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Old 05-30-2008, 08:31 AM
 
Location: DC Area, for now
3,517 posts, read 13,233,914 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by weatherologist View Post
I wanted to expand on this a little... you have asked, "why does religion even have to be brought up in the workplace?" I can see where, as an atheist, you would wonder this. However, as a Christian, there are times in our lives when we are just on fire for the Lord. It sounds to me that he thought of you as a friend and was just sharing his life experiences with you in the beginning. And it is also possible if, as you said, you shared some of your thoughts on homosexuality that did not line up with his belief, he just truly wondered what 'religion' you practiced. I am not saying that he did not overstep his boundaries, but I also wanted to share that a Christian's faith is not just something they "do", it is "who they are" (did that make sense?) and if something special has happened or we are feeling particularly filled with the Spirit, then sometimes we just can't help but want to shout it from the mountain tops. We do not mean to offend people. I would liken it to me having experienced a new and especially delicious dessert at a local restaurant and then coming into work and not telling you about it. Follow?
I'm sorry but this is just more of the same double standard. How would you like it if a Muslim or a Scientologist did the same to you while implicitly denigrating your own Christian beliefs? Again, this was at work and should not have been discussed at all. Proselytizing is hardly on the same scale as talking about a great dessert. A great dessert is not a hot button topic where people have been known to go to war over. The inability to tell the difference is the root of the problem.

Would you do this sort of thing to a Jew at work? Most people have now been sensitized sufficiently to tell the difference with Jews and respect the boundaries. What is so hard to understand about other beliefs or lack thereof?
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Old 05-30-2008, 08:31 AM
 
Location: Mississippi
6,712 posts, read 13,429,319 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cg81 View Post
I think that "debate", at this point, is going to do more harm than good. You will both have to come to terms that you have totally different worldviews, and realize that you value your friendship above this, before any debate, IMO, is going to be healthy and beneficial. Maybe you just need to "agree to disagree" for now...
Interesting. I think you are indeed right. I think I'm going to leave it alone and if he wants to persist than I will bring that up. Very good point.
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Old 05-30-2008, 08:36 AM
 
Location: Mississippi
6,712 posts, read 13,429,319 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by weatherologist View Post
I wanted to expand on this a little... you have asked, "why does religion even have to be brought up in the workplace?" I can see where, as an atheist, you would wonder this. However, as a Christian, there are times in our lives when we are just on fire for the Lord. It sounds to me that he thought of you as a friend and was just sharing his life experiences with you in the beginning. And it is also possible if, as you said, you shared some of your thoughts on homosexuality that did not line up with his belief, he just truly wondered what 'religion' you practiced. I am not saying that he did not overstep his boundaries, but I also wanted to share that a Christian's faith is not just something they "do", it is "who they are" (did that make sense?) and if something special has happened or we are feeling particularly filled with the Spirit, then sometimes we just can't help but want to shout it from the mountain tops. We do not mean to offend people. I would liken it to me having experienced a new and especially delicious dessert at a local restaurant and then coming into work and not telling you about it. Follow?

I'm going to agree with Tesaje on this one, weather. Sorry.

If I said I was Muslim, Hindu, Zeusist, or a worshipper of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, it is really no different than being an Atheist is it? Think about it for a second. You don't believe any of those respective Gods exist but I hardly think that you'd shout from the mountaintops to me if I were a Hindu. That's why I brought that up in my earlier post. It seems that as long as I believe in SOMETHING it is better than no belief at all. But, when you really think about it, in your eyes, whether I believe in a "false" God or no God at all, I'm on a one-way ticket to Lucifertown.

The crux of the point, for me, seems to be that as long as I believe in SOMETHING (almost anything at all) at least I am denoting that there is a higher power and thus I stand as an easier target for conversion. Therefore, the threat an Atheist poses to the Christian mindset (or another denominations mindset) seems far greater than that of someone who simply believes in a differently personified deity.

And, it is still no excuse to bring it up at work. Sorry.

Edit: Going to bed now. Tired. I look forward to any other responses. Thanks guys for all of your input. I really mean that!

Last edited by GCSTroop; 05-30-2008 at 08:40 AM.. Reason: Troop is tired, hungry, and in need of some cookies. :D
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Old 05-30-2008, 10:39 AM
 
Location: among the chaos
2,136 posts, read 4,778,193 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GCSTroop View Post
I'm going to agree with Tesaje on this one, weather. Sorry.

If I said I was Muslim, Hindu, Zeusist, or a worshipper of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, it is really no different than being an Atheist is it? Think about it for a second. You don't believe any of those respective Gods exist but I hardly think that you'd shout from the mountaintops to me if I were a Hindu. That's why I brought that up in my earlier post. It seems that as long as I believe in SOMETHING it is better than no belief at all. But, when you really think about it, in your eyes, whether I believe in a "false" God or no God at all, I'm on a one-way ticket to Lucifertown.

The crux of the point, for me, seems to be that as long as I believe in SOMETHING (almost anything at all) at least I am denoting that there is a higher power and thus I stand as an easier target for conversion. Therefore, the threat an Atheist poses to the Christian mindset (or another denominations mindset) seems far greater than that of someone who simply believes in a differently personified deity.

And, it is still no excuse to bring it up at work. Sorry.

Edit: Going to bed now. Tired. I look forward to any other responses. Thanks guys for all of your input. I really mean that!
Since troop agrees with tesaje, I am going to have to assume that I did a poor job of explaining myself...

The 'shouting from a mountaintop" would only happen pre-I'm an atheist conversation. I'm afraid that (speaking for myself) when I meet people, I assume that we worship the same God. I do not assume that we are of the same denomination. I guess that I am just genuinely ignorant in this respect. Until I came to CD, I "believed" that I did not know any atheists. Now, quite frankly, I am unsure.
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Old 05-30-2008, 10:46 AM
 
7,784 posts, read 14,852,292 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GCSTroop View Post
Could someone please explain to me what the intention of bringing this up at work was? And, also, the necessity to disregard the same boundaries that I upheld in respect to his own faith? Is it just me, or is this just rudely arrogant?
1-Because he actually believes what he claims to believe and,
2-He actually cares about you.
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Old 05-30-2008, 10:49 AM
 
4,440 posts, read 9,045,479 times
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Things bigthirsty has not.. will not ever say (or discuss) at work:

1. Religion
2. Politics
3. "Are you pregnant"
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Old 05-30-2008, 10:49 AM
 
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
10,757 posts, read 35,348,636 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpha8207 View Post
1-Because he actually believes what he claims to believe and,
2-He actually cares about you.
That may very well be true of some people. But there are those out there that bole you over with this because its all about them and how many souls they can bring to jesus. Its like its a competition or something.

In my opinion, a work environment is just an innapropriate place to have these kinds of conversations with people. Whether it be about atheism, christianity or whatever your belief system is.
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Old 05-30-2008, 10:57 AM
 
4,440 posts, read 9,045,479 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpha8207 View Post
1-Because he actually believes what he claims to believe and,
2-He actually cares about you.

In my opinion those two reasons are not good enough to bring the topic up at work. Not even close..
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Old 05-30-2008, 10:57 AM
 
7,784 posts, read 14,852,292 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lindsey_Mcfarren View Post
That may very well be true of some people. But there are those out there that bole you over with this because its all about them and how many souls they can bring to jesus. Its like its a competition or something.

In my opinion, a work environment is just an innapropriate place to have these kinds of conversations with people. Whether it be about atheism, christianity or whatever your belief system is.
But they are(were?) friends....I'm just responding to the specifics of this situation.

I have many atheist friends, and it is odd sometimes on how to pick and choose words.

Most Christians don't have the exposure to atheists we get on this board, so they just don't know how to act/react.

But I truly believe in Troop's case, he has a situation where someone generally cares about his eternal security.
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Old 05-30-2008, 10:58 AM
 
7,784 posts, read 14,852,292 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bigthirsty View Post
In my opinion those two reasons are not good enough to bring the topic up at work. Not even close..
If his friend is right, and you and I believe he is, then the consequences of not bringing it up far outweigh the consequences of bringing it up.
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