A friend, religion, and what to do?

As long as you keep your beleifs to yourself, he keeps his to himself then as long as neither of you are trailing a path to destruction from them (ie cult donations etc) then where's the issue here?

I'm an atheist, yet many of my dearest freinds are old fashioned style churchgoers, the nicest frendliest people you could hope to meet, we even talk the subject of theology with proper debate rather than blazing argument.
 
dirtychinchilla said:
The large majority of us, for whom it's not simply a fashion, were once religious and have changed our minds, or come to our senses ;)
Click to expand...

So then why preach Atheism but then go and get your kid christened in CofE church... Doesn't make sense.

Same with people who call religion all the time like "sky pixies" yet still go and get married in a church.
 
Same opinion as OP, I am not religious & think it is BS... If it is so great why is war all over the place. the US is a "Christian" nation on paper, but all the violence & love of war it is a lie... Religion is about peace supposedly...
 
LeeUK said:
So then why preach Atheism but then go and get your kid christened in CofE church... Doesn't make sense.

Same with people who call religion all the time like "sky pixies" yet still go and get married in a church.
Click to expand...

Atheism is not a religion, part of it is realising that religion is full of rubbish and his friend should know that! My Holstein certainly won't be Christened! If they want to be, then that's up to them. Nor will I be married in a church...
 
I hear lots of comments about hypocrisy regarding "pushing views" on him etc. Surely a friendly discourse about it is ok ? Clearly religion is a fallacious delusion and as such as a friend you should bring up the subject and talk about it.

People discuss football and politics and music all the time but I never hear anyone exclaim " Don't push your views on him/her" . Why should religion get a free pass? Talk about it, reason it out, don't throw your toys out of the pram. :cool: Religion is not a sacred cow. It's fair game for criticism and ridicule just like any other topic.
 
Interesting question, I've persuaded people away from homoeopathy, spiritual healing (reiki) & all the "The Secret" BS on the grounds it's delusional & may end up being harmful.

Religion can be, but for some it may not - assuming they don't try to pray away problems as opposed to doing something about it - adopt idiotic views on our known reality (like the age of the earth for example) I'd be inclined to leave them to it.

If they started to move towards the direction of it being harmful I'd speak up - being a friend isn't saying that a person wants to hear, it's speaking honestly & trying to look out for what's best for them.
 
OP states friend has taken up religion
OP states friend has not forced these new views on him
OP seeks justification on forum to proceed with forcing his own atheist views on the religious friend.

respect your friend and his opinions and stop being so shallow.
 
Challenging a view isn't the same as forcing a view.

If a Christian friend challenged me on my atheism I'd happily debate it & agree to disagree - as long as he didn't constantly try to force the issue I would be happy to maintain a friendship with them.

I'd hope that they would have the same respect for me.

One thing I would say to the OP, if you wouldn't feel comfortable if he did the reverse then I'd let it pass, but if you are happy to discuss it & try to make the best argument possible then I can't see the harm.
 
Usually people discover religion when it's filling some kind of gap.

Painful circumstances, passing of a loved one etc.

Chances are he's doing it because something in him is wanting to feel a sense of belonging, maybe he's depressed something like that.

Chances are he'll snap himself out of it but a lot of times religion can do someone good.... even if you think they are deluded. I personally think you have to be pretty dumb to believe in the ******** peddled by some story book....

But that is my bias opinion.

Believing in a big sky dude who controls your life and everything happens for a purpose yada yada (Google narrative fallacy) can help you sleep at night.
 
Try save him.if someone I knew became Christian I would show him evilbible.com and see what he thinks. I like seeing people react when showing them their bible is not very moral. Usual responses is context, interpretation or new testament and jesus came after and is more relevant. Also show him ceasers messiah and Bart elhman.
 
I am a Christian and have friends who are atheist, Christian, muslim, hindu and buddhist. Wanting to change your friend's views and "make him come to his senses" (that atheism is the best and correct viewpoint) is taking a "my opinion is better than yours" stance, which is exactly what you don't want him to do with you.
 
elmarko said:
Interesting question, I've persuaded people away from homoeopathy, spiritual healing (reiki) & all the "The Secret" BS on the grounds it's delusional & may end up being harmful.

Religion can be, but for some it may not - assuming they don't try to pray away problems as opposed to doing something about it - adopt idiotic views on our known reality (like the age of the earth for example) I'd be inclined to leave them to it.
Click to expand...

The Secret isn't much different to a religion in terms of harm though - tis more about life etc.. in general. Someone following that book is as open to criticism as someone following say the bible.

The others you mention homeopathy, spiritual healing are probably where you really should say something if say someone with a serious illness is considering them.


Incidentally the Secret stopped me from getting laid :( once - very cute girl had a copy in her room, I picked it up and made a bit of a joke about it.... felt like Mark Corrigan in the Crystal Skulls episode of peep show... really didn't go down well, turned out she took the ancient wisdom of 'the secret' very seriously...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom