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A Friend Of Yours "Comes Out" As An Atheist

Dragonfly said:
A friend of yours admits to being an atheist.

What do you do?
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I'd say "welcome to the club" but we have to accept that when times get hard ,sometimes none belief can work against us.
 
Lovebug said:
Depends on one's definition of friendship, as well as one's sincerity of faith, doesn't it?
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Does it? I could spit on the ground about religion I find it so hypocritical and destructive. Does sincerity of faith mean you can't be friends any longer because the other person is an atheist? Some kind of friend you are while you're being so godly. I do not mean you personally.
 
Overitall said:
It might help to reflect on the fact that everyone starts out as an atheist. But it might be a greater help to reflect on why this person is your friend.
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You said a mouthful. We are born without any knowledge of religion, it has to be taught to us it is not a natural thing.
 
Dragonfly said:
I asked what would you do. Not what should I do.

Don’t make this more complicated than it is.

What would you do if a friend told you they were an atheist?

A very simple question. What’s your response?
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Welcome fellow traveler.
 
Lovebug said:
Sorry, not my intention. Imo, it really depends on how much you value a friendship. Friends, good friends, should love and respect each other, no matter what. Faith should command loving one's neighbor.
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Have you looked around our country lately? Faith is causing more problems than commanding loving one's neighbor in case you haven't noticed. How these evangelicals can call themselves christians and then vote for a scum like trump, I'll never understand.
 
tosca1 said:
Lol. So true. How many people do we meet in real life come out to inform you he's an atheist without even being asked? :)
If someone comes out to declare it to me, unsolicited or unprovoked ...................... uh-oh. What do I make of that?
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That seems appropriate.

If a person declares with no provocation that they are anything they might feel is controversial- Gay, atheist, Nazi, whatever- You'd almost expect them to then demand, "WHAT'RE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT!"

In most cases, I would probably excuse myself as politely as possible and join a different group at the party. ;)
 
Dragonfly said:
It’s easily arguable that for the majority of people alive on the planet, there’s never been a better time to be alive.
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Oh, I agree wholeheartedly...we're living during an exciting time to be able to witness 1sthand the complete fulfillment of Bible prophecy!
 
Ginger Ale said:
Hopefully, that faith can be had without a connection to religion because that's a gamble I wouldn't want to take. Way too many choices.
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No need to get into any organized religion. Have faith in Jesus. God/Christ knows what's in our hearts.

Too many choices.....unfortunately, a lot of them had injected their own opinion, and had butchered and corrupted the Bible.
 
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code1211 said:
That seems appropriate.

If a person declares with no provocation that they are anything they might feel is controversial- Gay, atheist, Nazi, whatever- You'd almost expect them to then demand, "WHAT'RE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT!"

In most cases, I would probably excuse myself as politely as possible and join a different group at the party. ;)
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....but before I leave, I'll ask......

.........................AND? :LOL:
 
EMNofSeattle said:
I’m not going to put any effort to refuting anything. You have already stated you have invented your own religion with its own authority and you don’t recognize any scripture or theology that contradicts your liberal political positions. It is pointless to argue religion except to reassert you are not really a Christian by your own admissions.
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Because you CANNOT refute any of it. All you do is lie to try to get out of it.

You continue to be wrong and you continue to be unable to refute my comments.​
​
The hypocrisy of your cult is obvious and malicious. Just own it. Your own comments make no attempt to hide its coercive, repressive , punitive nature, designed only to produce more hands to put more $$ in their offering plates...while the upper echelon of the cult lives in luxury...silk sheets, fine wine and food, wearing silks and gold, it's disgusting.​
​
Sell the assets of the Vatican and feed and provide medicines for MILLIONS of the pope's deluded followers. Show some compassion instead of control and greed.​
 
tosca1 said:
No need to get into any organized religion. Have faith in Jesus. God/Christ knows what's in our hearts.
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I completely agree with this.
 
Elvira said:
Oh, I agree wholeheartedly...we're living during an exciting time to be able to witness 1sthand the complete fulfillment of Bible prophecy!
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So the world could end at any moment?
 
Dragonfly said:
Care to provide an example?
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Yep, belief can be a great source of comfort /hope and sometimes, when your heart is in your boots because of life events, they are two great things to have/hold on to.

I won't go into detail here but I know this from my own life experiences. Stuff happened to me and I have never wanted to believe so much in my entire life in the concept of an afterlife, where loved ones are reuntied. My logical atheist brain fought against the comfort that belief would give to assist me during those times and my thinking/emotional life went into a flux that wasn't at all pleasant. Had I have been a life long believer, I honestly think those dark days would not have been so dark nor the future so starkly cold but logical.

If a friend came to me to say they didn't believe I would consider it a kind of duty to try to prepare them/make them aware for/of the stark reality that none belief can bring if life decides to deal them a body blow.

Another example

My friends dad passed away recently. He was a lifelong atheist who had adored his wife who had sadly passed 5 years previously. Just before his death, him being terminally ill, he decided to become a member of the Catholic church. He sought and accepted a conversion. His son, my friend, also a convinced atheist, couldn't believe the change and, having been highly influenced by his dad, whose positions and words he hung on and adopted as his own, seen it as a betrayal of their entire relationship.

He contacted me to go for a walk to discuss this , in a bid to make sense of it ands to get the bitter taste this alleged betrayal had left him with understood, if that were possible. I told him I thought that I believed his dad was still an atheist in reality but, because of his undying love for his wife, had decided to edge his bets in a bid, a desperate bid the truth be told, for the chance of being reunited with her. I will wager that wishing to have belief for the last 5 years he had outlived his wife for had crossed his mind on many, many occasions

The moral of these stories for me is that the rejection of belief and all that it offers as a coping/comforting measure comes at a huge price when it comes to the loss of loved ones and the distress, lifelong distress, that causes.
 
I want my friends to be Christian
 
Dragonfly said:
Fear is a very powerful tool for those in power.

The JW's wield it over their flock like a superhero in a Hollywood movie.
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lol...I am not fearful of the end of the world...are you?
 
Elvira said:
lol...neither we...we prefer to take the balanced, commonsense view, which is scriptural...the Bible has many direct, literal statements but much is symbolic or figurative....
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But if you lose it, your religion is gone. You base WAY too much on the bible. It just comes down to having faith in an object. I've asked many JW's if their belief was entirely bible-based and their answer is a resounding yes. That book is not God, and it is not the word of a God. It's a sign of the times and how people used to feel about God. It's not a magic lamp, it's just a book of words you FIND the meaning you're seeking in, it's not giving you anymore meaning than any other book would if you were trying to find answers in it to questions you seek answers for.

Charles has made a business out of that book, and superstitious prophecies. He set the rules you follow, not God. I get that, he was clever, but I do not get the followers. Why would you follow a man, his rules, and a book? Maybe filling a need, but, at the same time, it eliminates a lot from your life. Friends, family,
understanding, and acceptance. Is it worth it?

I think this is why having an atheist friend would be a no, we'd question you. Isn't that the real reason? I don't think it's really a rule, law, or something asked by your God, I think it's facing the real truth and your church worrying you'd start questioning it yourself.
 
EMNofSeattle said:
He will however condemn unrepentant sodomy. Something you’d know if you read the Bible and didn’t consider yourself a higher authority.
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Well, that is kind a silly distinction. God supposedly will forgive any transgression, no matter how serious, if one is truly repentant. So it really isn't the actions that are wrong, but whether or not you are truly sorry for taking them. God permits everything, as long as you are really, really sorry you did them.
 
oneworld2 said:
Yep, belief can be a great source of comfort /hope and sometimes, when your heart is in your boots because of life events, they are two great things to have/hold on to.

I won't go into detail here but I know this from my own life experiences. Stuff happened to me and I have never wanted to believe so much in my entire life in the concept of an afterlife, where loved ones are reuntied. My logical atheist brain fought against the comfort that belief would give to assist me during those times and my thinking/emotional life went into a flux that wasn't at all pleasant. Had I have been a life long believer, I honestly think those dark days would not have been so dark nor the future so starkly cold but logical.

If a friend came to me to say they didn't believe I would consider it a kind of duty to try to prepare them/make them aware for/of the stark reality that none belief can bring if life decides to deal them a body blow.

Another example

My friends dad passed away recently. He was a lifelong atheist who had adored his wife who had sadly passed 5 years previously. Just before his death, him being terminally ill, he decided to become a member of the Catholic church. He sought and accepted a conversion. His son, my friend, also a convinced atheist, couldn't believe the change and, having been highly influenced by his dad, whose positions and words he hung on and adopted as his own, seen it as a betrayal of their entire relationship.

He contacted me to go for a walk to discuss this , in a bid to make sense of it ands to get the bitter taste this alleged betrayal had left him with understood, if that were possible. I told him I thought that I believed his dad was still an atheist in reality but, because of his undying love for his wife, had decided to edge his bets in a bid, a desperate bid the truth be told, for the chance of being reunited with her. I will wager that wishing to have belief for the last 5 years he had outlived his wife for had crossed his mind on many, many occasions

The moral of these stories for me is that the rejection of belief and all that it offers as a coping/comforting measure comes at a huge price when it comes to the loss of loved ones and the distress, lifelong distress, that causes.
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Sounds a bit like Pascal’s Wager.

Pascal’s Wager (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

plato.stanford.edu

Sometimes it’s whatever gets you through the night that matters.
 
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