My Friends

I wrote this originally for my Myspace blog, after some heated debate and un-friending happened between all people that I know. No one unfriended me, but there were some pretty heated words written. I needed them all to know how I felt about our friendships and our lives. Here is what I wrote:


Yep, I stole that from McCain - the line that I liked least that he used... even more than "But I was a POW!"

Anyway, I realize that many of us don't have the exact same beliefs, we don't have the same political party or religion.


I believe very much what I believe. I hope that you don't think that I have been shoving it down your throat. All I wanted was to encourage everyone to vote. I made it clear who I was voting for, but I tried not to get in anyone's face to try to change their minds. I hope that I succeeded in that.


I am very very happy that Obama won. I again have hope for the world, and for my life. I understand, to a degree, why the republicans and independents would be upset and saddened that their candidate didn't win. But the amount of back tracking and shit pulling that I have been seeing is killing me. Sometimes, even though I am pretty sure none of the outbursts are directed at me, I take them personally. I voted what I thought best for me and my country. Anyone who knows me knows how I was raised. You already know what I think. You know how I feel. Please stop telling me what an idiot I am or my candidate and the future president is. It hurts me to think that my "friends" would think that about me, and continue to pretend to be my friend.


If you are on my friend's list, there is a reason: I consider you my friend. And there is a reason for that. Whether it be because I love to talk to you about anything, I like your taste in music, I worked with you and we had a good time. Or because we both like to play Guitar Hero. Chances are, it has nothing to do with politics or religion. If you ever tried to push your religion on me, you probably didn't stay my friend for long. If you tried to argue your politics with me and got so angry with me that you couldn't speak and could not just sit and listen to my views and try to understand them, and maybe explained why you felt the way that you felt; maybe you are still my friend. I will not stand for racism, bigotry, or terrorism amongst my friends.


I hope you understand why you are my friends, and respect that fact. There is a huge difference between teasing me about what I believe and telling me how stupid I am while the spit is flying out of your mouth and you face turns red. We can just agree to disagree. If you no longer want to be friends with me because of my beliefs, let me know - un-friend me, whatever. But let me know why first. I'd like to know who to not contact ever again. And grow up.


Please respect my feelings and I will respect yours. I will tease you good naturedly about your politics, but I will never NEVER tell you that you are so wrong that I can't stand to be around you.


Thank you.