How many Atheists would have had this much class?

Question

My uncle & I are very close friends. We are like night & day but have mutual respect for one anothers beliefs. I'm a Christian & he's an atheist. We went out last night & somehow someone that I was talking to brought up religion & I mentioned that my uncle was an atheist. Now this guy said he didn't belong to any religion which didn't make sense to me but he started to try & convince my uncle to believe. After about 5 minutes, I said listen there'd be no way in the world that he could try & make me not have faith in my God so please don't try & convince him that there is one, we're all entitled to our own opinions. Well the guy let it go but as he was walking out my uncle said have a good night & may your God bless you. I thought that was classy considering 10 minutes earlier they had disagreed & I can't say that I would have been too nice to an atheist if he kept on trying to make me lose faith. Would you have been that classy?

Penphone I'm a Christian & I support gay rights. Not all of us are holy rollers who think that everyone else is going to hell. Those are the people that give me a bad name

Answer 1

Yes,that was nice for him to say,but I sure wish he believed in God!!

Answer 2

The huge problem that a great many "believers"seem to have is a complete inability to recognise the difference between the fundamental character of a human being, and what that human being happens to believe regarding the existence or otherwise of a mysterious, invisible, god-being.
Their assumption -and indeed, often their directly expressed conviction- is that if a person does not believe in this God-being, he cannot possibly be a "good" human being - or a kind one, or an honorable one... or ANY of the qualities in a person that we all regard as noble and positive. The most dogmatic, adamant "believers" insist that these positive and admirable qualities come only from "God" and if you do not believe in that "god" then you cannot have these qualities "gifted" upon you.
The clear and unequivocal fact is that what a person believes "spiritually" is just one facet of his or her whole personality, and entirely separate from all other traits. This is proven day after day in thousands of examples. When a man dives into a burning house to help rescue trapped children how ridiculous would it be for anybody to say "Oh, he MUST be a Christian. He couldn't possibly be an Atheist". When we hear on the news that a punk has mugged an elderly woman on the street and snatched her purse, do we hear anybody say "That guy HAS to be an atheist. A believer in God could never, and would never do that. The prison system is ovflowing with self-professed "believers" who are there having been convicted of the full spectrum of mighty ungodly deeds.
Thankfully you are one Believer who recognises that your uncle is an example of how what a person happens to believe has absolutely nothing to do with the grace and propriety with which he lives his life and conducts himself. And you are also honest enough to admit that in a reverse situation, you might not have found yourself able to match his level of graciousness.
I have run into some aggregious attitudes on the part of "good christians" who will metaphorically "spit in the face" of a person who simply tells the truth when he says "I can't believe in your mysterious invisible god-being". I have also known many atheists who could most certainly teach "believers" more than a little bit about "godly" behaviour; proving, as has been proved many times that no one single group of people has a monopoly on good and evil, which are disseminated in equal portion upon the "godly" and the "unrighteous" alike.
We have just recently, once again, paid tribute to a man whose place in history is forever assured. One of his most famous sayings expressed his dream that a time would come when people would be judged, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I see no reason why this superbly expressed ideal should not be extended to cover the hope that some day, too, EVERYONE will be judged by the content of his character, rather than on whether or not his personal beliefs match those of the person or persons making that judgement.

Answer 3

Personally, I don't think that sounds very classy. It seems defensive and almost spiteful, like he's trying to bring up the argument one last time to get in the last word. The genuinely classy move would be to make amends and say goodbye without reference to the previous dispute.

Answer 4

I wouldn't have had the conversation in the first place, because I don't discuss religion with new acquaintances, and very seldom with friends. You, on the other hand, just had to tell someone you were talking to that your uncle is an atheist, your uncle had to allow himself to be dragged into a religious debate and then contradict himself by saying "may your God bless you", and to top it off, you think the whole situation was a postive thing and you want to use it to be condescending with people, wondering if they would have been "that classy". Give me a break.

It takes class to keep your mouth shut about religion in social situations.

Answer 5

It was courteous, but I sincerely doubt your uncle's atheism. I am an atheist, and I never say "God bless you," even if someone sneezes. I consider it hypocritical to invoke the name of a being I don't believe exists. However, your uncle did show considerable class in listening to the other man without being unpleasant. He gets a "Well Done, Sir" for that one. But you might want to ask him just how atheistic he really is.
And just for the record: I try to be pleasant to the religionists when they start with their spiel; if they let me get a word in edgewise I say: "Thanks for the info, but I'm not interested." If they persist, then things can get unpleasant quickly. But I think it's rude to keep yammering at someone after they've told you no, thanks. That's just me.

Answer 6

Now I'm totally confused, Which one is the Atheist, your uncle or the other guy.
Started out your uncle, now you say your uncle was nice to the other guy.( the Atheist )

Maybe it's too early, coffee time .
bye

Answer 7

Your uncle is either a very classy man, or very sarcastic. How are you so certain that he wasn't mocking the man with whom he had just argued? You should talk to your uncle to find the true meaning to his words.

Answer 8

yes everyones intitled to there own oppinions however, especially being your Uncle, dont you feel He should find out the truth BEFORE its too late..besides as a christian it is your duty to spread the Gospel to all nations...not just say hey do you believe, and then say ok...well its your oppinion...your supposed to give them the good news...not just let them go on dying.. give them Life...

Answer 9

I don't understand the evangelical atheists. I've had many attack me here for "not being atheist enough". Seriously. I'd never try to convert someone to my beliefs, and I rather dislike the implication that I would.

Answer 10

I'm Catholic. If someone introduced themselves as atheist to me, I'd just shrug and find another subject. If anyone tried to change my mind on religion, I'd try to change the subject. If that didn't work, I'd leave. I don't believe in talking to someone until I'm blue in the face to change when I know they won't and I don't like people doing that to me.

Answer 11

Most of the time, yes. Every now and then someone face to face tries to convince me to believe. I just ask that we no longer discuss the subject and that is all it takes. When they continue is when the problems start.