My best friend and I have everything in common. We are both middle-aged women. We have worked hard all our lives and accomplished a lot, holding full-time jobs and raising families at once, responsible at times for at least half the household income. We appreciate the same things: food, drink, laughter, friendship, irreverence in others. We are both from mixed Catholic-Jewish families, and we see the plight of the world in similar ways.
Now we are barely speaking to one another; I find myself avoiding contact with her whenever possible.
The reason? She has put her stake firmly in Bernie Sanders’s camp. And I’m uncompromisingly with Hillary. For the first time, we don’t understand one another. More than that, I think we regard the other’s political position as incomprehensible — and infuriating. I can’t imagine seeing her and not talking about the election, but I also can’t imagine how any conversation would go.
Is it ethical to avoid my friend because of a political disagreement?
