I feel a bit betrayed, not because we have very different ideas regarding Communism but because he was too much of a coward to tell me he doesn’t agree with me and only told me his ideas because I wanted to encourage him to get organized. For two years this divide between us existed and he is telling me only now? I don’t want to end a lifelong Friendship but I feel like I can’t trust him anymore. If he kept his true political views hidden what else is he not telling me?
I obviously know next to nothing about you or your friend so take this with a grain of salt if it doesn’t resonate with you:
Consider your reaction when you disagree with someone. Could you be dissuading him from sharing conflicting views because you tend to take such conversations very seriously and therefore it’s uncomfortable for him to participate in them? How does he see your arguments with other people, do you tend to deride those you disagree with?
If you become angry at people who disagree with you, your friend is going to avoid disagreeing with you because he doesn’t want you to be mad at him. Some people are simply averse to interpersonal-conflict. The kind of people who are energized by combative discussion are rare. Preferring to keep the peace over being intellectually correct is a common perspective and frankly—as I have personally learned over the years—is not without value in many situations.