So here is my adult dilemma: how do you maintain a diverse group of friends and not tolerate hate/exclusion at the same time?
A simpler question might be, when do you unfriend someone on social media/ real life?
I want friends with different ideas and options. I strive for understanding, when talking with people who have viewpoints that are different than my own. Yet when people post things that are hateful and exclusionary, I have a hard time. Particularly when these people are identifying themselves “Christians” and use their religion to hate and exclude people. I was raised Christian (although now I just identify as being vaguely Christian, but mostly just spiritual/religious). I was a missionary and a youth minister before I was a teacher. My recollection is that God said “Love everybody” forgive me for not remembering the part of the Bible where it says “love everybody, except that transgendered person taking a quick pee next to you while they are running errands.” I honestly have a friend who posted that she believes “a person can’t be a boy if you are born a girl, you are what you are. You can’t just believe you are something else.” I can not abide this attitude, it rips at the core of my being!
So what is a person to do in situations like this? If I unfriend people am I being just as intolerant and exclusionary as the people I find intolerant and exclusionary?