Interestingly enough, I've always gotten far more of a 'shut and don't talk about it' attitude online from my 'non-conservative' friends than from my supposedly 'conservative' ones. Issues here aren't so black and white, for example I'm not seen as conservative in New Zealand because I'm anti-abortion *or* seen as liberal because I'm pro gay marriage, there just isn't such a distinct line. Your average New Zealander is easily a complete mix of beliefs that seem to pigeonhole people in the US especially as left or right. On my online journal, I can talk about my negative view on the Iraq war and have people disagree with it nice and calm manner, but the moment I mention my thoughts on abortion I’ve been told by friends I adore to ‘shut up and don’t talk about it’. Even worse, I’ve been told that I’m ‘allowed’ to have my opinion as long as I don’t try to in any way change laws to match it, protest publicly about it, or even SPEAK out publicly about it. I think there is this general belief that people who follow liberal political ideas are more open minded, but that’s simply not the case. Everyone is just as good or as bad as each other, regardless of their political stance.