My friends baptism

[Randy_Refeld]

[ QUOTE ]
I was talking to him today about it, and he was telling me that the church that he has become a part of is christians who believe that the bible is one hundred percent divinely inspired. I asked him if the people at his church would say that I'm going to hell. He told me yes. I asked him if he would vote against allowing gay marriage. He told me yes. They believe everything that the bible says

[/ QUOTE ]

These beliefs aren't typical of Christians, but they are typical oc Christians in the south. They don't consider that the Bible has benn translated from its original language. They also beleive that the stories that start with the ancient equivelant of "once upon a time" are true becasue they are in the Bible. They also believe it is ok to force their views on others through the poitical process.

RR

[The Dude]

[ QUOTE ]
He, knowing the way I feel about this, has told me that he will not try to convert me. It's respectful, I guess, but it's sort of worse, in a way.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm confused. Do you want him to talk to you about it or not? In fact, I guess that's a good question to ask yourself. What do you expect out of this friendship now? He's changed (and will continue to change), so he won't be looking for the same thing either. If you still want to get drunk, smoke weed, and chase women (or whatever) with him, then forget it. It's unfair of you to encourage him to do any of those.

Do you want to have non-accusatory, intellegent conversation with him about why he's changing, or do you not? Remember, that goes both ways. If you don't want to hear about why he became a Christian, then you don't get to tell him why you'll never be one.

If you think it's going to be too much work to keep a good friendship with someone this different, then give it up. That's not necessarily a bad thing. We've all abandoned friendships as we've grown up - people's lives go down different paths. There's no shame in recognizing when your path diverges from a friend's.

That said, the friend I remain closest to today is philospohically very different from me. He's a Jehova's Witness, and I am not. Needless to say he doesn't approve of my profession (poker) and I think he's nuts for several of things he believes. But we're great friends anyway.

It all boils down to what you expect/ want from the friendship.

[jimdmcevoy]

For the record, there are christians out there that believe every word of the bible is true, and they are not just in America, I know many in Australia.

My advice is expect your friend to change man, depending on your lifestyle you may have very little in common now. Not to mention he will be trying to save you from going to hell if you are his friend, this is obvious.

[dr. klopek]

[ QUOTE ]
If he and others want to follow religion then obviously thats their choice its cool you go to support him in that, but this seems more sinister purely from your posting.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok, this seems to have been overlooked, I have absolutely no intention of not being this guy's friend. He has been one of my closest friends for a long time and my support of his decision is in no way dubious.

That said, him telling me that he won't try to convert me is somewhat bothersome to me, is a little lip-service too much to ask?? He seems accepting of the fact that I'm going to hell. This brings me to the conclusion that he doesn't believe one of these two things- I am going to hell, or, christ is the only way not to. If he believed both of these things, he would try to convert me.

I do NOT have a problem with my friend becoming a christian. I have a problem with christianity.

My main problem with these people is that they honestly believe that all followers of other religions are damned. They say, "the bible says that few will be saved." I could lead a perfectly selfless life, and without a drop of church water on my forehead, will suffer eternal damnation. Doesn't this seem like god is creating people for the sole purpose of damnation? I don't know, it's the attitude that god has chosen them and only them because they have based their faith on different scriptural technicalities than the countless hordes of other spin-off religions that gets to me.

Also, I think that your spirituality shoud be a vehicle for what defines you, not what defines you. I don't want him to be one of these people who says a prayer to thank god for what a nice prayer service they had, you know?

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

It is clear to me that you and several others here greatly misunderstand Christianity and have the wrong impression of what Christians are, how they think, their intelligence, and their motives.

[BusterStacks]

[ QUOTE ]
It is clear to me that you and several others here greatly misunderstand Christianity and have the wrong impression of what Christians are, how they think, their intelligence, and their motives.

[/ QUOTE ]

Negative captain, we both went to catholic schools and if you have read the bible then you will know this: the closer you get to a literal interpretation, the more you think other religions are going to hell.

"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen Roberts

[dr. klopek]

[ QUOTE ]
It is clear to me that you and several others here greatly misunderstand Christianity and have the wrong impression of what Christians are, how they think, their intelligence, and their motives.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think you understand what my beef is. I would like to better understand christianity, so, if you can tell me something I don't know, please do (not a challenge or anything, I was raised catholic, so I doubt very much of it will go over my head).

I never made any presumptions about the intentions of christians, nor did I make any assertions about their collective intelligence.

[Prof. Chaos]

I have little or no respect for born again Christians.

[Mayhap]

You acquiesced to your old friend's request because you have a warm place in your heart for him. To my mind, your friend has become spiritually entrapped. You must maintain that heartfelt warmth for him and NOT consider him an ideological enemy. By maintaining this stance you offer him escape from entrapment. By considering him an ideological enemy, you seal the door on his entrapment. This (maintaining openness), ironically, is the Christian thing to do.
/M

[felson]

[ QUOTE ]
I could lead a perfectly selfless life, and without a drop of church water on my forehead, will suffer eternal damnation.

[/ QUOTE ]

But Christians don't believe that any of us could lead perfectly selfless lives on our own; we're too rotten to lead truly good lives. The Christian message is that we all need help to do that.