Atheist friends?

  • Thread starter Thread starter frangary
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Magdalena09 said:
If you’re going to quote something it’s good to also cite your source. 😉

Raising your children in the faith you are is a completely logical. Personally I think anyone who wouldn’t raise their children up in their own faith must not really believe it.

To say that children “should not be subjected to belief systems” until they are X years old is ridiculous. Everyone lives their life by a system of beliefs whether it has an official label or not. If my child makes a racist comment and I correct them and explain to them why racism is wrong, guess what… that’s my belief and part of my belief system, but it isn’t a part of everyone’s.

Truth stands on it’s own and if people are seeking the Truth they will find it.
Click to expand...
Sorry but that is not even close to being the same, we are talking about dogma. Kids should not have dogma forced on them.
 
AlbertBall said:
Sorry but that is not even close to being the same, we are talking about dogma. Kids should not have dogma forced on them.
Click to expand...
Raising your children to believe in God is not “forcing dogma” on them. :rolleyes:
 
Magdalena09 said:
Raising your children to believe in God is not “forcing dogma” on them. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
You can’t raise your children to believe God. You can raise them to know God, but have no control over whether they choose to continue to believe or not.

Even as a kid I had trouble believing God, even though my parents brought me up as Catholic, and by the time I was 17, I was in full rebellion.

It lasted until I was 39. Now I believe in God. If my parents hadn’t brought me up to know God, I would have had nobody to turn to when I needed it. That’s why it’s so important to bring them up in the faith. They may reject it, but you give them something to return to when the come to their senses or realize, sooner or later, they aren’t Superman and life’s miseries aren’t going to pass them by forever.

But I agree with you, this isn’t “forcing dogma”. It’s a parental duty.
 
To not be friends with someone because of their belief system is bigotry. It will be a very lonely life if you can only be friends with catholics.

Look at Jesus he hung out with all sorts of people.
 
I used to date an atheist and had no problem with it. I’m rather private about my faith, prefer to live it instead of talk about it, so it made not one iota of difference knowing that he would never share this with me.

And in the same regard, he was very respectful of my faith, just had no desire (obviously) to share it.

I guess I just have the soul of a hermit…

Miz
 
Thecapz said:
To not be friends with someone because of their belief system is bigotry. It will be a very lonely life if you can only be friends with catholics.

Look at Jesus he hung out with all sorts of people.
Click to expand...
It’s not bigotry, but it would get lonely with more than a billion Catholics out there. 🙂
 
big⋅ot⋅ry  [big-uh-tree] Show IPA
–noun, plural -ries.
  1. stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one’s own.
Does it matter what they believe? No

Are they tolerant of your beliefs?
Are they good friends?

If the last two are answered Yes, then there is no problem hanging out with atheists.
 
An atheist dies and goes to the gates of Heaven where he knocks on the door and asks St. Peter to let him come in. St. Peter smiles and welcomes him and gives him a tour of Heaven. Suddenly the atheist notices a massive wall that divides Heaven and goes on seemingly forever. Curious, he walks up to the wall and hears voices coming from behind the wall. So he asks St. Peter, “What is this and the voices I hear?” “Shh,” St. Peter laughed, “those are the Catholics. They think they’re the only ones allowed in here.”
 
Frangary,
My boss is a die hard atheist and liberal. I think that it bothers him slightly that I am trying to be a good Catholic. But, we are also friends, and he is essentially a really good person. Should I sever ties with him because of his non-belief (remember, atheists believe in something, otherwise they wouldn’t be atheists)? No! We are called to be missionaries every day of our lives as baptized Catholics, and as such, how are we to help others learn the of lessons -and love- of Christ if we distance ourselves from them? How are they ever to learn of God’s redeeming love if they have no example here on earth to first pique their interest? Did Christ not associate with the tax collectors, the prostitutes and the underbelly of society during his days on earth?

No, I say that you should embrace these friends of yours with good cheer and love, and shrug off any negative comments they make about our Lord. Remember what St. Francis said" Preach the Gospel at all times, and use words when necessary".
 
frangary said:
I have a bunch of friends who are atheists, and they’re all really cool except for the fact that they don’t believe in God. Or Jesus. Or the Virgin Mary. 😑 My mom says I should sever ties with them, but I really like them, so is it a sin to keep them around?
Click to expand...
Of course you shouldn’t sever ties with them. That is silly. Would you sever ties with someone because they had different political views as yourself? My best friend was a devout Catholic and is now atheist. We are both interested in religion and talk about it on a regular basis, but from different sides of the argument. We always keep it civil and it is great. I would never sever ties with him just because he doesn’t share the same religious beliefs as me, and I would never try to push him to religion, just like how he would not try to push me to atheism.
 
Annie39 said:
I’m wondering how old you people are who are advising against the advice of a mother who has this child (or teenager’s) best interest as far as his/her eternal salvation is concerned. I’m thinking that you are children too. The advice you are giving is unwise.
Click to expand...
To be honest, I think it is completely insane to cut off ties with atheists. Should I cut off ties with jews and muslims too? What about protestants?
 
Annie39 said:
Just for the record, I’m glad I’m not your mom as well. However, I’ll tell you what; I had your unwise attitude when I was raising my children. One of my boys brought home all kinds of people that I turned a blinds eye to and both he and I have lived to regret it. He is now adult and reaping all kinds of grief that he sowed with the help of his stupid mother.
Click to expand...
Obviously you can’t accept the fact that the choices your son made were because HE decided to make them. Don’t blame your son’s actions on his friends, because he is the only one that can make decisions for himself.
 
ethical_honesty said:
A wise friend of mine once told me that people reveal their true selves when they are in stressful situations. That is to say, a person may seem decent and dependable during the good times, but when the hard times come around they may become a different kettle of fish. (Side note: where did the phrase “a different kettle of fish” even come from? How bizarrely humourous.)

I digress. My point is, these atheist friends may seem very moral now, but how would they be if they were in a more irritable frame of mind? Thus, I propose a simple test. The mother of the poster in question should approach the atheist friends and say something like:

“I think all of you are quite unnattractive physically. I find all of your favourite bands to be harsh and unpleasant to listen to. I actively support the biggest rivals of all the teams you support. Also, you all have really bad hair.”

If the atheists remain as moral and sincere as before when faced with this merciless verbal abuse, then I think they are worthy friends. However, if they all morph into soul-stealing succubi I would advise the poster to sever ties with them immediately. I should stress that this holds especially true if the transformation literally happens.

Good luck with your dillema.
Click to expand...
lol, this is the oddest advice I have ever heard. Very Christian like to insult people just to try to get them riled up.
 
Annie39 said:
I checked out your profile to see what sort of person could say such a foolish thing. You are apparently a dissident Catholic. ‘nuff said.
Click to expand...
Wow, get off your high horse. Your child was a bad kid and a main component of it is your parenting. Obviously you didn’t do a good job and you think if you forbid the types of kids your son could hang out with, he wouldn’t have been so bad. But, if you know anything about parenting, it isn’t the kids your son hanging out with that are making decisions for him, it is your son himself.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top