I am at an age where my mind is developing and growing to shape an identity of who I am. What's more important than the surrounding that I live in and the people I interact with?
I am not a Christian. I do not believe in God or Jesus. I do not go to church. I do not read the Bible.( I want to study it though)But almost everyone I talk to on a daily basis is a Christian. All of my friends are Christians. No one has a problem with the fact that I am not a Christian despite one time there is this random guy on the street who came up to me and asked if I believe in God, which I said no and he said that i am going to hell. I guess I m lucky to live in a place where I am not condemn by my faith. yet, it offends me tremendously that someone tries to predict where I'd go after i die.
My best friend has all of a sudden became zeal in going to church and preaching to me about God. On many occasions she has offended me. I don't mind listening to her about going to church and God, but sometimes she has crossed the borderline of what's ok and what's offensive. She tried to convince me to go to church, which I decline her offer because I was not raise as a Christian. There's nothing wrong with converting to Christianity, but i don't see what is the point of going to church when I don't believe in it. Religion isn't something I want to consider at this stage of life. Then one time we had a fierce argument when she said that I am going to hell, because I don't believe in God. I have no idea what gave her the right to judge me, because from what I know, you are not suppose to judge people. That just killed me right there.
I believe that religion and faith are private things that each individual should keep to themselves. It hurts me deeply that someone so close to me continue to offend me, disrespecting me, and do not consider my feelings. Like what one of my teacher told me, alot of things are private when you are an adult, and I wish many of my peers would understand this.
Imagine its your mother dragging you to chuch and not a friend. A friend you can ask to please keep their opinions to theirselves. A mother you cant.
I feel for you though. The best thing I can tell you is to be true to you and ignore your friend or the not so nice way of questioning her on her faith.
Conformity is the jailor of freedom and the enemy of growth!~JFK
yeah, I am ignoring her as much as I can. The most valuable lesson that all of us should learn is holding onto yourself. Thanks for your comment and encouragement.
-"When life give you lemon, make lemonade!"
I'm pretty sure that god doesn't care what you believe. Your friend is being a jerk and you need to tell her so. Her ideas of god, faith, etc are her ideas and since you are another person, you do not have to hold the same ideas. Tell her that you support her right to believe whatever she wants, and that if she is truly your friend she would return that respect.
Otherwise, DTMFA.
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If I had had more time I would have written less. -- Thomas Jefferson
RachelSetzer.com
Sadly, I have told her many times before, but she still does it sometime though with a lesser extent. I became distant as time went on and realize that she was not the person who I used to know. I think it's the best for the both of us. It was a life lesson I learned; people CAN diverge on different paths even if they are close friends.Thanks for your comment and support.
-"When life give you lemon, make lemonade!"
I think that you have done a great job of speking out your opinion. As, a Christian, i found myself disagreeing with alot. But i'm not here to judge you. I'm here to tell you that your opinion really stands out to me. You stand strong to what you beilieve and not. I'm not sayin that you will end up in hell or not, i'm not here to say that. i dont have a final say so and neither does anyone else. You decide not to go to church, that's your decision. and so is beliveing in Jesus and God. No one can say that you have to beilve in them. I used to be just like your friend, always talking about Jesus and God, but i realized that not everybody belives. And soemtimes, i just need to keep my mouth shut even though tlakin about Christ is what we should do, but at times, when we know that a friend does not belive we should keep our mouths shut. Your blog is very good. You stand up for your beiliefs. and that's a good thing
oh wow, thanks for commenting! I was just thinking that maybe people are reading this blog thinking to themselves " Yup, she's going to hell." or just didnt bother to something about cuz they don't wanna deal with this non-christian...well, thanks alot, this mean alot to me.
-"When life give you lemon, make lemonade!"
I've been in your boat.
In middle school kids thought I was (literally) Satan because I wore "goth" clothes and was given rights to wander halls on errands because of my grades. These same kids also were pretty dense when I tried explaining to them that I went to a Unitarian Universalist church (www.uuccharlotte.org).
My parents raised me in a religiously mixed house. My mom was raised Reform Jew so we celebrated Chanukah and Passover. My dad was raised Catholic, so we celebrated Easter and Christmas. As I grew older, I branched out and found theories and ideas that suited my theories on life and everything. I was lucky enough to have supporting family and friends. It seems the same in your case.
With your friend, I'd suggest going with her once or twice to say that you've "tried it" and if it doesn't work for you, tell her. No explanation necessary there for her. If she keeps bothering you about it you have two options: deal with it or drop it.
Hope this helps!
-LS
i agree, religion should be kept private because then others wouldn't be able to judge or try to convince you that their beliefs are the right ones to believe just because someone else did a good job of convincing them. it's like a cycle of thought that wants to keep on going round, but can't because we're all different people with different thoughts.
Many Christians believe they have a responsibility (and I guess right) to go and try and "save" people - they're told to. Your friend may just be like many young Christians who are just so pumped by the idea of Jesus and going out there and "doing good" by "saving" people that she may not fully realize why it is that you feel disrespected and taken aback in the first place. If you've already tried discussing this with her on many an occasion and she still doesn't back off, and the two of you can't seem to just agree to disagree, then maybe you two shouldn't hang out with each other quite so much.
It wouldn't hurt to maybe just try going with her once or twice just to try it out, but if you still don't like it at all, then just don't go anymore. It's your choice to make, not hers.
I also disagree with the idea that people can't tell you where your soul will end up when you die. It just isn't their place to do that because they don't know either - they have an idea and a belief, they do not have concrete proof. Furthermore, they aren't God, Jesus, or anyone else who has that kind of authority to determine the destination for your eternal soul. I've dealt with this kind of situation many times myself; I feel ya :).