Thanks for reading and for your thoughtful response. I definitely agree, and will add that as much as I pride myself on being an "independent thinker," we are all influenced and shaped by the communities that surround us. Some of us more than others, to be sure, but I put the blame squarely on the church for (very intentionally) stoking partisan divides and exploiting their congregations' faith. If I had been raised to believe the things my friend is now saying on social media, I'd like to think I would have challenged them, but honestly who knows? Did I just blindly follow in my progressive hippie parents' path?