It's generally agreed that the quality of one's life is measured by the number of friends one has.  But in today's divisive and embattled society, the stances that have been taken are leaving many friends on the outside looking in.

From workplaces to family gatherings, from classrooms to carpools, there have always been those instances that might create dissention between close friends or relatives.  In years past, the cause for alienation could have been anything from bad marriage choices to body odor, but these days, there is a brand-new catalyst for rooting out the offensive friend or family member and making the decision to cast them aside: politics.

Back a million years ago, when I was growing up, the party affiliation of Aunt Marilyn or the political leanings of your pinochle club might be a topic of only slight conversation once every four years.  There was no scoreboard, no cheat sheet that gave a behind-the-scenes account of the party preferences of family and friends.  We had no instant forum for discussion when it came to politics, and the privacy that went along with our secret ballot was respected at dinner tables and ballgames whenever friends came together.

As I said, that was a long time ago.

Today, it is a common occurrence for politics and social issues to come between lifelong friends and close-knit families.  Bosses and their subordinates, husbands and wives, and even military veterans who have served together have been split by the animosity and distrust that feed our current political feud in this country.  All of the endearing qualities and the random acts of kindness between friends or family seem to be dissolving in a pool of suspicion and intolerance ever since our most recent presidential election. 

How many conservatives do you think are employed by Google?  What percentage of our law enforcement or military members embrace liberal ideals?  We are rapidly headed toward an unhealthy place and time that will only further divide us – a time when the doors of our homes and businesses might be affixed with either red or blue markings contingent solely upon the rabid political loyalties of the owners or inhabitants.

Once you factor in the third-world influence of those who have come here with absolutely no democratic sympathies, you end up with a society consisting of fractured groups – resentful and hateful pockets of humanity instead of a nation of family and friends.

Unless we, as a people, can come together and begin anew without bowing to the influence of politicians or other subversive organizations, we might as well remove the word "United" from our country's title for good.  In a divided nation, when broken families and former friends are willing to stand by and cheer the carnage based upon a political rooting-interest, we are certainly doomed to be conquered.

Sometimes reunions are most successful when everyone shows up in the real world.