Without resorting to insults?
2007-09-28 05:45:48 · 21 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Suicide bombing
2007-09-28 05:52:38 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
If I run into a "Bible-thumper", I realize that they only thing that will keep us from confrontation is to respect them as a person and expect them to treat me the same. A Bible=thumper should know that judging, name-calling and gossiping about someone else is silly, childish and un-Christlike. So, they better not behave that way.
Besides, behavior like that would only drive a non-believer further away from opening a bible or listening to someone preach it, so why would they behave "stubbornly"? Being stubborn is a negative trait that would mean forcing someone into another way of thinking.
Can we successfully FORCE anyone into thinking like we do? Or, can you better convince them by demonstrating a better life by peacefully showing them how nice our life is?
2007-09-28 05:57:13 · answer #2 · answered by joe_on_drums 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
alas, one can not deal with them in a rational sense.
i have found the best strategy is the following:
to say 'yes, yes, you know... you may be on to something... perhaps I need to read the bible again'
they then get this smile of surprise/satisfaction
that soon turns to anger when they realize you're being sarcastic
finally, if you don't really say anything more, they become confused for not knowing if you really were being sarcastic because if you are not, and they are angry... well that's not a really good christian thing to do.
2007-09-28 06:16:11 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I ask them to tell me how their spiritual practice affects their lives. I invite them to share with me what means most to them in their own direct experience. And then I offer to share my own, similarly meaningful personal experience, which I have come to and uncovered using a different religious vocabulary.
When it goes well, it can be very enjoyable for us both, with a realization as often as not that there are things more important at the experiential level than the differences in the words.
.
2007-09-28 06:09:49 · answer #4 · answered by bodhidave 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I enjoy witty repartee interspersed with facts about the scale of the universe -- like this video showcasing 20 million galaxies:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4-p4qQIIpbw&mode=related&search=
If a god existed (though there is no evidence), why the heck would it be interested in simplistic rules about human behavior?
2007-09-28 07:05:56 · answer #5 · answered by Dalarus 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To say that you do not believe in anything not of the natural world , should not be taken as an insult by anyone. If anyone takes it as an insult when you mention that you don't believe in "god" , isn't it an insult to you when they insist that there is a god ?
2007-09-28 05:51:58 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's all those classes in creativity and wit that my parents made me sit through when I was a kid.
2007-09-28 05:49:10 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I use sarcasm, it goes under the humour radar and isn't technicaly an out-and-out insult. It is also quite lazy form of wit.
2007-09-28 05:49:03 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 1⤋
Smile, nod, go somewhere else very quickly.
My husband starts talking backwards.
2007-09-28 05:58:10 · answer #9 · answered by KC 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I ask them to clarify why god was mean in the old testament and nice in the new testament. I ask if god suffers from bi-polar or other mental illness.
2007-09-28 05:49:48 · answer #10 · answered by Imagine No Religion 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
My husband invited them in to worship the Master. He told them that the goat just died and the Master was pleased. They left and never bothered him again.
2007-09-28 05:49:19 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋