Friends forcing religion

luvcntsaveyou · 01-16-2007, 12:23 PM

tell me what you would do if your friend constantly was forcing the christian religion on you and making you go to church and saying your not agnostic...

i likee that smiley

wow these are hot shitz

mtatum4496 · 01-16-2007, 04:37 PM

Your friend may belong to one of the more fundamental Christian faiths that think one must accept their version of Christianity in order to be saved in the hereafter. With that in mind, here is the way I handle this sort of thing:

1. I try to remind myself that my friend is not doing this in order to be a pain in my ass. Rather, he honestly thinks he is doing something in my best interests. That helps me curb the urge to punch him in the mouth.

2. I tell him I am not interested, but thanks for the invite. Period. I offer no explanations, no rationalizations, and no excuses of having somewhere else to be. If he presses for details, I tell him that is a private matter and I do not wish to discuss it with him.

3. If he insists on continuing this type of behavior, then I tell him that I expect him to respect my right to my own beliefs, just as I respect his right to hold whatever beliefs his heart tells him is true. And if he cannot respect my rights as I respect his, then we don't need to hang out.

luvcntsaveyou · 01-16-2007, 05:14 PM

ive already told her what my beliefs are and she doesnt believe me
she thinks im just confused and dont understand the christian religion... i am not a christian and thats all there is to it.... she doesnt understand that at all..

and she wont stop bringing it up
and when she asks me to go to youth with her i have to say yes to her or she will hate me or yell at me

GloryB · 01-16-2007, 08:45 PM

I had a friend very similar in high school. She'd invite me over for a sleep over and surprise of all surprises, her bible group would be meeting there and they'd play a round of "poke at the freaky atheist." I'd tell them that I believe their religion is equal to a fairy tale or is a modern day myth and then ask them a lot of questions that they really don't have the answers to.
I recommend turning it on to your friend. Ask her questions about her religion that make no sense to you. Once she gets annoyed, she'll start to leave you alone.

luvcntsaveyou · 01-16-2007, 08:57 PM

LMAO!!!!

yeah i should try that

questions like what

she will come up with dumbass answers tho.. and try to act smart

Og · 01-17-2007, 11:10 AM

Tell her that modern neuroscience illustrates that free will is myth. By this I mean our brains are made up of 100 billion robots (neurons, cells). Our behavior is just so complex and our communication skills so developed that we appear to have free will as the ultimate human delusion

A belief structure based on an ultimate God that judges people based on their actions in the world can not exist because the people are not ultimately in control of their actions in a cosmic sense.

Her religion is then a means by which the population is governed (i.e. motivating forces). The idea of heaven and hell for people who believe in free will (deluded) is then a motivation for a certain kind of behavior in life (i.e. moral).

What it means is that you are part of this immensely complex and vast universe instead of some bizarre object placed within it (i.e. a supernatural soul). You're like a flower that emerges and has beauty and then withers and returns to the soil as opposed to some thing that is inserted into the world and then taken out.

It gives me a feeling of harmony and wonder and compassion towards everything I see around me. The universe is not "predetermined" to happen a certain way (quantum mechanics tells us this) but the idea of free will that christians use is poorly defined and not ultimately real. It really pushes me towards wanting to help understand the world around us so that we can enjoy our experience more and more.

Or, you can just goto church with the friend and enjoy the music and use the stories that the people deliver to try to control you as your own gagues of THEIR personalities.

But being 16 is a very tough time in life. I remember it (i'm 27 now). Lots of changes going on in the world for you, I'm sure.

What I'll leave this message with is this:

Do not be afraid to say "i don't know." It's a real and honest answer and making that realization can make you a far more stable person than people who grasp at other random explanations of what's really out there.

The classic thing you can always tell your friend is:

Quote:

Once you figure out why you don't believe in gods of religions other than your own, you'll have figured out why I don't believe in your god.

Good luck with it. I hope there are people in your life that understand and support your approach, whatever it is (i.e. family/friends).

Og · 01-17-2007, 11:19 AM

Here's what the buddhists say to do

Mettā - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

GloryB · 01-17-2007, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvcntsaveyou

questions like what

she will come up with dumbass answers tho.. and try to act smart

A few questions I always have are:
If God just created Adam and Eve, and we all came from them, wouldn't we all be the result of incest?
With so many religions out there, how do you know your religion is the right one? There were many religions before the current ones and those are now considered myths.
Why did God do so many magical things in biblical days, like major floods and an Ark that holds thousands of beings, and doesn't do anything that grand now?

I'm sure if you think about the reasons you don't believe in Christianity, you'll find a whole mess more of questions.

GloryB

luvcntsaveyou · 01-18-2007, 07:10 PM

k thanks
ill annoy her with them

she hates incest to : )

THEWAULRUS · 01-18-2007, 10:10 PM

No true friend would ever force their opinions on you, if you denied to believe them.