Do you think what my friend said was kind of rude?

Question

he told me this: im just saying i think you will be a lot happier if you become christian but im not sure but i know ever since i switched to christianty ive been able to let go of insecurities ive been nicer to other and a lot more happy. AND it pissed me off because im BUDDHIST! I want to go to church! I want to visit. I got soo pissed at him it made me cry at the fact that he thinks i should switch my damn religion because he thinks its better. What do i do, and what do i say? If you look at my other yahoo answer question. You'll know why im really pissed off.

Is a friend really a friend if he says you can't visit his church but tells you to still believen christianity and stop believing what your believing? i don't want to be mad at him but i am sort of pissed off at the fact that he's being so weird about me visiting his church. And.. for all of you guys who say i don't sound buddhist, I AM! and i proud of what religion i have. Just because you say that i don't follow the exact rules of buddhism doesn't mean im not buddhist because i am. no offense.

Answer 1

Sounds to me like you have a lot of pride in your heart.
Jesus said blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.
Nobody likes being confronted with the fact they are a sinner.
Nobody likes being told they are sick.
Still if you want to get well, go to the doctor;
but if you want your sins forgiven, go to Jesus.

Answer 2

I read & answered your other question. Perhaps your friend is immature in the faith and lacks the ability to properly share his faith with you. I hope both of you are young, that would explain a lot. Nevertheless, I think he means well and just needs a little social skill in communicating. I'm taking your word for it that this is truly a friend. I would just express how offended I am and ask that he keep his thoughts to himself. As to visiting a church, go ahead. Maybe not his church if you don't want. Any Christian church will welcome you, and your faith shouldn't be an issue at all. In my church they wouldn't even know you are Buddhist unless you tell them, & it wouldn't change a thing.God bless you and I hope you do get to visit.

Answer 3

Although I'm against proselytizing of any sort, I have to ask why your friend was offering his advice. Have you given him any reason to think that you might be unhappy and he was offering his suggestions about how you could resolve it? Or was he simply trying to push his religious beliefs on you?

If you're going through something and you don't have peace about it, or if you've been complaining to your friend that you're miserable, its only natural that he's going to try to offer suggestions -- even if, in this particular case, its the wrong suggestions. Religion and faith are *supposed* to offer you happiness and peace (generally) and if you don't have that, than he might assume that buddhism isn't working for you and you need something different. Just the fact that you would like to visit church may be enough to suggest to someone that you're still searching for something, and that your current path is leaving you unfullfilled.

If this wasn't the case and his thoughts were unsolicited, you need to get used to christians trying to convert you. Most christians -- especially new ones -- are so full of self-righteous energy that they'd witness to the microwave until they are blue in the face. Don't let it offend you so much. Just tell your friend, and anyone else who tries to get you to change religions, that you're perfectly happy with your own beliefs and don't care to be anything other than what you are.

Answer 4

First: Understand that your friend is doing this out of friendship and concern for you. To him, you are bound for hell and he wants you to go to heaven. It doesn't make it easier to deal with in the face of someone trying to convert you.

Second: Meditate on the second element of the Eightfold Path, Samma-Sankappa, or Right Intention, also translated as right thought or attitude. Liberating emotional intelligence in your life and acting from love and compassion. An informed heart and feeling mind that are free to practice letting go. (buddhanet)

Third: This is more difficult because it involves trying to help your friend tolerant of you, if possible. Set aside some time when you are calm and he's most likely to be receptive to your reasoning. Tell him you appreciate his concern for you and his caring (or something nice that's true), but that you're happy the way you are. Let him know that if you ever have questions about Christianity, you'll come straight to him, but you value him as a friend.

There really is no good way of dealing with conversion-minded friends and loved ones because they're convinced we need to be "saved" and we're convinced we're fine the way we are. My friends and family have negotiated a truce where we don't discuss their Christianity and my Buddhism and I don't feel as if I should let them go and find new relationships that bolster everyone involved.

If he can't stop his conversion efforts (and many Christians believe in the Great Commission where they're required to convert everyone), then you may need to let him go as a friend. Only you can judge if that's necessary, however. Listen to your own counsel.

Answer 5

No, I don't think what he did is rude. If you are happy where you are, then express that. There's really no sense in getting upset with him for sharing what he has with a friend. If something made you very happy, wouldn't you want to share it with your friends? Why not start a discussion with him about it and see where it leads? You say he's a friend, then you 2 should be able to discuss this reasonably. =)

Answer 6

There are a lot of ways you can retaliate against his faith,similarly to the way he disrespected your faith.For example I tolerated the hateful comments a lot of Christians put on Yahoo (not all of them!!) but eventually I could not bare it any longer and I took a tougher stance against my faith,I mean sure my faith sees all equally,but if they can't do that,why should I?

Just explain that your faith is your choice.Bhuddists respect all religions,I am Hindu,my religion is the same,thats one of the advantages our faiths share over a lot of other religions.

Answer 7

"Pissed" off is vulgar slang, fit for the gutter and not a young ladies speech.

Try to separate your lines of thought with paragraphs or new sentences separated by blank lines so everything is not run together.

Do not start a sentence with and.

Put caps on the first letter of a leading sentence.

Put caps on "Christian".

Please do not refer to your religion as "my damn religion".

Try this >>> "I am totally disgusted with the insensitive way that I was treated by a Christian.

I am a Buddhist and I am trying to live a good life according to my religious teaching.

What do I do, and what do I say? "

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

(yall kin ketch mo bees wid huney sted of tryin to hit dem wid a hammner)

JESUS Bless you.

dave

Answer 8

You know what, you and your friend need to really think about what you want to believe in and if he or she is not happy With your choice than that is there problem. To say that one or the other is better is ones opinion and in all religions there is one god that they worship and he has many names in all religions.

Answer 9

You shouldn't let it bother you. It sounds like he found something that he was looking for, and wants to share it with you. If you explain to him that you are perfectly happy with Buddhism, he should understand that. If he doesn't, then he isn't much of a friend.

Answer 10

Since you don't sound like a Buddhist anyway, why not find out more about Christianity? There is nothing wrong with it. Just start with it's history and be serious about it your search. What your friend said was right, but you need to understand why, and the choice is certainly yours alone.

Answer 11

It was very rude of him especially if you didn't ask his opinion on your choice of religion. I'd tell him it is your choice and he needs to keep his religious beliefs to himself.

If you aren't a happy person it doesn't mean blindly following his choice of religion will make you happy. Figure out what it is that is causing you to be unhappy and start making changes. If you aren't unhappy then woohoo for you. :-)