Sharing your views with non-Christians

[Contra_Mundum_1]

I don’t know if I’m in the right forum section but would appreciate your thoughts about this because it involves sharing views and faith with non-Christians and dealing with their rejection.

I was visiting a friend over the weekend and we discussed many things: faith (she has no religion), morals, bringing up children, our duties as mothers.
She moved abroad 2 years ago and in that time I have become more comfortable with expressing my faith and my views. I used to be very shy and worried I would say things that might offend people and would always keep silent when certain topics were discussed. As a consequence many of my friends assumed that I agreed with them on moral issues such as premarital sex, abortion, divorce, etc. Nowdays I have no problem speaking up when I feel offended by people’s comments and even bring up topics I used to avoid at all cost.

My friend has never seen this change and was very surprised by some of my views. We were discussing boundaries when it comes to children and what things we don’t find acceptable. In the course of the conversation I said that I would feel very uncomfortable if my children visited people who lived together without being married and had children out of wedlock. I explained that is because my children are raised to respect marriage and see it as the only moral way for people to live together and have a family.
Anyway, she was very surprised although she knows I’m Catholic and that I believe marriage is sacred.

I now wonder if there was any point is saying that. When I encounter things I disagree with and believe they could influence my children in a negative way I do all I can to avoid such situations. I see it as my duty as a mother to protect them and to teach them what is right.

So to get back to the point: would you discuss your views with people who have a different belief system or would you keep quiet and just do what you think is right without much discussion?
I wonder if by discussing such matters I am bringing people closer to God and making them think about morality, or whether it makes me look like a nutcase who dares to question pop culture and its ‘morals’.

What do you do in such situations?

 

[jbarbaretta]

What do you do in such situations?

I don’t go out of my way to preach at people, but if in a discussion, I will state my point of view. I’m entitled to my view as much as they are entitled to theirs. I cannot control whether people think I’m a “nutcase”. I would hope that most of my friends have enough respect for me, that they will respect my point of view – whether or not they agree with it.

Many people assume that because they feel a certain way and 1 or 2 friends feel the same way therefore “everyone” agrees with them. Usually it has just never occurred to them that there is another option. I have very rarely been met with any sort of negative feedback from such a discussion.

She knows you’re Catholic. That, to me, means that you are living your faith. Good for you. Your non-religious friends learn about God through your interaction with them. You have to be that example of God’s love to them, to help them see God in you and then in their own lives.

These types of discussions are teaching moments. Opportunities for others to peer in the windows and learn about what it means to be a Christian. If you don’t have the discussion, your friend will never know.

 

[Scoobyshme]

I don’t know if I’m in the right forum section but would appreciate your thoughts about this because it involves sharing views and faith with non-Christians and dealing with their rejection.

I was visiting a friend over the weekend and we discussed many things: faith (she has no religion), morals, bringing up children, our duties as mothers.
She moved abroad 2 years ago and in that time I have become more comfortable with expressing my faith and my views. I used to be very shy and worried I would say things that might offend people and would always keep silent when certain topics were discussed. As a consequence many of my friends assumed that I agreed with them on moral issues such as premarital sex, abortion, divorce, etc. Nowdays I have no problem speaking up when I feel offended by people’s comments and even bring up topics I used to avoid at all cost.

My friend has never seen this change and was very surprised by some of my views. We were discussing boundaries when it comes to children and what things we don’t find acceptable. In the course of the conversation I said that I would feel very uncomfortable if my children visited people who lived together without being married and had children out of wedlock. I explained that is because my children are raised to respect marriage and see it as the only moral way for people to live together and have a family.
Anyway, she was very surprised although she knows I’m Catholic and that I believe marriage is sacred.

I now wonder if there was any point is saying that. When I encounter things I disagree with and believe they could influence my children in a negative way I do all I can to avoid such situations. I see it as my duty as a mother to protect them and to teach them what is right.

So to get back to the point: would you discuss your views with people who have a different belief system or would you keep quiet and just do what you think is right without much discussion?
I wonder if by discussing such matters I am bringing people closer to God and making them think about morality, or whether it makes me look like a nutcase who dares to question pop culture and its ‘morals’.

What do you do in such situations?

Just keep sharing the faith. We are working in the Lord’s garden of souls. Plowing, planting, weeding, watering, etc. We often never see the harvest, which may come much later. We just do our part.

Pope John Paul II said that we shouldn’t bother trying to correct every error we come across, because there are so many we would never finish. What we are to do, is to share Christ’s truths with everyone, because when we do, His grace accompanies the sharing, and when that soul will most require those graces, they will be there for them.

St. Thomas Aquinas said that the conversion of a soul is a greater miracle than when God created the universe. Because when He created the universe, He created it out of nothing, and this “nothing” from which He created it did not resist Him as we humans do!

A famous British writer, Malcolm Muggeridge, at one time had studied the Catholic faith thoroughly. He knew all the arguments for every part of the faith, etc. Yet, he had not come to conversion. Then, one day, he met Mother Theresa of Calcutta. One day, one time, and he converted! Why? Because she “imparted” the faith that was within her to him. The faith is imparted to others. We cannot give what we do not have. So, if we’re not in the state of Sanctifying Grace, we need to be. Then, our efforts will be more fruitful.