Agnostic.com

8 7

On the phone today with my longtime religious friend, we talked of January 6th and everything surrounding it. He repeatedly made claims of "in these final days," etc. I got onto him for mixing his religion with current events. He thinks I know what he means. He also has trouble understanding why I find it hard to watch fantasy movies and TV and my ability to dissect any true crime show. He has no problems with any of it, he says.

What I would like to tell my friend would end our friendship. He believes in an invisible man and so many other strange things right out of his bible. I have no belief in any of that today. Fantasy and sci fi does not appeal to me any longer. It never will again. He cannot understand that his views come from the fact that he is "one true Christian." He also wishes his 2 children would get "closer to god" but not being married to their mother any longer he makes it clear that he does not care if she is alive or dead. (Good luck with that one.)

I'm posting this because it is so typical of many Christians today. It also is a display of something I never want to be again.

DenoPenno 9 Jan 9
Share

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

8 comments

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

0

also, while i understand it is handy to declare "I have no beliefs in any of that today," an obv corollary is "I believe in none of that" right

My study of the bible helped me become atheist. I'm not sure of what you are talking about. Perhaps we studied different bibles.

@DenoPenno probably? I more or less ignore the scribed up, English ones

0

so, i gave you a like anyway, but "He believes in an invisible man and so many other strange things right out of his bible" i gotta take exception to, as that is not what the Bible says, in fact its closer to the opposite of what it says? For instance these last days were also the days of 0AD, according to the Bible?

1

It's ok to have different levels of friends. There are friends I ask for advice from, friends i need reports on COVID from, friends who help me with resumes, friends I send holiday cards to, friends I go to online activites with. You get the idea. I can't stand high doses of about 9 out of 10 people. Maybe this friend should become a holiday email or text friend or see maybe twice a year or something like that?

0

What happened on December 6?

@Gwendolyn2018 That is what I thought, but wasn’t sure. I lost many “friends” over their reaction to The Trump insurrection of January 6.

That happened to be my 62nd B-day, but I'm pretty sure the OP meant Jan. 6.

Sorry. I did mean January 6th. 🙂 My bad, and I have corrected it now.

2

If you can't/won't be HONEST with 'friend', then they/you aren't really 'friends'. 😛

He thinks I am "angry with god." We do talk about these things but I see him as a deluded hypocrite. I've known him since we were 12 and at one time was just like him.

word

2

"One TRUE Christian," like the saying "One TRUE Scotsman, " imo, a MISNOMER if ever I heard one.

Look the original saying "no true Scotsman" is ridiculous enough without you paraphrasing it.
Professor Antony Flew who is "credited " with coining the phrase was an Englishman, Surprise ,surprise, but he was reckoned to be an atheist so he wasn't all bad,

3

Reading your comments, I can only remember the study conducted by Nicholas Epley at the University of Chicago Psychology Dept. I've posted this before but it applies to your situation too.

"Believers' estimates of God's beliefs are more egocentric than estimates of other people's beliefs"
[pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

4

when they speak of the "final Days" they truly believe it. Even when it doesn't happen it rarely shakes their beliefs

My friend is my age so he might be in his "final days." Most Evangelical Christians are taught to believe the end (according to Revelation) will come in their lifetimes. They forget that Jesus reportedly said we were in that 'end time" before he died. Some of his followers were supposed to be alive when he returned. It is so laughable.

@DenoPenno - Mormons (where I come from) have a magical explanation to work around that comment by the Bible Jesus. At some point, I realized that every generation of Mormons are told they were the "chosen" generation to help Jesus usher in the last days. When one is young and impressionable, it can make one feel special - even if one is a convert. Being older, it just feels like dishonest manipulation.

Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:567531
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.