know their opposite isle from you..
Yes, I have friends that are like that. We stay civil with each other
Yes
At the end of the day I’m going to treat everyone around me with respect and love, even if you’re extremely left leaning or right. Because really at the end of the day, one individuals opinions don’t actually do much on the grand scheme of things and I’ve learned how to take what I like and leave the rest.
There is disagreeing on politics and then there’s someone being a MAGA moron.
I have cut a friend of 20 years out of my life because he literally believes that Donald Trump‘s presidency will make him rich. Also watching him chant Hunter Biden, and over again it’s too much.
Yes. I have a couple of friends who we don’t agree politically, but we can talk about it openly and have conversations without the vitriol. Even have 1 friend who he and I ENJOY talking about politics. Which made the last 10 years baffling to both of us.
I think it depends on if you’re the type to talk to solve an issue with no ego. If you’re planting flags instead of finding common ground, it’ll never matter what political faction you support because you’ll just be arguing.
Here’s the thing. You don’t have to talk politics with all your friends. I have get togethers where political discussion isn’t allowed. Amazingly, everyone gets along!
Yes, absolutely. Anyone who says no is being ridiculous. If you are treating your friends as adversaries to defeat or as a missionary to convert them, then you are a crappy friend. Your friends are not your projects.
I used to have a friend that asked me about political issues and when we didn’t agree he said we had to remove this topic from our future conversations or we can’t be friends anymore. Unfortunately, he was still not able to get over our disagreement (that he brought up, pushed to discuss, and berated me for not agreeing with him) so we don’t really talk. As far as I’m concerned, we are still friends, but he hasn’t answered or responded to me in any way in years.
On a related topic, if you can’t disagree with someone without trying your best to understand them, then you are missing the point of having a conversation and very likely don’t understand your position well enough. You should be able to have a reasoned, compassionate, thoughtful, and peaceful conversation with anyone about any topic. Debating topics in any setting other than an official debate is just annoying.
Yes, absolutely
Sure, if neither of the people makes politics the center of their identity.
Yup. I’m actually married to her. 15 years and going strong
Yes, it’s called being an adult.
Yes if both people don’t think it’s black and white thinking
My spouse is a democratic socialist and I’m a Maoist, so we’re pretty opposite but we get along just fine. I’m also friends with some post-Soviet Socialists, anarchists and even some liberals! So plenty of differences but friendship remains.
yes
Yes. If the friend is mature enough to voice their thoughts and ideas without being violent or butthurt about topics of discussion.
It makes for good conversation/debate. I don’t see the point in hanging around and talking with a circle of people who are essentially near exact clones of yourself. We should be able to agree to not agree sometimes then still chill and enjoy each other’s company when political ideology is not on the table.
If either one of y’all talks about it incessantly then prob not
No, I can’t be friends with someone who wants to strip my other friends of their basic rights.
i have a few friends on the other side of the political spectrum
we want many of the same things but have very different beliefs on how it should be achieved
I don’t even know the political opinions of most of my friends
Yes. It’s possible and happens.
Politics and culture today are so polarized that it’s like a religion and people take any disagreement as an act of defiance/war, so it’s much harder than it used to be. “Back in my day” we’d just disagree and let the legal system do its thing since barking at each other solves nothing, and only causes animosity.
I’ve had friends from most walks of life on and offline. We also did most of our life problem solving discussions over several pitchers of beer, so it was never taken seriously lol.
Of course, it’s not always so simple if the other guy believes you shouldn’t exist, but I’m of course talking in general. Taxes/ guns/ traffic law/ what have you. These are things you can agree to disagree on and go back to laughing at the dude on the dance floor that just elbowed his date.
Yes, it’s called being an adult.
You can by just not talking about it very often. I am left-leaning, so I always keep my mouth shut around conservatives because I’ll just get myself pissed off. Mostly, if they try to engage me on it, I just tell them, “I look forward to being on the right side of history when this is all over.”
In the current political climate, having opposing political views is less of a difference in opinion, it’s become a difference in morality. I cannot be friends with someone who’s moral compass has been compromised by politics.
if they can present their point of view using logic and factual evidence then there is no reason we can agree to disagree and remain friends.
Yes, I’m not a child.
It doesn’t matter who they support. What does matter is why. If they support a right wing policy that is fairly anodyne that’s fine. If they support racist, sexist, misinformed bullshit then yes, we’ll have a problem.
I used to say sure back when my friends who disagreed with me politically were more like variances in how taxes should be spent, but at this point, if it’s the complete opposite to me, we’re probably not going to be friends. And that’s more because if you’re the complete opposite of me, I don’t even really consider it a political stance. They may say it is as a way of shielding themselves but if you’re cool with women’s body autonomy being taken away or trans people being demonized for nothing thats more a reflection of your ethics as a person and that’s not something I can just look passed because we both like the Packers or whatever.
Co-workers are different. You have to be professional because you don’t usually get to pick them, so I have to find ways to get along with people in that situation. However, I can control my personal life a lot easier.
Someone completely opposite of me politically would support things like genocides, so no, at least in my case.
this question comes up frequently and the answer is the same:
A solid bedrock of a friendship, for me, is being able to respect each other’s intelligence and moral compass. The second point above violates that. It’s a common fallacy these days to characterize differences in morality as differences of opinion.
Politically? Probably. Morally? No.
I can be cordial. But friends? No way in hell. I can’t trust that if/when the gov’t comes for me, they will have my back. I vet people way more now.
If you think my friends shouldn’t have rights or exist, then no, I can’t really be close to you in a meaningful way.
If this question was asked pre Trump, absolutely. Now, I honestly could not do it. I had to break it off with a guy after finding out how deep of a maga supporter he is coupled with his extreme views
Let’s see, politically I believe that people who are not Christian, cis, straight, abled-bodied, white, and male should have equal rights to those who are. No, I don’t think I can be friends with someone who believes the complete opposite of that.
I used to think i could. But im watching how this administration is playing out and can easily see myself being executed for hiding a family in my garage or refusing to stfu when shit goes down in my presence.
I can be friendly with someone, but given what my stances are no I can’t be actual friends or at least I wouldn’t consider them my friend
I can be friends with someone I disagree with on how much or little taxation necessary for a prosperous country.
I can’t be friends with someone who thinks “certain” people aren’t human.
No. I would never actively seek out people who want to make life harder for me, my family, and other people in the communities I align myself with.
Depends. Not when it comes to ethics, morals and basic human rights.
Depends.
Trickle down economics vs rich people being taxed fairly? Yeah we can still be friends
Focusing on renewable energy vs “drill baby drill”? Sure.
Me wanting people to not get marginalized for simply existing vs scapegoating gay people? Absolutely not.
Fuck no. Fuck those people to hell
I’d argue that whats happening right now in the US (and across the western world…) is not really about politics.
In general, obviously you could and should accept people across the spectrum. Whats happening right now is about human rights, it ridiculous and completely unacceptable..
it really depends. if you believe in what I think is morally wrong then no
if it’s “politics” as in who should be in charge of city planning, which causes grant money should go to, how we should pay for new roads etc, sure maybe.
if it’s “politics” as in how we should treat the homeless, who gets to have rights, and if we should be giving survivor benefits to children, absolutely the fuck not. i can be polite for extremely short periods of time in surface-level conversation when required for work and that’s it.
Absolutely. You just have to not care much about politics
Depends on if either is an insufferable asshole. Regardless of affiliation.
Drinking mate of me is pro russsia, i’m pro europe – we agreed that neither of us want to live under opression. But i try to change subject asap
It really depends on the issue. A lot of what we see as “political” issues are actually our values. Like, should we allocate a 14 billion dollar surplus to infrastructure repair or public education? That’s a political question. Should transgender people be allowed to exist in the open in American society without being persecuted? That’s a values question. I’m perfectly fine being friends with someone who doesn’t share my political opinions. I’d rather not share oxygen with people who don’t share my values.
The current environment? No. Anyone who still supports Trump at this point is too far gone. They have no place in my life.
If they’re just a Republican, OK. But Trump support specifically reflects badly on one’s character. We’re getting to a point in USA where hard lines are being drawn.
After experiences with enough people who have hate based on race, gender, or sexual orientation as a core value, the answer is no in my opinion.
There’s a difference between having differing political views that are just not aligned and those that are completely opposite.
It’s easy to be friends with someone who has different political beliefs. It’s hard to be friends with someone who has different values.
>Can you be friends with someone who wants to kill you?
No.
Yes. But morality is a lot more difficult.
Some people call things like human rights political and isn’t. When you’re on the side of bigotry and sick capitalism, I just don’t think we can get along.
I’m married to a Trump supporter and I am most definitely not a Trump supporter.
We just don’t watch the news together nor do we discuss politics in any way shape or form.
Yes, I’m not full of hate, fear and propaganda.
Most normal people (right or left) care about safety, family, freedom and fairness. But if someone is in full Fox News or equivalent rabbit hole they might be too brainwashed to relate to and so it’s probably best to step back from that.
Yes, but once they deny another person’s humanity I am out.
Yes, it can be done, even with pretty far left/right views. You just have to remember that you are both human beings, and friends, and you can discuss, even argue emphatically, and still get along. Your political views don’t have to dictate treating other people like shit, that is just whether you are an asshole or not.
And just because someone disagrees with you, doesn’t make them an asshole, or even necessarily wrong.
Enjoy civil discourse, and continue to learn and grow.
Many can; I can’t
Not anymore
No. I think nazis are bad. I cannot be friends with someone who thinks nazis are good.
I used to say yes. But then my differences grew too great. The TLDR of it is I had a group of friends that I’d been close to for 30 years in some cases, at least 20 in others. We were tight. Then Trump came along. I live in a heavily red rural area. They bought into what Trump was selling. I didn’t. We started to have disagreements over some yahoo none of us knew personally. Then the great lie of the 2020 election and January 6th happened and I went 100% anti-Trump, while they backed his lies and claimed Antifa caused January 6th. They had visual evidence in front of them and could clearly see many of those people were rednecks from the deep south and yet what I heard was “Nope. Antifa.” It sickened me.
4 years later and they all voted for him again. We hardly talk anymore. I honestly can’t be friends with people that support Trump. I’m not a Democrat. I’m a registered independent that leans left, but I’m not what I would consider either liberal or conservative. I voted for the person, not the party for most of my voting history. I just can’t stand that man or his policies. His beliefs and what he represents is reflected in my friends now whenever I see them. I see Trump in all of them, and I hate that. They believe whatever he says. It’s embarrassing. I still love them and want good things for them, but I don’t want to be around them anymore. So no, I don’t think you can be friends with people that are your opposite, politically. I don’t hang out with my old group of friends anymore. I see them occasionally, but not often, and we rarely talk politics when we do because neither side is willing to listen anymore. That’s the state of America. Exactly what China and Russia wanted because we’re too stupid as a people to think for ourselves.
No bc it’s not about politics, it’s about how you view other humans and the world around us. If it’s opposite, I’m probably concerned.
No
I live in a Southern state where the people need help in the worst way, yet they voted Red like crazy. A couple of them are my friends that I have loved since Jr High, over 50 years.
Now that some of us are retired, we have breakfast together once every few weeks. We have one guy who is die-hard Southern Baptist right-wing about everything, and goes to a church that confirms that.
The other guy is an Evangelical church pastor who grew up very Pentecostal/fundamental. In his older years he has learned that he can still maintain his beliefs, and yet show love to everybody.
I grew up very fundamental, but not Pentecostal. I moved a couple hours away for a job in the city and worked with a multitude of people and cultures. After several years of deconstructing what I had always been taught I ended up in a contemporary KLove-style church that probably seems to be very liberal to my friends.
When we meet for breakfast, the first guy will either get started with his extreme right wing stuff (that must be right because he got it from his church), or he will go silent. Sometimes I get carried away with my (probably) left wing stuff. The preacher guy does a good job of hearing both sides and landing somewhere in the middle.
Because my parents were never able to have any more children these guys are the closest to brothers that I have ever had. I love them and I am not going to be the one to stop that. We have given our small field of hay to the first guy for 10 years since my dad died. I have gone to his farm a couple times to help him with projects he was working on. I am going to love on him as much as he will let me, if the point comes that we can’t be friends any more then that is going to come from him. These are the guys I would help bury a dead body for/with.
I don’t have the energy to be like this with everybody around me, because most of them are similar to my first friend. Because of the Bible I am going to love on everybody, no matter what they believe. But I am not going to be that committed to everyone in my area because it would make me tired and it would make my heart hurt to see good people believe something so contrary to what they say they believe.
Thank you for asking this question, it has caused me to stop and think about how far I am willing to go to keep the peace.
I have numerous conservative friends, shares NBA season ticket with one for years..
I have zero MAGAs in my life who I am close with or rely on.
Two of my best friends are full-on MAGAts. There’s no reasoning with them, so I’ve quit trying. The funny thing is, we align politically on most things, but i find Trump unacceptable and would like to see him and his political cronies in a Nuremberg-type setting to answer for their crimes.
We don’t talk about politics anymore.
It’s difficult. Leftwingers are overly emotional, ideological and get upset.
This describes most of my friendships
Yes. I worked with a guy side by side that was a good friend and he was the exact opposite politically from me. We enjoyed working together and talked about life. We just never talked politics. People are more than their politics. You vote your way, I’ll vote mine, and I’ll see you at work tomorrow.
I’ve had plenty of good friends with opposing views. It’s all about respecting each other.
Depends on how mature you are
Absolutely, just don’t talk politics
I have many friends from across the aisle. It’s not hard to disagree politically and agree on being friends.
Of course.
Yes, because I’m a conservative. Only liberals hate those who have different opinions than them.
yep, you just don’t talk about that shit
Yes, I have several friends that are opposite to my political views that I have been friends with for decades. We just don’t talk about politics when we get together. We have so many others things in common that we have no problems avoiding that subject.
Simple answer is yes. If you two are able to act like adults and put your political beliefs aside then yes I believe a friendship can work.
Yes
Yes and I am even dating someone with a very different political outlook as me. We’ve been together for 8 years and living together for 7 years.
Not true friends. You can be friendly and even have shared interests. But you can’t have a deep meaningful friendship with them. I know, I have tried. It’s like an atheist and theist being friends. They can be to a point. But at some point you just can’t have a rational discussion with someone who is irrational.
Yes, I have several that are completely different sides to me.
The saving grace is that we are all mature enough and intelligent enough to understand each others reasonings, even if we don’t agree with them.
I’m friends with pro Palestine gay and transgender friends. The fact that they would be tortured and killed by the Palestinians they support makes no sense but I gave up trying to point out the irony.
Just stay away from politics is the best policy.
Yes because that’s what my country (USA) fought for. Everyone has different beliefs based on their personal experiences and I was lucky enough to befriend people from all over the US and the world that showed me all walks of life see the world different. Someone from a well off family that never saw poverty firsthand will tel you that we might put too much money in helping the poor whereas someone that grew up in poverty might say the rich need to be taxed more. Debating others is a great way to learn about the world. A lot of politicians don’t agree with each other even though they are on the same team which in theory should help with ideas. Imagine if the question was about something else personal like religion, that would be crazy.
Fun fact everyone in N Korea has the same political beliefs
Considering the core of my political beliefs is that people should be allowed to live their lives in peace as long as they aren’t hurting anyone, with all the same rights to actually affordable healthcare, food, water, housing, and a livable wage and the opposite of that is bigotry and greed— no. I can’t be friends with someone who believes the opposite of me, politically.
It is getting harder and harder to do so. I’ve had to cut off a few friends and family members who have become almost fanatical.
No, I cannot be friends with someone who does not believe I have a right to exist.
it’s fine we don’t talk policies.
Not really.
I have no interest in being friends with someone who supports concentration camps, redistribution of wealth to oligarchs, and hurting people just to hurt them.
Casual friends, maybe. Good friends, I don’t think so.
There’s a lot of well-meaning centrists out there crying and wringing their hands about how political discourse used to be polite and can’t we all just be friends? Well, no, some of these issues are really important and divisive. We can just agree to disagree on little things like the drinking age or tax rates. If you think I “love killing babies” and I think you like to put Latin American asylum seekers in internment camps and let the cops execute black suspects without Due Process, we’re fundamentally not Friends, because you’re an asshole.
Sorry if that’s upsetting because you just want peace and quiet, but you getting upset is not as upsetting to me as people dying.
I’ve had similar conversations with ex-friends from Russia about the war in Ukraine. They couldn’t understand why their Ukrainian relatives wanted to know their stance on the war and were really “upset” that everybody kept stressing them out about it and wasn’t it so inconvenient for Russians to travel to Europe now. Guess what? Ukrainians are dying and having their cities destroyed and their land stolen. They don’t care that you’re “upset” having conversations about it. Amazingly, that’s not their primary concern right now.
In the past? Absolutely. Now? Nope. If someone voted for Trump, I can’t trust their judgment and our morals don’t align. Hard no from me. I’ve ended friendships and have distanced myself from family that support him.
No
Conservatives can, because their beliefs are acquisative nihilism. Humanity is impossible to truly govern and selfishness and cowardice will always creep in so there will still be lots of wrongs.
Anyone with real empathy cannot be friends with the other side because the cruelty and domination of the entire point.