Question of the Day #21: Christian Friends
TV's Mr. Neil Permalink
4 comments
I'm probably going to answer my own question here, because I've been thinking about this a lot, but I might as well post it anyway.
For those of you who have Christian friends, where do you draw the line at being nice? For those of you who don't have Christian friends, where would you draw the line?
From my point of view, since I have some Christian friends, I really try to be nice. I truly do. I mean, some of them are pretty good people, despite their own theology. But what I absolutely won't do is I won't give them the pleasure of thinking that the whole "agree to disagree" thing means that I accept their worldview as though it's equal in stature to mine. I do not surrender to special pleading, and I consider it an insult when Christians try to treat atheism and Christian as though they are equivelant in any way.
I refuse to help them play pretend.
Post a Comment
4 Comments:
My first girlfriend was Christian, but she deconverted a couple weeks after we met. I couldn't possibly stand the company of a Christian. If I did, I would remind them of their silly beliefs at any opportunity, and perhaps try to deconvert them, or simply stop being their friend.
Same applies to any other belief system, by the way, not just religion.
In general, I agree with your stance. I suppose it differs a bit depending on the nature of the friendship, but I usually find myself acting in a similar way to what you describe.
Being married to a Christian, I think I stand out amongst the commenters. My wife and I were both Christians when we married. I had "deconverted" before (at 16) but "rededicated" after a bout with drug abuse from my weakened state of critical thinking. I spent 14 months in a residential, "Christian rehab"...so you can guess that they sure helped reconvert me.
At any rate, my wife and I have had some deep, interesting, sometimes angry conversations...but now we have reached a place where we never argue anymore. She is not quite "liberal", but far from "conservative, fundie, etc."
I think she maintains a rational enough position so that it doesn't cause me any problems. I also think she has never given serious thought to some of the most irrational of christian doctrines, but is beginning to.
Although she still prays for me, she says she just prays for me to have peace. It is an interesting situation.
I take a pro-active approach concerning my views. Anyone that I would consider a friend (not merely an acquaintance) is going to know my opinion of religion in fairly short order. So, when the topic of god comes up, there isn’t a need for sidestepping the issue or worrying about stepping on toes.
<< Home