I grew up, as you may have grown up, hearing variations on the line misattributed to Voltaire: “I despise what you have to say but will defend to my death your right to say it.” In time, I would discover Voltaire never said those words, though they certainly summarized his views.
I often disagree with you (and am happy to say so) and think that the framing you often use to defend your stances dismisses the factual objective reality that there are many people today whose bigotry is overt, concrete and unyielding and who actively support very specific policies that endanger the lives of my friends, but I also understand that you do this both out of a knee jerk empathy created from the social backlash you received and a genuine (if unrealistic) desire for everyone to politely get along. I do believe you have a good heart and I do believe our friendship can easily withstand the moments where either of us talk bullshit, but we can’t know the heart of everyone we engage with and ultimately it is important to have boundaries and it’s completely fair to base them on very serious issues that genuinely effect how people live.
I certainly agree that you and I fit this description, and I think it's absolutely okay to draw those boundaries. Civility is not the absence of doors and walls!
I often disagree with you (and am happy to say so) and think that the framing you often use to defend your stances dismisses the factual objective reality that there are many people today whose bigotry is overt, concrete and unyielding and who actively support very specific policies that endanger the lives of my friends, but I also understand that you do this both out of a knee jerk empathy created from the social backlash you received and a genuine (if unrealistic) desire for everyone to politely get along. I do believe you have a good heart and I do believe our friendship can easily withstand the moments where either of us talk bullshit, but we can’t know the heart of everyone we engage with and ultimately it is important to have boundaries and it’s completely fair to base them on very serious issues that genuinely effect how people live.
I certainly agree that you and I fit this description, and I think it's absolutely okay to draw those boundaries. Civility is not the absence of doors and walls!