There’s a point. It’s at the end.

I currently live with a friend in an apartment just far enough from town that it’s inconvenient to find someone else to talk to. Me and homegirl go way, way back. We initially became friends as a result of similar views, and by that I mean we single-handedly represented 17% of the liberal population in our rural Missouri hometown. I think I can speak for both of us when I say it was beyond refreshing to examine climate change with someone whose automatic response was not “bullshit communist iceberg conspiracy,” or something similar involving gun rights and John Wayne. As a result, and probably out of habit, we often launch into deep conversations by accident. It is not abnormal for us to casually discuss religion, politics and philosophy. Sometimes this is in regard to current events, and sometimes it is because I think of a thing that bothers me and she is sitting there, but it is never weird. I don’t know why, and it isn’t on purpose, but trust me when I say that nothing gets the blood pumping like a friendly Nietzsche debate over black coffee and last night’s episode of The Bachelorette. It’s a bizarre yet beautifully symbiotic relationship.

A few days ago as she was casually browsing Reddit threads and I was watering our plants, we somehow found ourselves in the midst of a groupthink session about Creationism.

Don’t let all the warms and fuzzies about our childhood friendship fool you. She and I are similar in many ways, but very different in in others. One of these differences is in faith. She identifies as Agnostic, and I as a Christian. We do agree on Evolution, as we are both avid enjoyers of eyebrows and opposable thumbs. But we have some differing sub-thoughts, so we set out to argue our cases. After half an hour of discussion, we came to differing conclusions. And while I hold the opinion that after a guided evolution took place, one that was carefully constructed by a God that I believe exists, she maintained her belief that while she doesn’t know whether my God is alive and well, planet Earth sure as hell is and would be whether we were here or not; that the planet does not give a shit about us and we hold ourselves in a shockingly high regard considering one rogue space rock could blow us all away.

Fair enough, I said. And then we sat down under the same blanket on the same sofa and watched an embarrassingly large number of Friends episodes in peace.

And this is my point. If two people with radically opposing world views can share groceries and raise a cat together, I can’t acknowledge any attempt to justify the shit that has been going on in our country this year. Disagree, sure. Express your opinion. Make a statement. Do what you think is right, and be proud.

Just quit fucking hurting one another.