I'm Wiccan, My friend is Christian?

Question

My friend who is an extremely devoted Christian is worried about me. She keeps bringing up in nearly every conversation that she's sad for me because I'm her friend and she doesn't want me to suffer eternity in Hell. I know that she only cares for my well-being, but no matter what I say, she's only sad that when I finally found religion it was Wicca, a pagan religion and "It's hard to get that stuff out of people once they start it" (quote by her). I keep telling her that I'm going exactly where I want to go, and that if the Christian God DOES exist and I DO go to Hell, I would rather suffer an eternity for my own beliefs than follow something I can't believe in. Any advice on how I should handle this? It's bothering me that its bothering her so much, and its getting annoying. I'm happy now; why can't she be?

Answer 1

You know honestly, and you may not be ready for this yet, but I really don’t see this friendship lasting if your friend keeps on nagging you like this. It’s just a shame she can’t love you for who you are.

My advice: You need to tell her that you understand her concern, but if she wants to stay friends with you then she needs to keep it to herself. I know you’re worried about her being worried, but there is nothing you can do about that. If she believes in the logically impossible religion called Christianity, then there is little you can do to stop her from believing it. Just explain to her that you respect her beliefs and she should respect yours.

Answer 2

Have you mentioned this to her? Maybe the next time she starts to bring up her worry for you change the subject. Or you can be blunt and tell her outright that you want to continue to be her friend but you are having a really difficult time swallowing all her blathering about your choice of religion. Explain to her that Wicca is a nature based religion and has nothing to do with Hell or the devil since we don't even believe in the devil as the christians see him. Explain that we do acknowledge the presence of evil in the world and we work tirelessly to do what we can to negate that evil or find a way to turn the evil into something good. Don't let her start a debate with you on the subject. Maybe you could suggest some reading for her to help her understand more about your religion. Maybe you will need to start looking for some other friends who believe as you do and start spending some of your time with them.
LL

Answer 3

that is a tough one, especially because you want to mantain the friendship.

i would explain to her that her comments are really starting to bother you. and that in the religion of your choice there is no hell to go to. explain that many people believe different things. and that everyone should be respected in their beliefs.

and possibly try to make an agreement that when you are together that you just simply will not talk about religion. there are more aspects to a friendship than what religion you each believe in.

she feels sad because she is told that everyone that does not believe in Christ goes to hell to suffer for an eternity. i would counter that with,

what loving and forgiving god would send someone to a place of eternal suffering for the mortal inability to believe in him when he offers no proof.

she would have a counter, and this would lead to an arguement. in short it is probably better to just not talk religion with her. for the sake of the friendship. in a few years she (or you) may feel differently and come to a point where you can talk about your beliefs. just give it some time.

Answer 4

Tell her that you can't hang out with someone who keeps threatening you with torture, and that if she's interested in the appropriate way to respond to you, she needs to read her Bible and see the way Jesus treated the non-Jewish people he met in it.

(Here's a clue- he didn't preach to them.)

Or, if you don't mind the risk of getting threatened by her or called a demon, you can tell her the truth- that a god who'd send good people to hell is a terrible god, and you can't worship a god that YOU are a superior being to... tell her IF that god existed, you'd be forced, as a person of good will, to follow his opposition. Ask her if she REALLY wants you to believe in her god when doing so WOULD FORCE you to become a Satanist....

Or, ask her how on earth *she* could follow a god with a hell....

You are not responsible for this girl's mental problems. Sometimes, you have to walk away. If you believe in Rede of the Wiccae (which is not the same as the Wiccan Rede) by Gwen Thompson, you should know the couplet that begins "with a fool no season spend"

Answer 5

I am an Atheist. I have a great friend who is a Born Again Christian. He doesn't Proselytize to me or anything like that. He respects my belief as I do his. He has done a great deal to for me as well as I have done for him. We work together in harmony as it should be. I don't try to convert him to Atheism nor does he try to convert me to his belief's. We have an understanding about each other's beliefs. But ( though my own curiosity) We do have civil discussions about his and my beliefs. And in no way do we try to convert each other. If she is your best friend(I mean Bestist Friend) then I think she would be receptive to an open dialogue to accepting your belief as well as you accepting her's. If she is more into conversion then I would politely tell her "Sorry, but I'm not interested" And leave it at that. I think a true Christian wouldn't push the issue.

Good luck and keep on keepen on.

Answer 6

Your friend just cares about you. Just tell her what you said in your question. that "you would rather suffer an eternity for your own beliefs than follow something you can't believe in. but if you said that it's probably still going to bother her because she doesn't want to see you suffer in hell. but no matter what just don't let your differences come in the way of your friendship. We all have different beliefs, She can see that your belief is wrong and she doesn't want to see you burn for it.

Answer 7

At first for you it will be hard to believe in God because as I can see you've never been a believer. But once you choose to at least try to believe and pray to him so he can help you believe you will see the changes in your life, the changes in yourself and your feelings and I am sure that you'll believe because he is true. We are all so small and the universe is so huge; we only have him. I am christian, and I believe. I'm not telling you to go into any religion yet, just do it by yourself don't feel pushed by anyone else. Start yourself and have the desire to at least want to believe :]
I hope this helped. However, I respect a lot other's beliefs and I will always will. If after you try as hard as you can and get some help and it doesn't help anyways and you just don't feel it you can still have your beliefs in Wiccan, I can't change that on you and nobody else can but always keep in mind that there is someone superior watching over us and that if we are here is because it was someone's desition and that someone is God. We are not her just because yes, we all have a purpose.

Be happy :]

Answer 8

Because it is christian obsession to want to SAVE everyone from hell. Problem IS, who is going to "save" them? Much of the christian religions are so far off from the TRUTH that none of them realize it. As a Wiccan, I know your faith and it is an offshoot of my own. I am of the Theban faith in Yezua. We also believe in Isis and her powers, just as I believe in all the ancient Gods of Egypt. Wicca, is only a "small" part of what our faith teaches. Tell your friend, you aren't going to hell and it's not her job to judge you. That job is left up to the eternal and you are right with them...........

Answer 9

She can't be happy because she's been brainwashed into the Christian belief that theirs is the ONLY true religion. Of course, many Muslims think there's is also, and of course the Jews don't make a stink about Christianity but they don't think Christ is the savior.

Why is she like this? Because to retain membership organized religion puts fear of all other religions into people. They are not to even learn about other religions for fear of being smited by their god, so they don't. They teach that because you don't believe as they believe that you don't believe at all.

It's funny, because even within Christian sects there is strife. You're wrong to Methodists if you are Catholic or Protestant, or Baptist, or Mormon. And you are wrong to all those for being any of the other. Even Christians can't get along with other Christians unless they go to the same church.

Think about it, JFK was the first Catholic president in United States history, up till then they were all Protestants. His religion played huge into the smear tactics of his opponents, just like Mitt Romney's is now. So to Christians it's not even the matter of if you believe in their god, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost; it's whether or not you believe in all three the same way they do. If not, you're still wrong and they'll "be sad" for you, and they'll "worry about your soul".

The one thing many people fear the most is the unknown... and the afterlife and what happens to your soul is the biggest unknown so it is very easy to control people through that channel. Many people would rather die than think for themselves, and many people do.

Your friend is not really sad for you, or concerned for you, she is being selfish and concerned for herself. You scare her because you aren't just like her. Her caring for you and your friendship is not unconditional, it is conditional upon you being just like her. You being different scares her. She needs to get over herself and start thinking for herself, not think what she's told to think. Is she going to believe the word of someone that doesn't really know any more about the afterlife than she does? Or is she going to believe what she sees. That's the difference between "believing" and "knowing". She believes, but she doesn't know. She would rather believe you are in the wrong and going to her Hell than to take you as you are because you are a good person. She'd rather believe about you what she's told by someone that doesn't even know you than to believe herself based on her personal knowledge of the good person you are.

I think I'm sad for her most of all. The recipe for perpetual ignorance is to be satisfied with the opinions of others.

Answer 10

Let her know as nicely as you can that it is bothering you, and ask that she not bring it up. Let her know it is bothering you that she is bothered by your religious choice. Remember that she is concerned for you.

You can also tell you don't mind if she prays for you(I am assuming that doesn't bother you), but that she should step back and allow God to work. Remind her that she cannot convince(you may also use the word convict, it is a good word for Christians) you of belief in Jesus Christ, you must come to that conclusion yourself. If necessary remind of the parable of the seeds. (She should know about the parable) Anyway, be nice and remember that she is a concerned friend.