Sad

It has come to my attention that my sibling hates me.
At least, that's what I glean from the email he sent me late last night full of vitriol and spite. I get that s/he's unhappy. I understand that, but it seems like every time we engage in any kind of dialogue it inevitably leads to an attack. We've been having an ongoing discussion, shall we say, over my involvement in support of Iran. My sibling, who has never really been involved in any sort of public demonstrations, at first was piqued that I was again engaged in a social justice issue, but that good-natured annoyance quickly changed to full-blown rampage at some point yesterday. It seemed like the more gentle and loving I was in my responses, the more infuriated my sibling became to the point that I received an email this afternoon after church that began with "you are f--king retarded".
I am so hurt by all of this, but I have to admit, I honestly have done nothing wrong. Is it possible my sibling is possessed? This is not the same person I shared my secrets with or hung out with or admired when s/he played in that great band. So what do I do? Answer the email although it will probably only bait them further? Ignore them? I know from experience that there is no reasoning with this kind of rage, but I kind of feel like Meg when Charles Wallace was taken over by IT*. I know it's not them talking.

Sigh.

*For those of you who have never read Madeleine l'Engle's masterpiece, "A Wrinkle in Time" this refers to a scene where the hero has been taken over by the malevolent evil that is IT, although the hero says terrible things to his sister, she nevertheless recognizes that it is not her sibling speaking and that he does, in fact, need help.