How can I tell my christian friends i dont want to be a christian?

Question

A couple of my friends that I grew up with are Jesus freaks. It really irritates me because I am atheist. My parents were atheists and I was raised to be one. Now, my friends and I are 32. They are always saying " Thank You Jesus" " Isn't god great"? They always tell me they hope and pray I can find god and open my heart up. I don't say anything because I don'
t want to be rude. They have invited me and invited me to church, and I say no thanks. How can I tell them to stop and to respect my lack of belief?

Answer 1

"I am glad you have found a religion that works for you, but I am not interested." If they persist, find friends that like you for who you are, not because they want to convert you.
No matter what the religion of your friends or you, my answer would have been the same.

Answer 2

Thats a tricky one because it could be the end of your friendship if both sides arent careful. One of my best friends at school was in the mormon church with her family. I don't know if they joined when she was a teenager or if she just wasnt involved before but it never came up until she was about 14 when she started spending most of her weekends at the church. As she got more involved God was becoming more and more part of her life and she started talking about it loads. She really changed and I just couldnt relate to her beliefs. It led to a couple of arguments along the lines of your problem and eventually we drifted apart and lost contact - I felt like the church stole my friend.

I hope that doesnt happen to you - hopefully you can explain to your friends how you feel and they will back off, however its obviously a big part of their lives and if you cant join it they may feel you are a 'sinner' or some other tripe, and drift away - in my experience religious people are far less open-minded and forgiving than atheists!

Answer 3

Just because you don't believe in God doesn't mean you have a "lack of belief". You have beliefs and they're obviously importatnt to you, they just don't match the judeo-christian beliefs that your friends have.

Define what it is you DO believe in and then explain it to your bible-thumping friends. And if they persist then explain (patiently, because they aren't used to thinking for themselves) that if God does exist, then he must have created Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and the myriad of other religions.

If God built this place, then why did he create multiple religions. Why did he create Judiasm before he made Christianity?

He must have screwed up somewhere in the formula...

If God is perfect, then he couldn't have made any mistakes - so all religions are valid and Christians don't have the only pass key to heaven, no matter what their brainwashing preacher might say...

Prepare for a backlash of "free will" arguements and how God wants to test people's faith - apparently by using other charismatic prophets with messages of salvation.

Answer 4

I don't think telling them would stop the pressure~in fact they would probably increase it~I am a child of God and I understand where you are~ I have always believed in God, but there was a time that He was distant form me in my thoughts and emotions, but found out after I accepted Him He had been there all the time~ I do know He loves you and is patiently waiting for you, but that is a matter of time ~ I guess the only way to have fellowship with your friends is to not let those things bother you and keep on enjoying them
I commend you for loving them

Answer 5

Simple, reason through Christian fundamentals. I go to a Christian school (and am not Christian) and this is how i deal with it.

Tell them that choosing to be a Christian is a personal journey that one has to take for themselves. Others can help you but you have to choose whether to be a Christian or not by yourself. Tell them that nothing you say will change it because it's a decision you have to make for yourself. If Christianity is right for you, then you'll know.

Also tell them that if they pressure you then it's not helping you because all they're doing is pushing you away and you'll be more inclinded to dislike Christianity. Also say that it would be worse if you practiced all the rituals but didn't believe in them because God himself said that he wants people to worship whole-heartedly.

Hopefully these will work, good luck to you

Answer 6

I think you need to flat-out ask them to respect your beliefs, and make it clear that religion is not for everyone. My first year in college, my roommate was a real "Jesus freak" (as you put it - in fact, he's going to seminary school in a couple weeks) and I explained to him that I don't believe in a loving God and told him why. He was kind enough to respect my beliefs and not try to force his views on me. He still prayed for me if there were bad things in my life and invited me along to church occasionally, and I appreciated that because it wasn't a constant barrage.

Answer 7

You need to have a serious talk with them, if they don't want to understand or accept that you choose to live your life a certain way than you need to let them know very clearly.

You can say that you don't impose your own beliefs on them so they should make an effort to respect your choices/beliefs.

Hope this helps.

Answer 8

Just tell them that you like them as friends. You respect their right to their beliefs, and they should respect yours. You have your own belief system, and are not interested in changing it at the moment. If they have trouble understanding, you might have to repeat it in simpler language. Something like, " I am an atheist. I do not want to go to church and never will" may open their eyes.

Answer 9

Tell them their way of thinking and talking about Jesus is repulsive and makes you nauseous - that you simply can't participate in what is disgusting, no matter how popular it is to be 'religious' in this way.

Resisting them or saying you're an atheist makes them proselytize more. I had to do this to a friend years ago and it forced him to see his behavior from an entirely different angle.

Answer 10

if they don't respect your decisions, that means they are not real friends... just let them know that you don't want to go to church.. maybe when they ask you you say something: "Nah, maybe some other day" or "Nah, I've got stuff to do" but you don't give them a real reason because you think you're gonna hurt their feelings.... but I think you should tell them exactly what you think and ask them not to keep asking and insisting because it is annoying... sometimes you have to be a talk like that when people don't understand... don't be afraid tho.. like I said, only REAL friends respect others decisions no matter what... religion should NOT be a condition to be someone's friend, that's stupid... be brave and speak your mind

Answer 11

sometimes some people put there believes on other as Jesus is great and all maybe you can tell her that you feel uncomfortable when she acts like that around you. or flat out tell her how u feel.
Honesty is the best policy i say
and its the truth. so she should respect how you feel if you are a true friend 2 her