Switching Sides

What would you do if?

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LightInADarkWorld
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Switching Sides

Post #1

Post by LightInADarkWorld »

I guess this one is aimed more at christians such as myself but i'd love any input i could get. If a friend of yours went from being a theist to a non-theist how would you react? Would you try to change their mind by preaching that they shall burn in hell forever? Or would you think that every person has the right to believe what they want and that by trying to force them to change you would be doing wrong?

I would do a question for athiests to theists but it just isn't the same.

connermt
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Re: Switching Sides

Post #11

Post by connermt »

LightInADarkWorld wrote:I guess this one is aimed more at christians such as myself but i'd love any input i could get. If a friend of yours went from being a theist to a non-theist how would you react? Would you try to change their mind by preaching that they shall burn in hell forever? Or would you think that every person has the right to believe what they want and that by trying to force them to change you would be doing wrong?

I would do a question for athiests to theists but it just isn't the same.
At the time I was a christian, I would have tried to get them back into the church and led with my actions.
Now that I'm not a christian, I would do something fun with them and encourage them to find their own way away from christianity if they felt that way.

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McCulloch
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Re: Switching Sides

Post #12

Post by McCulloch »

LightInADarkWorld wrote: I guess this one is aimed more at christians such as myself but i'd love any input i could get. If a friend of yours went from being a theist to a non-theist how would you react? Would you try to change their mind by preaching that they shall burn in hell forever? Or would you think that every person has the right to believe what they want and that by trying to force them to change you would be doing wrong?
I was that friend. Some, once they found out that I was not coming back any too soon, cut me off and they have not spoken with me, except in passing for decades. Others try to be friendly, but are uncomfortable. I think that they feel an obligation to try to win me over, but they also know that I know all of their gambits, so there is little that they can do. They have all heard the standard sermon analogy number 43 about rescuing someone from a burning building.

And a precious handful, have remained genuine friends.
Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good.
First Epistle to the Church of the Thessalonians
The truth will make you free.
Gospel of John

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Jake
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Re: Switching Sides

Post #13

Post by Jake »

LightInADarkWorld wrote: I guess this one is aimed more at christians such as myself but i'd love any input i could get. If a friend of yours went from being a theist to a non-theist how would you react? Would you try to change their mind by preaching that they shall burn in hell forever? Or would you think that every person has the right to believe what they want and that by trying to force them to change you would be doing wrong?

I would do a question for athiests to theists but it just isn't the same.
If my friend went from theism to atheism, I would congratulate him/her. If my friend went from atheism to theism, however, I would ask them what evidence they could provide to support their new beliefs, and then debate and attempt to reconvert them to atheism. (Unless, of course, they had actual proof, in which case I suppose I would then be a theist as well.)

thepandemicson
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Re: Switching Sides

Post #14

Post by thepandemicson »

LightInADarkWorld wrote: I guess this one is aimed more at christians such as myself but i'd love any input i could get. If a friend of yours went from being a theist to a non-theist how would you react? Would you try to change their mind by preaching that they shall burn in hell forever? Or would you think that every person has the right to believe what they want and that by trying to force them to change you would be doing wrong?

I would do a question for athiests to theists but it just isn't the same.

When my parents split up, the church we were going to at the time turned their collective back on us. Only a few people from it kept in contact with us, and kept things on good terms. I don't think I'd ever want to make someone I considered a friend feel like that. The way I see things, it's his or her decision to make, his or her own path to forge in life.

Of course, I'm agnostic now, so I often consider that someone making this switch may have found a compelling reason to do so. I would let be with this person's decision, only asking about it to gain insight on what he or she is experiencing.

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