tommyc

Hi guys, its good to be back,

I am currently in a position I never thought I would find myself in. It concerns my best friend, for roughly 13 years. He drinks, is blasphemous (not saying its a good trait, just that its relevant to my point), and is generally a bloody good chap. He has one thing that is bothering me though, he believes Jesus is the Christ. He's not overtly religious, but he certainly enjoys the church, christmas, the music etc. Now, before I get heckled about the way I phrased that, it doesn't bother me exactly that he believes this, it just bothers me that he is not using the fullness of his logical powers to think about the situation, and I can see the tell tale signs of indoctrination that infuriatingly seem to win above all his normal reasoning.

Here are a few signs that I've noticed:

- He says he feels physically sick when he thinks about the concept of Jesus not being our saviour

- When I quote contradicting bible passages or start to ask some very demanding questions of the Christian faith he tries to change the subject and I can see him getting uneasy, very odd behaviour for him

- He gets quite angry when I put forward some of the more extreme atheistic views, such as questioning the existence of Jesus or by saying that the Resurrection wouldn't really be that great a myrical for someone with the powers of a God who created the universe.

It concerns me how a normally very outspoken man becomes nervous and ignorant when I approach the Christian debate with some solid arguments, normally he would argue about politics and the such like with great pleasure and for hours on end. In my eyes he is avoiding something which he is obviously beginning to question.

My question is can anyone see why he is acting in this way? and how should I approach discussing his faith with him so as not to offend or anger him further? At the moment I don't feel comfortable discussing with him what I believe to be a very interesting, important and stimulating subject, because I fear how he will react to the situation.

He has certainly aired his worries about the faith, but he seems to be hanging onto this one point about Jesus being the Christ without really applying critical thinking to it!

I thank you for your time

Thomas

I ate Pascal's Wafer

Thomas, I don't have any advice for how might might go about discussing this issue with him, but I can say that you shouldn't try to force anything on him. Don't try to wrestle his faith away from him--he will do that on his own time. It sounds to me like he is having a hard time of this on his own, and this is a good sign. Just be there to answer whatever questions he might have, and be there to drop a few pointers or things to consider.

In other words, don't put him on the defensive and things might work out in the end.

-Nick

Roland98

Is it at all possible that he may also be questioning Christianity? And that he's holding onto it blindly just because he likes the "extras" that come along with it? (the church, music, etc. that you said he enjoys). I know I personally never minded church (mine was pretty liberal and had interesting sermons, none of the fire-and-brimstone stuff--and I love to sing, miss the church choir). So it was also somewhat difficult for me to realize that by being an open atheist, I had to give that up. So maybe it's those thoughts that really make him nauseous and unwilling to discuss?

Just a thought.

yguy

I'd suggest you let the matter drop, and let him bring it up when he will, since you presumably have no more vested interest in converting him to your POV than he evidently does in doing the reverse.

orpheus last chant

you know, i had a best friend, she was from out of town and at some point i considered letting her stay at my place, so we were pretty close. but she was very religious, she had nto read one bible line, but was totaly addicted tot eh side parts of it all, especially rituals. she really enjoyed repeating prairs on and on, and going tot eh church more than 3 times a week. she was pretty tolerant of my deconversion adn we still remained best friend, only she never liked talking religion with me. she would immediately shut her ears and change the subject, and get vey defensive. at one time i was worried about her going every day to church, tellign every person she met that she was experiecing some form of euphoria, and reading religious books all teh time...we were playing a stupid card game with funny things to do for the one who lost,and she made him sing a church song... i thought she was overdoing it all. so i calmly and politely told her that she was exagerating, and that it was not healthy for her... she immediately said a very nasty thing about me and that made us stop being friends
don't talk about it. that is my advice. i remember my believing days and it only took one proposition(who was not directed at me) from the only atheist in my class to make me jump to my feet and argue. i was then very unsure of what i believed. i never was fundy yet believing wwas important to me and whoever questioned it made me act very irrational and defensive. man i sure do like to breath teh rational air now.

enrious

"The friendship that can end never was real."

----Saint Jerome

ComestibleVenom

True friendships can sour. Wither away with apathy. Good things die. Truth is forgotten. Humans suffer more than they can bear.

The world was not made for us, and our ideas have not yet tamed it.

tommyc

Thanks for the advice guys.

After reading some of the other stories in this forum about problems with family and friends, I see I have a pretty easy ride

I think Ill let it drop, as yguy made a very good point here:

have a good one

TommyC