A friend and i practice diff. religions and we are becoming non friends?

Question

i have had this friend since elementary back when we BOTH didn't care about religion or anything like that but recently he has become VERY VERY christian and he only hangs out with his friends from church. this pisses me off because i don't practice ANY religion and i don't give a care what religion he's all about but i think he feels like he can't be friends with a non christian. should i hate him?

Also i even tried going to his church i believe in science and evolution too much to ever believe in a god

Answer 1

First of all true science and true religion are not incompatible. But that is besides the point.

He's probably very excited/zealous about what he's learning, and sometimes that can carry people a little extreme. However, try looking at this from his standpoint...perhaps he's learned things that make him want to live by certain standards and guidelines. Often the people we used to hang out with can make that more difficult. Or even, not that there is anything wrong with them, but he just may not want to be distracted, or have the extra time, if he's focused on other things. Don't take it personally, just be there as a friend as much as you can, but don't push it. If you are truly friends you should be able to talk rationally about what's going on. Try to undertand from his perspective what's going on, and ask him to do the same.

Answer 2

One day you will figure out that science and faith are not exclusive, man (unless you are a crazy fundamentalist). Just because you "believe in science" doesn't mean you can't "believe in god". i'm not going to give you a big lecture about it, but you have quite a bit to learn.

I too lost a lot of friends "to Christ". I'm an agnostic myself and pretty easygoing about all religions, but some churches just... change people. and not for the better. sooner or later the people you used to hang with start preaching at you, or snub their nose at "heathens", and just ridiculous crap like that. in high school i think i found the best solution was just to stay away from them and mark em down as a lost cause. it's like they were no longer interested in being people, but just churchgoers.

I'm not saying that all christians are that way. in fact, a huge proportion of the people at my office are christian, but somehow they manage to come off as normal people and aren't trying to shove a bible in your face every 5 seconds. i think the whole religion thing really traps kids of high school age, i don't know how else to explain it. they'll mellow out sooner or later, but you don't have to stick around and take his crap.

and no, you can't "save" him. been there, tried that. the claws of the church are strong indeed (especially when his whole family is christian as well)

Answer 3

keep going to church....maybe you will learn something!