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In any confrontation, the goal is to cause your opponent more pain than they cause you.
If your Christian friends want to discuss religion, that's fine. State your opinions, and watch them get upset. When they state their opinions, don't get the least bit upset.
Since you are causing them more discomfort than they are causing you, they will stop discussing their religious beliefs.
THen you can discuss politics, which is even more fun.
I have a friend who is an evangelical Christian. When we first met at work, I found him to be incredibly obnoxious. Once he realized that he wasn't going to "lead me to Christ", I found him to be a pretty nice guy. We realized that we had a mutual interest in baseball. That always gave us an out when our conversations became heated.
One day, I told him a joke I had heard. I don't remember the specifics of the joke, but the punch-line went something like this: "I'll know there's a God when the Cubs win The World Series"...he didn't react well! He got over it, but I learned to tread lightly.
The humorlessness of some people about anything related to their beliefs, even when it is obviously meant to be a joke (and not patently insulting or offensive) is hard to deal with.
I have recently become really good friends with with a few people over the last year or so, we were friends before but have grown closer. They are devout Christians(one is United Baptist, the other is Catholic). And the topic of religious belief comes up every few days it seems. They know I'm an atheist, however when the topic comes up they always try and include me n the conversation. I know neither of them will like what I have to say, but they always insist on getting my opinion on the matter. We have gotten into heated debates with both sides just leaving angry. And when they ask my opinion I am either immediately beat down (figuratively), or when I openly express my opinion they act horrified, its just bloody annoying. Any advice?
Are you serious?
If these people are your friends, tell them you don't want to discuss religion because it makes you uncomfortable. It really is that simple. Be firm and have a back bone. If they are reasonable people, they will understand. If they are not, then don't be friends with them. I am sure you and they have other things in common you can discuss, otherwise you wouldn't be friends.
This attitude is why so many people dislike us atheists. The fact that we get into such a hand wringing attitude over nothing. Unfortunately, the world is FULL of theists, that is the reality we live in, and we need to move on with our lives. If your "friends" solicit your advice on religion, and then beat you down for it (figuratively) then why in the hell are you friends with these people?
If you can't, as an adult, tell two other adults "Can we not discuss this topic, it makes me uncomfortable and it leads to fights" then there is a major problem with you, them, or both. If you feel the need to "openly express your opinion" on atheism to a catholic and a baptist, then you can't in pearl clutching terror complain when they aren't open to it. I would be severly put out if a Baptist came up to me and started telling me their opinions on Jesus, why should I expect any less of them when I tell them my opinions on the flying spaghetti monster?
My mother is a born-again Christian, sister as well (though I feel she's not quite as gung-ho). We simply don't discuss religion, and when my mother says things like "It was the Lord's will" I just nod my head & smile because it's important to her. Now if you have friends who insist you discuss religion with them, and they're not mature enough to accept your answers (which apparently they do not), I don't see the friendships lasting long.
I can only partially relate to this. As a Muslim the biggest obstacle I face is misconceptions. Although most of my friends are Christians. The biggest problem I face is the frequent preaching. My feeling is that if every time I meet with a friend who insists on "Saving" me is to conclude he is not interested in friendship. So be it, treat him nice, but not as a friend.
I completely disagree with this, but I would probably make it very clear that nothing good comes out of discussing religion with them, so you should probably avoid the topic.
I have a friend who's an Israeli/US dual citizen, because it's very obvious that nothing good would come of it, we completely avoid the topic of Israel/Palestine. That doesn't mean that he's not a good friend though.
notloc: Your religious friends simply have to be able to 'agree to disagree', agree to avoid the topic, and move on. If they can't do it, it's over.
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