i just lost a friend who is born again christian and she won't tell me why she ended the relationship. i told her that i don't like it when people tell me what to believe or think and that i need to be respected for my individuality (but also expressed my love for her too). we have known each other for over 20 years and she is like family. i thought we could talk openly with each other and i don't understand this reaction.
is there some born again christian code that you can't be friends with non-christians unless they convert?
just trying to figure it out.
2006-09-01 22:12:11 · 10 answers · asked by curious1 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
it isn't possible to ask her myself because she won't talk to me. i've always been respectful that she has her own beliefs and even told her i am happy she has something that works for her and i don't wish to change her. our difficulties mostly come from defense on my end.
2006-09-01 22:52:33 · update #1
Yes it is, but you have to be friends first.
I'm terribly sorry that this happened. I will confess to you that when I was younger I was very religious and closed-minded; I judged people if they didn't share my religious beliefs. Today I'm terribly sad that I treated people so poorly. I wish I could go back and slap the s#it out of the girl I was ten years ago, acting like I had a corner on the truth and if people didn't agree with me they weren't good for me to be around. Not all believers are like that, but I grew up with several hundred of them and they sure encouraged the behavior.
Someday, perhaps this girl will see how much she has hurt you and apologize. For now, understand that it isn't your fault and that anybody who treats you poorly because you don't convert to their beliefs really wasn't ever your friend at all.
2006-09-01 22:14:38 · answer #1 · answered by Trips 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Absolutely! The key is as you say Mutual respect for each other...Perhaps though, this isnt whats kept her from you..I would simply go ask her. You might find that she has merely been busy with other issues/goings on in her life. If, however, this is indeed the case, then you need to respect her wishes and get on with your life without her. It is sad but sometimes humans dont make any rational sense and cant get past one thing or another when dealing with others.. Nothing you can do about it....Its her baggage and you ( like the rest of us ) probably have enough of your own to carry without picking up hers.
Blessed Be~
2006-09-01 22:23:13 · answer #2 · answered by Cheppyyyyy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
in no way. Jehovah's Witnesses take their queue from the Watchtower. Now some will say its purely a publishing company, as concept it has no authority over what they suspect. Ask any jehovah witness who ever went against what the Watchower Bible and Tract Society advised them what to believe, annd see what the outcomes have been.
2016-10-01 05:10:08 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I can understand how you must be feeling now.Your question highlights the basic hypocrisy of most religions, and in particularly the fundamentalists. They preach love, forgiveness and the existence of a god that created and cares for us all and yet they are prepared to rip apart families and friendships with their blind unthinking faith not in spiritual matters but the rules of whatever sect they belong to. What value can any religion have when it needs to use moral blackmail and coercion to bring in converts. I fear for any country that finds itself so strongly in the grip of fundamentalist religion as does the U.S. and many Islamic states. Not only does it affect the behavior of its people but also education and the ability to think clearly as can be seen in the fact that some 50% of Americans still reject the demonstrable facts of evolution. I fear for the future of countries that are being dragged backwards into the abyss of ignorance and superstition.
2006-09-01 22:35:11 · answer #4 · answered by U.K.Export 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's in their nature to pressure people to convert. Unless you can tell her straight to butt out of your religious inclinations (or lack thereof) and she accepts that it's none of her business, then most probably you can have her as a friend - just not a very close one, for the sake of your own sanity.
It's always amusing how my more religious friends keep trying to convert me and how they keep failing. Most of them now accept that I don't listen to them when they talk religious and they don't listen to me when I wax atheism beliefs. I'm lucky in that respect, I guess.
2006-09-01 22:43:13 · answer #5 · answered by optimistic_pessimist1985 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had a friend in high school who was involved in a fundamentalist christian church. He tried to get me to convert. I went to church a few times, and his family were all friendly and nice. When I decided that his church just wasn't for me, his family turned cold and distant, and my friend dropped me like a hot potato. When I finally cornered him at school, he said that he didn't want to be friends with someone whom he wouldn't see in heaven.
I should also note that the preacher of his church convinced my friend that my friend had a demon inside him. My friend was gay, and his preacher said that he would need to do an exorcism to get the gayness out of him. I kid you not.
If heaven is full of Christians like that, I don't want to go there.
2006-09-01 22:36:50 · answer #6 · answered by Bastet's kitten 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Christians have a hard time maintaining friendships because they are taught to "come apart and be ye separate". They are in their own little click and sooner or later they will usually sever their tie with a non christian because that person is not converting to their belief system.
2006-09-01 22:18:34 · answer #7 · answered by homersaysso 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I'm a born again christian and I tell you that we shouldn't leave our friends except if they are getting our spirtual life down or encouraging us to make things we shouldn't do but I have non-christian GOOD friends
2006-09-01 22:25:14 · answer #8 · answered by The born-again christian 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
good luck man , about 15 years ago my brother went born again on me and started a fistfight with me on christmas eve because i would not convert.
we finally started talking again about 4 years ago.
but he still constantly tries to make me convert.
2006-09-01 22:17:28 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
We shouldn't be unequally yoked. If she expressed that you were being selfish for your reasoning to keep your individuality you would've done the same to her. It's not enough we hold onto ourselves we have to let go of our old selves for God's glory. We let go because He has to lead.
2006-09-01 22:35:15 · answer #10 · answered by 4me2no&u2findout 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋