Jeffrey Formosa

My online friend who has been my friend for a while has truned on me for beening a Athiest. He is one of those Christians who thinks belief alone will get him into heaven. I am trying to get him to see he needs to live a sinless and boring life and belief in god and Jesus to get him into heaven.

Hopeful he will see how fecking hard and crap a Christian life is and be free the dumb cult of Jesus. I must free him of the evil that is god and Jesus so our friendship will be saved. I am using Christians to get rid of his Christian belief. Maybe if it works I should tell them how I used them to trun my friend into a Athiest.

DamienVryce

I would urge you to use caution when dealing with your friend. Don't try to deconvert him if you hope to stay friends with him. The process of evaluating the proofs of the existance of God is an extremely painful one for most devout religious people and if he does not actively want to presue it, it'll likely destroy your friendship.

I'm very much into the live and let live mentality. Despite the fact that you're concerned about his actions, and the fact that he's turned on you first doesn't give you the right to just lash out back at him. If you feel like he's not being a good friend to you I'd just as soon suggest that you avoid him, since you only see him online, unless it becomes an excessive problem. Discussions of theology over the internet between friends are difficult at best, and absolutely frustrating at worst.

So anyway, unless he really continues to make a fool of himself, and actively hurt you, I'd just as soon say, don't bother. In the very least, let yourself cool down before you talk to him and try to keep a level head.

Bright Life

Hey Jeffery,

I have lots of christian friends, most of whom know I am an atheist. I think the reason we have remained friends is that we avoid the topic. If they bring it up, I will counter. I counter quite civilly (sp?), but it usually ends up upsetting them. Unfortunately, this is why some folks don't speak to me anymore.

MrFrosty

Deconversion is a personal process, evidenced by those who write in the Atheist Testimony thread. Pushing your non-belief onto believers isn't very wise; they will come to terms with any doubts they may already have on their own.

Proxima Centauri

Don't tell them how you used them/tried to use them. It will distress them greatly if they find that they have helped turn a faithful sheeplike Christian into a hellbent unbeliever. I know it doesn't make sense but that is how they will see it.
The Christians will feel responsible for what they will believe is your friend's future eternal suffering.

Postcard73

Jeffrey- as some of the other posters have, I would suggest that you not be too pushy with your friend. I think that at least for now, your best bet would probably be just to show him that you're still a good guy despite having deconverted. That alone could help dispel some important misconceptions he has about atheism and make him more open to exploring other aspects of atheism in the future. If you push your atheistic views too hard, then it may just serve to push your friend away...