i have never had a REAL friend that was a RAT... some acquaintances, and they were no real loss.
Posted on 09/11/2019 9:27:17 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
I imagine I’m not the only one this happened to, but still, you hate to see it happen at all. You express your support for Trump on a given issue, and an old friend or acquaintance dumps you. That’s how fiercely they oppose – or even despise – him. How do we best navigate these turbulent waters?
Growing up in a small Jewish community on Long Island, most of my best friends were also Jewish. And like the majority of American Jews, most of those old friends are now liberal Democrats. And a few of those old friends – or neighbors – are my Facebook friends.
That means they see my many posts about controversial cultural issues, like abortion and LGBT activism, and they do not unfriend me.
Others, not surprisingly, did unfriend me along the way, which I fully understand. We weren’t super close, and they didn’t appreciate my views. All clear.
But one in particular, whom I had known since elementary school, somehow stuck around, and every so often he’d post a nice comment to a family update or the like.
Unfortunately, the day came when my support for the President on a particular issue was more than he could take, and that was the end of that.
I wasn’t offended, but I hated to see it happen.
More recently, another childhood friend, named David, posted this in response to one my Trump-related articles: “How can any Christian support such an immoral and divisive man? He’s broken every commandment and has committed all Seven Deadly Sins. Ask yourself two questions....would Jesus support such behavior?
“Would Jesus treat illegals the same way?
“The answer is no to both questions and I question your commitment to Jesus if you support Donald Trump.
“Instant redemption is bull as Trump never seems contrite in his poor decisions.”
How did I respond to a post like this?
It appears that the order of the day is to fight fire with fire, offense with offense. You blast me and I blast you. Forget about substance. About content. About details and facts. And forget about conducting ourselves in a godly manner. Not a chance. Fire away!
But the Book of Proverbs has a relevant word for us here: “A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.” (Proverbs 15:1, NLT)
I knew his life experience and faith perspectives were very different than mine, and personally, I was glad to see he was still a Facebook friend, despite our differences.
I wrote back, “You definitely represent the concerns of many others, especially non-Christians. Here's the short answer: 1) Donald Trump is NOT our Savior, and for many of us, he was the last choice of the Republicans running for office. But a vote for him was a vote against Hillary, who we believed would be a disaster for our country. 2) While the issue of migrant children is a serious one and needs to be addressed, for us, slaughtering one million babies in the womb [each year] is a massively bigger issue. The brutal and horrific slaughter and torture and displacement of millions of Christians in the Middle East by ISIS and other Islamic militants is a massively bigger issue. The possibility of Iran getting nuclear weapons to attack Israel fits in this same category. And these are just some of the biggest issues to us. That's why we voted for Trump. We felt Hillary would be on the wrong side of all of these. As for immigration, remember that Obama deported far more illegals, at this time in his presidency, than Trump, and the problem of separating children from parents has existed for years before Trump. Christian supporters of Trump simply need to make clear that we want something done that is compassionate and fair. 3) When we excuse Trump's sinful behavior, we discredit our own witness. I agree. But we do NOT compromise our Christian witness when we say, ‘We deplore his past, playboy lifestyle, and we hate his crude and ugly attacks against others, but out of the choices for president in 2016 (or, potentially in 2020), we believe he's the better choice.’ I encourage you to think this through. God bless!”
And how did David respond on Facebook? He wrote, “Michael, thanks for the answer. As you know, we have many issues facing us as a country and as religious groups. There are no easy answers. I’m not sure if prioritizing our response based on religious views is the answer.
“It saddens me to see not one of the responses I got from people here address my two questions about Jesus approving of Trumps actions. I see a herd of Trump apologists who cherry pick their Christian values.
“Michael, I admire you as a person, you serve a very important role in today’s world. Keep up the good work you do! Be well!”
I responded, “Thanks for the kind words. This is the kind of interaction we all need. Much appreciated! And keep raising your voice when you want to weigh in. I always welcome respectful differences of opinion.”
As of today, David and I are still Facebook friends (David, I hope you’re reading this! If you are, encourage Robert to rejoin us!). And the point of me posting this is not to say, “Look at how wise my interaction was!”
The point, instead, is this.
Let’s do our best to communicate. To interact substantively rather than be reactionary. To do our best to hear someone’s heartfelt concerns.
And then, rather than dismissing those concerns as if they were baseless – is that how we want our concerns treated? – to share our point of view with clarity and grace.
In the end, rather than losing friends over views about Trump, we just might gain some.
Hey, it can’t hurt to dream.
Same here. I was known as an uncommonly devoted friend throughout my first three decades.
Most of my former friends are gone - and I no longer care.
If you take a stand for anything moral, and especially not leftist (but that is redundant), then you will lose many friends.
(I am a semi-professional musician, and musicians in general are flaming leftists - and yes, very touchy.)
i have never had a REAL friend that was a RAT... some acquaintances, and they were no real loss.
I dumped two friends because they simply could not stop trashing Trump. I figured they didn’t really care enough about the friendships (49 years and 48 years) to zip it around me, as I had when they voted for Obama. I still think about them from time to time, but I don’t miss them.
On reflection, each had snarked at every conservative aspect of my life from time to time, and when it got around to Trump, that was the last straw.
My mom was a very gregarious person - she managed to find the good in almost everybody. It broke her heart when the ‘tards started “unfriending” her for nothing more than being a Republican. My dad was like, “F ‘em!”
My brother and I lost our other brother years ago because he married a public schoolteacher. She broke everyone's hearts and ruined our family dinners for years. We stopped seeing them and their kids after our parents died.
It is a waste of your life to have LIB LUNATICS in your life.
A leftwing mind-numbed robot is a DANGEROUS ‘friend’.
I won’t lose a friend by heeding God’s call
For what is a friend who wants you to fall?
Others find pleasure in things I despise
I like the Christian life
I got called a “nazi” on reddit today on a sports message board. So I said in reply they were a Stalinist. That comment triggered a snowflake mod and I got banned for a week. Ha ha. Of course those posters calling Republicans nazis are never/rarely banned on reddit.
RE: Would Jesus have approved ‘the seven deadly sins’ that Trump supposedly has done?
This sounds like the pharisees asking why Jesus dined with sinners. Jesus’s reply was that he came to call the sinners to conversion. Notice that the newly sanctimonious Democrats are suddenly concerned with what Jesus would say or think? In the meanwhile, Trump has defended Israel, the unborn, and the Bill of Rights. He has defended our right to a religious conscience, and the plea for freedom from discrimination from the Little Sisters of the Por!
Last choice??? For many NeverTrumper RINOs, maybe.
What a wussified reply. 🙄
A US President is voted in to govern.....voters know he’s not a saint or a Pope.
It becomes clearer when we acknowledge “this is govt by the people, by the people, and for the people.”
The President’s chief role is unique......to govern according to the precepts of the Constitution.
His job is protect the freedoms of the people’s government.
We dont need a saint to do that.
RE: Do you even know what the seven Deadly Sins are?
The 7 deadly sins:
Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth
Which ones has he broken?
“Jesus himself that we would lose friends and alienate family by choosing to follow Him.”
This reading was part of a recent Saturday service.
One of my best friends was a liberal in college. I ignored it. He has gotten much more radical. A Bernie supporter now.
How old are you and your friend.
We have found that as they get older, there is no discussions with them. It ends up a one way diatribe with them yelling.
I stopped dealing with this about 2 decades ago. I don’t want to be around them. My wife is finally coming around to this “No Thank You! I don’t need this nor will I allow your hatred to continue with me.”
When it degrades to that I always just finish it by asking “Why do you love government so much?”
They cannot explain.
Then I go into “everyone says politicians are corrupt crooks- why do you want them running more and more of your life?”
Or if they go to “I want to help people?” I say “Do you want to help people or do you just want to vote for other people to help people...? Then I go to “Politicians are corrupt crooks- why do you want to give them more money???”
It usually boils down to “I want government to ‘help’ people” and I tel them “Government only helps the government”
I’m 70. He’s like 72
I am a Christian. I am studying apologetics and how to lead others to Christ. (Actually it is the Holy Spirit’s doing and not mine.) I am learning to sow more than reap. My job is to make others really think about what they have bought as truth. Gregory Koukl (www.str.com) has a study called “Tactics” that I am finding invaluable. Without going into too much, the thing we miss when trying to convince someone is that we cannot change their mind. They have too change their mind or worldview. Whenever someone makes an absurd leftist comment, we need to be clear what they really mean, make them back up their assertions, and not counter with our own. Most people have not really thought deep enough to backup the dribble they are spouting. “What do you mean by that?” And “How did you arrive at that conclusion?” will make them question their notions of reality. There is more to this but if we conservatives would put the burden of proof on the left they will collapse under their own flawed thinking.
Stay strong brother.
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