Losing a friend to politics

 
Article by Adrienne Skolnik in "The American Thinker":

Today I lost a close friend.  Cherished and admired by my family.  A great humanitarian. Generous and kind individual.  I have a heavy heart for it was so sudden.  No, she did not die!  Then why such great sadness?  She cut off our friendship because I am a Conservative and she is a Liberal.  Believe me, just as painful.

On June 9, 2020, American Thinker published an article I wrote called, "Whiteness," The New Evil.  It has brought many incredible people into my life.  Since my Liberal friend and I shared many life events, I sent the article to her.

I didn't speak with my Liberal friend for two weeks and when I called to "check in" and see how she and her family were doing, the last part of our conversation was about my article. Prior to this, we never talked politics. I said, "I guess you now know I am a Conservative and I think you are Liberal."  She acknowledged, "A little Liberal and some of my family are a little Conservative." (That is like being a little bit pregnant.)  She said she liked the part I wrote about antisemitism and the Ethiopian Jews, but she didn't agree with other points I made. One being that I believe that antisemitism is more prevalent in the United States than racism.  She disagreed and saw it the other way around even though I provided statistics of hate crimes against Jews.  I told her, "No problem." And we said our warm and friendly goodbye.

Two more weeks went by, and there was a Zoom event taking place from the New York Consulate also about the Ethiopian Jews (Beta Israel).  My friend Raffi Berg, Middle East Editor of BBC Online is the author of the book, "Red Sea Spies," the story of how the Israeli Mossad set up Operation Brothers in a fake diving resort in Sudan, to rescue 7,000 Ethiopian Jews and get them safely to Israel.  The program also featured Commander of the Mossad Dani Limor.  Here is the link for that event which starts three minutes after opening:

https://www.facebook.com/IsraelinNY/videos/1210092219345434 

I also sent the announcement for this wonderful event to my Liberal friend.  To follow up and make sure she could open the Zoom account, I called, but she didn't answer.  So I left a message. No response. Then I called again and left a message.  No response.  I decided to send an email.  No response.  This was quite unusual for my Liberal friend usually gets right back to me. I actually started getting worried something happened to her.

Around 8:00 pm, I receive an email from my Liberal friend and as I start reading it, I felt like someone punched me in the stomach.  I just stared at the screen not believing the angry message my friend sent me. Given the nature of our relationship, I was in shock!  I had to call another friend for solace.  Here is the angry email I received:
    
"I felt very sad after our last phone call.  The US was founded by racists, the Constitution was a racist document, and I think your statement that anti-Semitism in this country is more prevalent than racism is a very inherently problematic belief.  I cannot maintain a relationship with you Adrienne any longer and will not be responding to your voice mail.  Please do not email me or call me again.  I can no longer enjoy our friendship.  I do wish you the best.  Please honor my request."

It still hurts to read it.  And I was so troubled by the loss of my cherished friend, I didn't sleep all night.  I decided to write to Rabbi Aryeh Spero, President of the Conference of Jewish Affairs, my friend and "America's Rabbi."  I explained what happened and that I felt my Liberal friend was irrational.  Here is Rabbi's response:

"If someone no longer wants to be your friend, then that is the end of the relationship. Liberalism has become the "Avodah Zara", the idol of most Jews. They value their deity above everything else. It is happening to all Conservatives from now ex- Liberal friends. Welcome to the Club. She truly wants to believe America was founded in evil. For some emotional reason, she needs to hold on to that belief... without challenge."

I want to repeat what Rabbi said, "It is happening to all Conservatives from now ex-Liberal friends.  Welcome to the Club."  This is such a sad commentary on the chaos and divisiveness in this country.  It is perverse.

So my Liberal friend turned out to be a Progressive Left Deceiver.  Beware those of you with so-called Liberal friends.  Could be a wolf in sheep's clothing.  I recently heard a Conservative pundit say, "One technique the Left uses to put you on the defensive, is to accuse you of doing what they are doing."  More deception.  More lost friendships.

I'll have to become like the armadillo and grow body armor for protection against the slings and arrows of the Progressive Left Deceivers.  It really is painful to lose a special friend, have angry irrational emails sent to you and not understand how an ideology can tear friendships apart.

There are pictures in my home of my Progressive Left friend.  They will remain with us, for we loved her.  We will remember how special she is.  She brought a richness to our lives.  And because I am always an optimist, maybe, just maybe, one day our friend will change her mind.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/07/losing_a_friend_to_politics.html