Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm an agnostic and I have many friends of all religions. I have never had a problem with other people expressing their religion. But what do you do when a friend openly warns you that you and your family will go to Hell if you don't accept God? This makes me very uncomfortable and angry. How shall I respond to her? Is our friendship ultimately doomed?
Quote from Milton, better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.
I've had friends who became born-again and that changed the relationship. They feel saved and feel the need to "save" everyone. However there are lines that friends not cross and to me, that is one of them. I dont convert my friends and they dont try to convert me, that's my policy. We can have rational and open discussions about religion, but there is a different between discussion about religion and proselytizing.
Frankly I would not be able to maintain a connection with someone of that disposition. I certainly would not want my children to be influenced by a person with these views, thats the kind of judgemental hatred I have gone through so much to shield my daughter from.
Frankly I would not be able to maintain a connection with someone of that disposition. I certainly would not want my children to be influenced by a person with these views, thats the kind of judgemental hatred I have gone through so much to shield my daughter from.
As a Christian, I would never presume that anyone is damed to hell.
I think your "friends" are way above their "pay grade"
I'm an agnostic and I have many friends of all religions. I have never had a problem with other people expressing their religion. But what do you do when a friend openly warns you that you and your family will go to Hell if you don't accept God? This makes me very uncomfortable and angry. How shall I respond to her? Is our friendship ultimately doomed?
No your friendship doesn't have to be doomed if you both respect how the other feels, I have friends I don't believe are Christians but I don't bombard them with my beliefs, they know how I feel and we leave it at that.
No your friendship doesn't have to be doomed if you both respect how the other feels, I have friends I don't believe are Christians but I don't bombard them with my beliefs, they know how I feel and we leave it at that.
I do agree...I have found we can respect each other's views and sometimes, we just stay off this topic. I think we all arrive at different places in our lives.
As a Christian, I would never presume that anyone is damed to hell.
I think your "friends" are way above their "pay grade"
nice way to phrase it. that is the complete truth. we cannot judge the eternal reward of anyone but ourselves. if they feel that they are justified telling you that you are going to hell, then they have not yet read the scriptures as well as they think they have, and they have not yet in any sense of the idea understood the message contained therein.
if you continue to treat your friends as equals, and if they can manage the same without becoming pretentious, then you'll have a stronger, trial-tested relationship with them. i wish you luck. aaron out.
whatever. boundaries, definitely. good call bunky. some boundaries come naturally with good communication and understanding of the respective parties involved. others need to be spelled out word for word. just do it in a loving way, and if they really love you, they will respond in kind. if they don't really love you, tell them to go ponder their own message harder.
You would think this would be a major difficulty for devout Christians, but it is interesting that it never comes up. It seems that Christians are often really more concerned with their own salvation in the end. I have often, very often thought about this question, but not being Christian I can't answer it for them. Many would probably use the "it's not my place to judge" comment, but that just gets them off the hook temporarily but does not answer the bigger question as to how you will feel as a Christian when your friends are marched off to eternal damnation while you are in so called heaven. Makes little sense to me.
For me, it's very clear. I want nothing to do with a God that will separate me from my friends. My friends where there when I needed them and god was not. My friends where there when God's Christians were not. So any god that will give a pass to me if I were Christian and not to my friend, knows little about loyalty and compassion, there for isn't much of a god to me.
o
This is just one of many questions Christians don't consider or just don't talk about maybe.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
