tdekeyser

My wife's best friend finally said it. I knew it, and it finally came out.....


My wife is agnostic, best friend if fundy Xian (still). They have been friends for a very long time and she is the only one that has been tolerant to my wife's "backsliding" (ha ha, I call it progress).

The other night when the friend came over, they were discussing religion and xianity. My wife was saying that she feels a lot of peace being agnostic and the tolerant friend said, "Well, that is a false peace..."

AAAGGGGHHHH! We thought she had acceptance for us! I guess not.....

How long should it take for the friend to really see that PEACE is everywhere in my wife?

BioBeing

To the fundy it HAS to be false peace... if it were real, it would mean it was OK for an idividual to be without God. Maybe even [whisper] the fundy themselves[/whisper]!

brighid

It's frustrating, but even a Fundy is entitled to her opinions ... however false they maybe Does this really come as a suprise? If she is a Fundy she is going to believe this way no matter how much she may care for your wife as a friend.

Although I disagree with your wife's friend and if this friendship is valued they will have to accept that they will disagree on this point. All Anna can do is simply demonstrate by the example of her life that she really is happy and at peace. Words can be hollow, but actions shouldn't be. That reality is the best catalyst for change in those who are willing to accept it. She can't be expected to change her fundamental beliefs just because her best friend is agnostic, nor more then she could expect Anna to change because she is a fundy.

It might be most prudent to simply keep religion and Christianity as subjects not open for debate.

Brighid

Beetle

From your description of the fundy, it sounds like she does accept your wife as she is. She also disagrees with her about spiritual matters (something she has no choice on, based on her beliefs). Does acceptance have to entail total agreement? It sounds like she's still your wife's friend, still likes her and isn't harping on your wife to change back. That's about as good as you can expect from a fundamentalist.

To turn it around, are you accepting of her even though she's a fundamentalist? Seems like you are. Do you agree with her beliefs? Of course not.

tdekeyser

Yeah, I understand the fundy friend. We thought she was past those types of thoughts though....I guess not.

I know 'tolerance' is always brought up here on this forum and other freethinking venues, but I have to say that I don't think we have as much as we should.

I'm not ashamed of that either. I accept the belief in a deity or god/s. What I have no tolerance for is the Bible and those who follow that faith. I guess it would be the same for the Koran and other faiths like it.

Any faith that says all others are wrong is not a 'positive' faith, hence I do not have tolerance for negative teachings. Especially to children.

I'll tell the story in a new thread....

Tarnaak

It is unfortunate the response given to your wife. Not all Christians are adept at putting forth thought into words in a spure of the moment. I am one of those, which is why I prefer to write.

Peace however is not the sum total of Christianity. Indeed one is promised peace, but it is a different peace, a peace from an eternity of suffering. Earthly peace can be found in many ways. The peace spoken of in Scripture is that of the Spirit eternal.



To the point

Badfish

Our pleasure or sense of peace is not dictated through God, we have free will. Therefore unbelievers can and do have a sense of peace that could equal the peace of the believer.

However the believer could easily tell you that he has more peace than even the most peace filled unbeliever.

We have no way to measure a feeling of sense of peace, or gauge it against anothers proclaimed sense of peace.

Abel Stable

So which are you saying? A or B?

Tarnaak

Let me rephrase:

Ones peace of mind is not comparable to one peace of Spirit.

If you dont believe in things spiritual, then you cannot know peace of your spirit. Yours as atheist is a peace of mind not spirit, because you dont believe in spiritual things

Badfish

Both could be true statements.