I thought a lot about how to summarize, and this is what I came up with: I am dismayed to find that when the conspiracy theories tie into right-wing rhetoric as it relates to things like racism, Covid and climate change denialism, etc., that my self-concept of allowing people to have their own opinions isn’t quite what I thought it was. I wonder if I am being hypocritical. The truth is that I can’t respect people who hold others down. It means I don’t want to be around them. Note: I understand as a white woman I do hold others down as a part of my privilege, but that’s another thread. It’s more than a loss of friendship or other relationship, it’s the exploration of coming to terms with my own self-identity. I may actually be intolerant and not able to find a middle ground in these cases — something I have always prided myself on. I think the struggle with accepting who I am is harder than the relationship parts. The rubber meets the road and makes me more defined … if that doesn’t match what I thought I was, that creates internal struggle. Does that make sense?