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I am curious to know how many of you maintain friendships with religious people (particularly those in your religious past). I have a very good friend who is a Mormon and he knows where I stand as an agnostic yet we are able to carry on as if those differences do not even exist.

Truthseeker1968 6 Sep 30
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55 comments (26 - 50)

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1

I live in a small town with most of my immediate and extended family living nearby. With the exception of my two adult sons they are all religious to varying degrees. I have a great relationship with all of them. Several of my long distance friends are members of the clergy. I base my esteem of people on their character, not their beliefs.

Deb57 Level 8 Sep 30, 2019
1

My best friend is a an ex deacon.

We agree to disagree on the subject of religion.

Occasionally we will get into a heated discussion, but pretty rarely. We both know our friendship is more important than the one thing we disagree on.

Probably the only reasonable religious person I know.

However it Wasn’t always the case. It took a while to convince him atheist didn’t mean devil warship. LoL

1

I have a lot more religious friends than non-religious ones.

1

This got me thinking. I do not believe that I know any religious zealots.

In any case, I do not know enough about any religion to carry on an intelligent conversation.

Zealots and I don’t last long 😉

1

I have no issues with any friend or family member who is religious. It is just a subject we do not talk about when together. Same with my Conservative friends and family.

0

I have a couple of friends who go to church. They are aware of my views and we don't really discuss religion. We have enough common interests to maintain the friendships and can agree to disagree. I don't think I could be in a relationship with, or even date a religious person however. They just live in a different "reality" than I do and I find so much of the doctrine to be absolutely silly.

0

I have two friends that still go to church. Even they, though, are beginning to question the ridiculous contradictions in their faith. I have a minister in my family as well. She always "has me in her prayers" but I've never even considered confronting her about it. It's kinda hard to respect people who believe ridiculous things w/o question. I've conversed with people who's spouse is religious. I can't see how that could possibly last.

A lasting “mixed” marriage does seem impractical and improbable. But my wife and I have made it happen in championship form for 27 years.. Love her more today than I ever have. Now, she is not a fanatic by any measure. But she does still hold to the traditional Christian belief. And I do see our marriage as an anomaly for the most part.

0

I find it tiresome because i’ve found that religious folk have no problem spouting their views ad nauseum but then say I’m being “offensive” if I share my thoughts. If it is a casual relationship I just let the friendship lapse. If you feel you still get a lot of positive from the relationship maybe you could try and set boundaries that religion or lack therefore is off the table. If He/She cannot or will not agree then you have to ask yourself if you get enough positive from the relationship to make the negative worth it. Good Luck.

Cinco Level 5 Oct 3, 2019
0

Most people that I run with are casual Christians but I don't allow overtly religious people in my inner circle.

0

I have a couple of friends who are religious. As long as they accept me as I am and don't put their beliefs before friendship, then we're good. For those friendships, there's way more there than religion.

0

I'm agnostic but two of my closest friends are very religious. I don't care what anyone says. You can keep a friendship pr even make a new one regardless of each others beliefs. The religious ones who can't put differences aside are just a bunch of hypocrites. It clearly states "that no sin is greater than the other" So if they can't continue a friendship because of difference then I would not want them in my life anyways.

0

It is possible if neither proselytizes and if both tend to stay away from the topic of religion in their relationship.

0

One of my best friends is a catholic. I hold her to be a far better person than I am. But that's not because of her religion; rather it is in spite of her religion she is a good person.

0

That is what mature adults do, after all.

0

My bf is Catholic and so is his whole family

They will demand that your little boy be snipped.

@DenoPenno I don't have a little boy...

@DenoPenno Wrong religion

@Cutiebeauty Not yet.

0

I have friends who are both Evangelical Christians and Trump supporters. They know that I hate Trump. But, I keep my religious views to myself. They have no idea that I have rejected Christianity. (I live in the Buckle of the Bible Belt.)

0

Currently, I do not have friendship with religious people but I do not mind religious people as long as they do not interfere with pagans. Religious people are free to have their own opinion. I have my own opinion about Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus was trialled by the court of Pontius Pilate and convicted guilty of falsely claiming super-powers. It was not the only offense that Jesus committed. Stoning and public display on a stake of his body was the penalty. Jesus father was Julius abdes Tiberius known as the Panther (the beast) because he was the best killer in the Roman foreign legion.
That does not mean that I have a problem with the bible. The bible is an important historic book of facts, old believes and old laws. It is the problem of religious people if they can’t stand my opinion.

Guido Level 4 Oct 1, 2019
0

I do but don't broadcast my feelings, honest about it just private

bobwjr Level 10 Sep 30, 2019
0

I don’t have any atheist friends.
Doesn’t matter at all to me.

The love of my life was a preachers daughter.
It’s all true what they say.... oof

0

I have a pair of close friends (married couple) who operate both an urban church and a funeral home. They're serious christians, but we are good friends. Most of my African-American friends are very religious.

0

Most of my HS and college friends are and we get along just fine even after decades of friendship.

0

I have a few people with whom I have a mutually respectful friendship. One is a retired minister with Church of Christ, and since knew I perfom atheist weddings, he actually asked for my help in getting set up in performing weddings as a side business for him. We will often "like" each other's posts on FB, even though they may have originated from a Christian or Humanistic perspective.

Other friends I have may mention something fun they did at Church or something, but we don't talk about religion per se, just have mutual respect for each other and don't bring up the religious aspect of church in conversations. I might ask what church a believer attends, since it's a small island and it's fun to hear the stories between the fun churches and the boring ones. We have one church here often referred to as the "church of the twisted screw" as they drink a lot of wine at their events, haha!

Best conversations are those that don't mention any deity at all! 🙂

0

I’d say the key qualifier for me is maintaining a R/S (relationship) with anyone who knows the depth of my dislike & disrespect for religion. I’ve come to learn, some have no desire to acknowledge reality, so I limit our interactions to what (little) they do know.

A forever Atheist.. there’s been no looking back for me… What’s been interesting, though, is after having a ‘letter to the editor’ (LTE) printed, how communication changes with some religious folks.. They respect me, but attempt to insert religion at every opportunity. Too much of that (crap), though ..and I’ll remove them from my ‘worthwhile people list’ 🙂

Varn Level 8 Sep 30, 2019
0

I have a young friend, he is 28 and a ordained pastor. Theological degree from a college in Texas. We get along great together. Have some spirited discussions occasionally on religion. Never a cross word. My favourite part time bartender. Met him at my local pub, we got to chatting and I asked him what he did for a living. He said part time bartender and full time pastor. I said full time retired and your friendly neighborhood atheist. He was kinda taken back and said that he had never meet one. I sad the now he has and us atheists are pretty good people. We have been good friends ever since.

0

One of my best friends is a Christian. Solid dude. Fun to be around. He knows where I stand on certain things. It’s not a problem.

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