Cutting off friends - When does but you don't count no longer excuse?

I've always had friends all across the political spectrum and often enjoy spirited debates about religion, politics and other controversial topics. Recently though people some of whom I liked or had great respect for insist on slapping labels on me that do not apply. Any time they call Tea party movement participants racists, ignorant, and the whole list of Red Neck stereotypes so often used by the Left it is a personal attack on me since I attend Tea party movements yet I am no a Republican, could care less about people's religions or race. I'm not even especially religious yet I'm called a Christian fanatic for not being anti-Christian. I've removed several friends from my contacts list and IM because I'm really tired of all the mud slinging used in place of discourse. Folks on the other side I'm sure get just as much of the mud. Lots of Conservative minorities probably hear it nearly every day when some closet racist goes on a tirade but then says "you don't count". The whole idea of racism being bad is pre-judging people on characteristics which have little or no basis in reality. Hating somebody over the color of their skin isn't the evil part it's hating them because their skin color somehow magically endows them with certain qualities that is wrong because it is pre-judging. That is the whole reason why hating people over religion or skin color is wrong. As such the stereotypes applied to Tea party members, and other political groups have gone well beyond the kind of hatred that made racism wrong. Yet the hypocrisy of the whole dehumanizing scam seems to escape so many. I feel like I'm associated with KKK types today when I talk to many Leftists and hear them spew the exact lame things that were once said about Blacks and Jews with the same complete lack of reality.

I still have friends who disagree with me on politics but who never resort to lame stereotypes.So I ask when is it time to just write off former friends and associates and give up on them as lost to the hate that consumes them?
 
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