Boy its hard being friends with religious people

[oddyager]

I have a few friends who go to Church every Sunday but none of them are going to bring that on our nightly excursions into the city and shit.

 

[ForumMaster]

it can be worse here. in israel, there is no seperation from religon to state. most of the stores are closed on saturday by law. (exceptions would be things like gas stations)
on yom kipur (the jewish day where you apologize to god) you're not allowed to drive at all and if you do, religous people will throw rocks at your car.

 

[TruePaige]

Originally posted by: ForumMaster
it can be worse here. in israel, there is no seperation from religon to state. most of the stores are closed on saturday by law. (exceptions would be things like gas stations)
on yom kipur (the jewish day where you apologize to god) you're not allowed to drive at all and if you do, religous people will throw rocks at your car.

Seriously? They throw rocks at your car?

...

 

[JulesMaximus]

No way, we had some good friends who were religious...even went to church with them once.

I told my wife that if she EVER dragged me to church again I was divorcing her.

 

[SnipeMasterJ13]

I only have one friend that is on the super religious side. He's tried arguing with me many times about it, which is only entertaining to me. He can't rarely answer questions I ask him, and his only response is, "go educate yourself about it."

I tell him that he very well may be 100% right about everything, but that I personally DON'T KNOW, so therefore won't admit to knowing anything. Even though I say that he may be right, but there are many other possibilities that may be right, too, that I'M the one that is close minded. 😕

All I could do was laugh and walk away at that point.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Cogman
Boy its hard to be friends with atheist people.

They are always *concerned* that you are a sheeple and try to disprove what you believe it. I just tell them that I am mormon and they go all crazy about it.

Anybody else deal with this?

The problems not with the religion, it is with the person. Get more understanding friends rather then complain about them worrying for your soul.

Must be you.

Never had a athesit knock on my door and try to sell it. Never had one hand out pamplets and/or other info. Never had one scream at me telling me i am wrong if I don;t agree.

etc....

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: SnipeMasterJ13
I only have one friend that is on the super religious side. He's tried arguing with me many times about it, which is only entertaining to me. He can't rarely answer questions I ask him, and his only response is, "go educate yourself about it."

I tell him that he very well may be 100% right about everything, but that I personally DON'T KNOW, so therefore won't admit to knowing anything. Even though I say that he may be right, but there are many other possibilities that may be right, too, that I'M the one that is close minded. 😕

All I could do was laugh and walk away at that point.

i worked with a JW for about a year, his stuff came up pretty quick, and i was pretty quick about telling him i didnt believe it and wasnt interested.

but he kept going
and i kept being polite

after a couple months i just started to fuck with the guy, gave him bad advice about chicks (which is all i have anyway) and kept convincing him how everything his parents did showed that they didnt really care about him.

usually i just want to be left alone, and want to leave people alone about it.

 

[meltdown75]

i find it hard to be friends with people that start religion threads.

 

[Cogman]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: Cogman
Boy its hard to be friends with atheist people.

They are always *concerned* that you are a sheeple and try to disprove what you believe it. I just tell them that I am mormon and they go all crazy about it.

Anybody else deal with this?

The problems not with the religion, it is with the person. Get more understanding friends rather then complain about them worrying for your soul.

Must be you.

Never had a athesit knock on my door and try to sell it. Never had one hand out pamplets and/or other info. Never had one scream at me telling me i am wrong if I don;t agree.

etc....

You haven't been at ATOT long, have you. Look up a religious topic here and then just count the number of "Religions are dumb and your a retard for believing them" posts that are there.

But thats beside the point. My point was that annoying people are annoying people no matter what belief system they subscribe to. And if you have a very large group of them together, you will generally find that the most annoying speak the loudest.

Oh, And while I haven't had an atheist hand me a pamphlet, I have had plenty scream at me and tell me that I am wrong because I don't agree with them.

 

[Bryophyte]

We have a lot of religious friends, mostly Mormon and Wiccan. We never discuss religious views and rarely discuss politics with them, so we get along famously. They don't care that we're atheist, and we don't hold their views against them.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: OdiN

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: OdiN

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: MartyMcFly3
My best friend in high school at the time was atheist. He and I got along swimmingly. He then went into the Marines and was shipped overseas. Because of this ordeal, he found religion while overseas. This wouldnt be a big deal but now everything that I do that goes against Catholicism (im Catholic) or Christianity according to him means that I am below what a human should be. Apparently I am now the scum of the earth and don't deserve to call myself Christian because of my actions. It really hurt our friendship now that he's found religion, and I am saddened by it. I basically lost my best friend, so I know how you feel OP.

He apparently missed the part where Jesus accepted everyone. It's amazing how people can claim to believe in Him and then miss the whole freaking point.

Actually, there is a verse in the Bible which says that those who call themselves followers of Jesus but do not follow His example (don't repent, don't try to do what they are suppsoed to, etc.) - it says with these people, do not even drink.

Someone who claims to be a Christian but is still willingly living contrary to what is taught - this is not a good thing. Why claim to be something you aren't?

If I had a friend who "strayed away" I would not downgrade him to sub human status and see him as scum. That was what I was getting at.

Nor should you - but say I were to call myself a Christian but would continue to pickup prostitutes or something. Imagine someone you know seeing you do that, knowing you call yourself a Christian - not exactly the example you want to give to others.

But yes there is the whole hate the sin, love the sinner thing as well. But I can see where the guy is coming from, though in this case probably a bit misguided.

Everyone expresses their religion in different ways. How are you supposed to decide which sect of Christianity is the "right" one anyway? There's really no way of knowing. But a lot of people think they know better than anyone else how you're supposed to worship, or that you have to do specific things or believe specific things in order to be a "true" Christian. I call those people "hypocrites."

John 8:7
"So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

 

[Eeezee]

I've been fortunate and haven't had to deal with those types of friends. I've had religious friends (Catholics), but they were never concerned that I wasn't a religious person.

Just lucky I guess

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: KaOTiK
I have very few religious friends. The ones that are religious are so casual about it and never bring it up and you really wouldn't be able to tell they are. Unfortunately most religious people I've run into are very pushy and always bring it up. I tell them they are bat shit crazy and that usually wraps it up.

You don't see the contradiction in your post?

The ones that are religious are so casual about it and never bring it up and you really wouldn't be able to tell they are

Most religious people I've run into are very pushy and always bring it up

Could it be that you have a lot of religious friends who just never bring it up? 😛

In my experience, most people are at least partially religious, and most people never bring up their religion because it rarely has anything to do with anything.

 

[SnipeMasterJ13]

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: SnipeMasterJ13
I only have one friend that is on the super religious side. He's tried arguing with me many times about it, which is only entertaining to me. He can't rarely answer questions I ask him, and his only response is, "go educate yourself about it."

I tell him that he very well may be 100% right about everything, but that I personally DON'T KNOW, so therefore won't admit to knowing anything. Even though I say that he may be right, but there are many other possibilities that may be right, too, that I'M the one that is close minded. 😕

All I could do was laugh and walk away at that point.

i worked with a JW for about a year, his stuff came up pretty quick, and i was pretty quick about telling him i didnt believe it and wasnt interested.

but he kept going
and i kept being polite

after a couple months i just started to fuck with the guy, gave him bad advice about chicks (which is all i have anyway) and kept convincing him how everything his parents did showed that they didnt really care about him.

usually i just want to be left alone, and want to leave people alone about it.

Yeah, the JW tend to be a little more aggressive. My buddy drinks and parties, etc. so it's not TOO bad. He is just very opinionated in general with everything.

I never bring religion issues up myself, but am fully willing to debate if someone wants to. It's entertaining to me, and in the end they are always the ones that are worked up while I can just drop it and move on instantly. If I can get them to start second guessing themselves, even better. 🙂

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: OdiN
Actually, there is a verse in the Bible which says that those who call themselves followers of Jesus but do not follow His example (don't repent, don't try to do what they are suppsoed to, etc.) - it says with these people, do not even drink.

I always found it a bit annoying how people would just use their faith as their ticket out of being bad or simply they didn't care that they were hypocrites as it was so ingrained. I thought it was a bit odd when I saw a guy at college talking about railing his girlfriend (and I don't mean in Quake III Arena) while he had the ash on his forehead :roll:.

Originally posted by: Anubis
some people beleive the world would be a better place if there were ZERO faith based religions in the world

he looks like he is one of them, i also am

Science damn you!

 

[ForumMaster]

Originally posted by: TruePaige

Originally posted by: ForumMaster
it can be worse here. in israel, there is no seperation from religon to state. most of the stores are closed on saturday by law. (exceptions would be things like gas stations)
on yom kipur (the jewish day where you apologize to god) you're not allowed to drive at all and if you do, religous people will throw rocks at your car.

Seriously? They throw rocks at your car?

...

yup. only the religous guys obviously. was a problem during '73 when suddenly the army had to be drafted as quickly as possible.

 

[Bryophyte]

Originally posted by: SnipeMasterJ13
Yeah, the JW tend to be a little more aggressive. My buddy drinks and parties, etc. so it's not TOO bad. He is just very opinionated in general with everything.

I never bring religion issues up myself, but am fully willing to debate if someone wants to. It's entertaining to me, and in the end they are always the ones that are worked up while I can just drop it and move on instantly. If I can get them to start second guessing themselves, even better. 🙂

Our JW relatives used to come over to visit when I was growing up, but never talked religion at our house. Then they'd make sure that we got off the list so that none of the others in their church would come by waving their booklets. 🙂

 

[Gulzakar]

Mormons are creepy.

I mean, not all of them, I suppose. But in general, most of them I meet give me the heeby geebys.

 

[Taejin]

Originally posted by: oogabooga

Originally posted by: Taejin

Originally posted by: Cogman
Boy its hard to be friends with atheist people.

They are always *concerned* that you are a sheeple and try to disprove what you believe it. I just tell them that I am mormon and they go all crazy about it.

Anybody else deal with this?

The problems not with the religion, it is with the person. Get more understanding friends rather then complain about them worrying for your soul.

pretty sure its the religious folk who are proselytizing, not the atheists..you know, since we don't actually believe in a religion

There are plenty on both sides who talk too much. And there are even more on both sides who don't talk that much but think the other side is dumb/retarded/won't listen to logic/etc and given the opportunity will say so.

Sadly with every point of view there are plenty of retarded/angry/dumb people who share it with otherwise normal decent folk (this I imagine is a reflection of the 'bad' people, not the belief)

logic? I believe the atheists are adhering to logic, while religious folk are adhering to 'faith' which to me seems like the total antithesis to logic.

Atheists don't have some sort of strange fervor to go out and speak about their beliefs. Every single time I get someone who is offering me an unsolicited view of the meaning of life it is a religious person.

 

[summit]

how about don't talk about politics and religion among friends?

 

[BurnItDwn]

I don't discuss religion with my Christian friends. They don't push it on me, and I respect them even if whatever they choose to believe in is completely implausible.

 

[irishScott]

Being friends with them is easy for me. By any objective standards I've won every religious debate with them. There are valid defenses for religion, but I've found that very few people know them or present them. They take religion superficially, the Bible literally, and in the end most end up citing some Bible verse or Jesus or something some Pope said. They take the word of the religion and don't dive deep enough into the spiritual/philosophical, which is the only valid defense IMO.

My theory is that they're simply too insecure (at some level) to examine themselves critically; because they don't have their personal philosophy/spirituality down. Thus they base their beliefs on what other sources tell them to believe, whether this be the Bible, society, take your pick. We all do that to a degree, but anyone who bases their beliefs on a specific Bible verse/quote simply because that quote is in the Bible is a sheep by any definition.

That said, I also know plenty of Atheists who talk about religion like some spoiled angsty 13 year old talks about his parents. For most is seems more about rebellion than anything else. Like uber-religious people, they are also typically stubborn and many refuse to admit even the possibility that God exists. They are also (generally) more intolerant than most religious people I know. I know an Atheist who won't watch any Will Smith movies because he might be a Scientologist. Grow a fucking pair and enjoy the movie you moron. It's a movie. What does the actor's religion matter?

Another point: Atheism is generally based on Science and logic. If you get too logical, you become very binary in your thought patterns. Things are right or wrong, good or bad, and over time you may lose sight of the Grey area that is life. If that works for you, great, but I know from first-hand experience that a life in extremes will probably make you bitter and prejudiced in some form or other.

<------------Deist, raised Baptist

 

[sourceninja]

When you understand why you dismiss all the other gods, will you understand why I dismiss yours.

 

[iskim86]

Originally posted by: MetalMat
I just tell them that I am catholic and love porn, drugs, alcohol and rock n roll.

fucking awesome

you need to invite them over to your house and engage in a blood orgy with some Akercocke playing in the background.