To Mom, and Aunt Lisa.

I don’t think I have to be a genius to point out that it seems that people are veering further and further apart these days. And, with the presidency of Donald Trump and the recent pandemic, this sense of division has been made doubly worse. 

I have been particularly disturbed by this trend of seeing people who I know who are completely cutting off friends and members of their families due to differing political beliefs. 

Some of my family members and I have argued on several occasions, mainly about politics. My mother and I, in particular, bicker about political matters. 

I won’t go on about what we argue about, but I’ll say that a lot of it boils down to her liking our former president Donald Trump, and I am not so fond. 

Sometimes I called names; sometimes she did. Occasionally our tempers flared, as they sometimes do when you get into a heated political discussion. 

But I couldn’t have ever imagined in my life time cutting my mother out of my life simply because I disagree with her political opinions. 

But there are people who have done that, and are doing that as of right now, even people who I know. One girl who I know stopped talking with her grandmother because her grandmother supported Trump, and I couldn’t help but be horrified by her cutting off contact with her grandmother. 

I certainly understand the frustration of having a family member who holds nonsensical beliefs. I have certainly beaten my head against the wall after having such debates with members of my family. 

But is it really frustrating to the point where you can’t see yourself having a relationship with those people anymore? 

For some people, it is and it can be hard to argue with some of their points. A common argument used is that people don’t want to go around being with people who support immoral causes, but I don’t think that supporting Trump is equivalent to being a Neo-Nazi, for instance. 

I mean, if someone in your family is a white supremacist or a radical extremist, then sure I don’t think you should spend a lot of time with that person, but cutting off someone that you don’t agree with politically seems to be a bit too much for me to stand behind. 

Perhaps it’s differing values that causes me to be distressed, as I am someone who holds family and friendship in a high regard, and I don’t think of those things in a trivial way. 

But I struggle to come up with a solution to this trend that I see, and I don’t know if there is one for something as messy as this. 

One of the best pieces of advice that I’ve heard about this situation was from a friend of mine, and he told me to keep loving my family and friends, despite my differences with them. 

Don’t take any of the arguments about politics personally, even if those arguments become hurtful in the process. 

Still love your family. Be nice to them, and don’t allow your political views get in the way of the fact that these are your family and friends, as you won’t find anyone else that’s like them. 

In short, still love your family and friends. 

I would just recommend to not bring up politics when you meet them again.