An Uncomfortable Email

Occasionally I receive these emails from a good friend of mine. We don't talk or even email that often, but I am on her list to mass email anytime something she finds interesting comes across her path.

These emails sometimes involve low-brow humor, sometimes photos, sometimes warnings about drinking straight out of your Coke can without wiping it off. But sometimes, more and more, they contain over-the-top political propaganda that diverges 180 degrees from my own view. They are hateful, bigoted emails meant to spur patriotism and pride in what we are doing in the world. Only, they don't seem to inspire me much.

I've continued receiving these emails for some time. I would politely read them without comment and then promptly send them to my email trash can, ending the cycle of intolerance. But today, I could not. The email I was forwarded from my friend was simply too much to swallow. I had to respond.

But how to do you respond when you truly value the friendship of the sender? How do you say, "Thanks, but no thanks," without hurting their feelings in this time of extreme partisanship. I felt uncomfortable responding, but I came to the realization that eventually if you don't stand for anything, you stand for nothing.

So I sent her a reply. I mentioned how much I valued her friendship and her as a person. But I put my foot down and said, "Enough is enough." We'll see if I hear back.