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One of my neighbors is super Catholic and is ending our friendship cause of my apithetic attitude towards her belief. Now I don't have anyone to hang out with ?.
Any suggestions on how to make new friends?

Blue-eyes 6 July 15
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0

Are you sure it's because of her beliefs? Could there be other reasons why the friendship didn't work out? I am not here to devil's advocate, but I always believe there are two sides to every story. And there is always more than just religion involved in a decision like this. And many times, religion has nothing to do with it.

A failed relationship is not the fault of one side. There is always a shared responsibility and lesson for each side. Take this as a good opportunity to take an self-inventory and learn where things might have gone wrong.

Once you have done that, then get out there. Go to everything. You never know, that friend may or may not see the errors of ways, but then you meet new people, and experience new things.

0

Try and cultivate more friends, one person can never meet all our needs, anyway! But, this person may not return and you will have to accept that. Loosing friends sucks and it happens all through life for all kinds of reasons! In some instances, you may be able to clear up differences, but with others, there is no hope. Good luck! Sorry for your sad loss of a friend.

2

I'm sorry. That's hard. I am a natural people picker upper (that's a nice way of saying I talk to everyone and never shut up), so I'm not sure how helpful my suggestions would be, since they would probably go against your nature. But, meeting new people requires going where the people are, and talking to them in the course of living your life. Go to coffee shops and bars and talk to people. People love to be complimented and asked about themselves. Here are some examples of people acquiring from this year.

A recent friend making experience was Pokemon Go related (don't judge me, my kids still love that game and I don't see the harm, honestly I like it, too). We stopped to battle a gym and a lady drove up and asked if we play and if we wanted to stay a few minutes to battle with her group. Sure enough here comes five more cars, and we talked and played. Turns out all of these people live within 6 blocks of my home. They're my neighbors. Now we have a group text and we get together a couple of times a week to walk, Pokemon and chat. We're talking about having a little get-together to play board games and hang out in the next week or so.

I have had a couple of dates with someone I started talking to on this site.

I befriended a new person at work. It's not uncommon for one of us to stay after our shift is done just to shoot the shit. We're going bowling with kids and all next weekend.

My kid is in sports and cub scouts and a homeschool co-op. I talk to all of the other parents there. One kid does taekwondo and co-op with my son, so his mom and I hang out 3-4 times a week minimum. Even when my kid is with his dad, she and I meet up.

I met a guy at a bar a few weeks ago (I was talking shit with my sister about a guy singing karaoke terribly, because 1) he kept picking songs he didn't know and belting out his mumbled lyrics at TOP volume and 2) I am not nice and am super immature sometimes, and this guy approached me to ultimately join in the shit talking). We didn't even exchange numbers, just happen to meet up on karaoke night every couple weeks and chat shit about the other bar patrons. (This story makes me seem like a dick. It's jestful razzing, not mean girl'ish.)

Which brings me to the next bit of advice... Diversify. You don't need to pickup so many people that you feel like you're stretched too thin with too much socializing, but you need more than one person. Organic conversation fueled by compliments and questions (and sometimes booze) will typically lead to more, until you're friends (or possibly more).

I hope these examples were helpful, not braggy.

1

My last three Christians girlfriends dumped me because I could not be save.

My brother is a pastor, I asked him about negative things from the Bible. He told me I was being condescending. We did not speak to each other for a couple years. Then we agree not to talk about religion when we meet up.

Sounds like they could learn a lesson from Puddy.

2

I'm in a similar situation, I live in a small seaside town where people tend to be quite religious. I make friends slowly and carefully, but I also have mental health issues, so I'm kind of used to being lonely.

I have had mental health issues, too but don’t judge yourself by that. Too much aloneness, is not helpful too people with mental issues. When we recognize what our problems are, we can work with them and not allow our issues to work against us! Sounds like you are that far...keep going forward, life ebbs and flows and you can manage it.

2

Meetup.com

That's what I was going to say

3

From what I've been told and what a few people here have already said, find common interest groups in your community or online.

2

Go to a library or book store and hang out in the Philosophy section; check out who cruises the atheist/ agnostic books.

4

Stick around here. Sounds like your excuse to stay in bed, propped up by 4 pillows … sip on a beer, turn the AC up.. and talk with us 😉 Dodging religion with a perspective ‘friend’ is exhausting … corresponding into the wee hours with Agtheists is exhilarating 😀

Varn Level 8 July 15, 2018
2

Meet up! Check meet up groups in your area. Check out the American Humanists Association. They have chapters in your area. [americanhumanist.org]

5

I would venture to say that the person was not a true friend.

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