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Is it morally wrong to stop being freinds with someone because he/she is a homophobe?

I'm gay but have many straight friends. One of them is Muslim, and she maintains that as part of her religious beliefs it is mandatory for her to consider homosexuality a sin, that is punishable by an afterlife in "hell". She also does not oppose persecutions of gays in Islamic countries saying that it is their sovereignty that can not be infringed in the name of Human Rights. (She thinks the Koran is more important than any human rights declaration.)

That said, she's been a very kind, helpful and longtime friend, but her attitude towards homosexuality is unacceptable for me. Is it morally tenable for her to be a friend to a gay man, and a homophobe at the same time? Is it immoral/unethical for me to dump her because of her religious beliefs?

May 12, 2011

Response from Oliver Leaman on June 2, 2011

If we could only like people who share our views, our circle of friends would be very narrow.

Most of my religous friends are convinced that in the next world we shall never meet again, since they are going to one place, and I very definitely am going somewhere rather warmer and less pleasant. I very much doubt that any of us are going anywhere after we are dead, but if we are, then given that God seems to have a sense of humour, we might all be in for a surprise.

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