Penguin Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Do you have any? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Are you kidding? I don't know anybody in the real world who isn't a Christian at least in name. There are quite a few who attend church infrequently and otherwise never talk about religion. Those are the people I gravitate towards. Perhaps a few are atheists or agnostics going through the motions. But even if they are believers I am grateful that they don't talk about religion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 Most of my friends are Christians, but I did just find an atheist group near me. I'm going on a hike with them this Sunday to see how well we mesh. Should be interesting. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenWolf Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 A lot of them are. I respect their beliefs, but some of them they say things that make me want to crawl into a deep dark hole. I have a couple of skeptic/agnostic, maybe atheist friends. I don't ask a lot of people about their beliefs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 I generally don't ask anyone about their beliefs, but of course, Christians have to let you know what they believe. I have a few pagan, atheist, agnostic, and/or apatheist friends, but most of them are Southern Baptists that I'm working to distance myself from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violetbutterfly Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I think it's pretty impossible to avoid them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milesaway Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Not anymore. All the xtian friends I thought I had vanished into thin air when I left that church for good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 Not anymore. All the xtian friends I thought I had vanished into thin air when I left that church for good. I honestly wouldn't mind if 99.99% of all the Xians I knew just went away. There's maybe 3 in total I'd want to keep around, because they're nothing like their full of shit Brethren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator TheRedneckProfessor Posted February 11, 2015 Super Moderator Share Posted February 11, 2015 Some of my best friends are pastors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhim Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Looks like I'm in the minority here. I had to think about it, but I have no Christian friends. No one in my family is Christian and I work for a science company, so I'm very much away from Christian culture. But after moving out of the smaller town where I deconverted, I was very intentional about severing all of my ties to Christianity and Christian culture. Upon this reflection, it would seem I was successful. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 My mentor is a Christian, but he's not pushy. He doesn't pray every five seconds, doesn't try to argue with atheists, and so on. As an aeronautical engineer, he always has a reason for believing what he claims. Him, his wife, and a friend of mine who is Christian (but processing the abuse the Church heaped on him) are the three I'd want to keep. I plan to sever ties with the rest as soon as I am in a position to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlindersRemoved Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I live in Tennessee, so yes, most of my friends and family are christian. We've had some healthy conversations on the topic and I find it interesting that nobody has disowned me because of my lack of faith. I guess they realize that I'm still the same cool ass motherfucker that I was before. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Furball Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 when i left christianity, i lost all my friends, they would have nothing to do with me because of what the bible says about that circumstance. the only reason they would be my friend again is if i reconverted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanderingthoughts Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Most of my friends consider themselves Christian in some sense. A fair few are evangelicals, but others are much more liberal. They don't give me shit about it though, we've always had similar interests outside the Christian faith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cianna200 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 There are billions of them! Hard not to befriend one accidentally or purposely However a few of them will want to remain friends with a non Christian, especially an ex Christian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cianna200 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 when i left christianity, i lost all my friends, they would have nothing to do with me because of what the bible says about that circumstance. the only reason they would be my friend again is if i reconverted. That's awful to know that beliefs are valued over friendship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violetbutterfly Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I honestly don't talk about religion with my friends. I only know they are Catholic/Christian/whatever incidentally. But nobody is actually discussing religion. Thankfully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 I've given this thread some thought, and have found the replies curious and enlightening. In my former life as a Xian, almost 100% of my social circle consisted of Xians. In fact, I--along with the members of my church--were encouraged to keep anyone not in the faith at arm's length. They were projects for salvation, not friends. It was only when I started to have doubts that I sought out "the other side of the story" and developed friends who were Free Thinkers. I find it curious that so many of you have Xian friends. It seems they are not encouraged as I was. Of course, where I live, there's a church on every corner, and where there isn't a church, there's a ministry of some kind. It's a pretty fundamentalist town, as well, so there are few people who attend church who aren't Bible humpers. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orbit Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I have friends who happen to be xtian, but they aren't evangelical types. It's not a problem at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ ficino ♦ Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Like Orbit, I have a number of friends who are Christian, some fairly serious, but not judgmental/fundy, so religion usually doesn't come up. If it does, it's just stuff like what piece of music the choir sang, etc. One couple, Episcopalian, had a healing service for their adult son w/ cancer, and lots of prayers. Jon died last week. So sad. I have two friends (married to each other) from when I was still very pious, and they are evangelicals and serious about it. It doesn't threaten our friendship, and they're fine with Mervin's and my being married. I don't know whether they think about me being in hell. Many of my other friends from my pious days have disappeared. One very close one cut me off after I came out to him as gay. But it's so hard to sustain friendships over years in our fluid world, that many of my non-pious friendships have drifted off, too. I try to nourish the ones that remain and make new ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted February 12, 2015 Super Moderator Share Posted February 12, 2015 I am or have been friends with Jews, Muslims, Pagans, Scientologists and lots of Christians. Not everyone focuses solely on their particular beliefs all the time. Christians, of course, are the most notorious for doing that and those who are like that do not wish to mix with any but their own kind. I also am friends with a few atheists and even more agnostics. The largest group of people I know personally is probably CINOs. I can get along with all but the worst of the raving zealots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geezer Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Acquaintances yes, friends no. I was a member of a fundy cult. They embrace the "We" verses "Them" mentality. So, when I left I instantly became one of "them", aka one of the lost sheep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seven77 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I've found that my emotional well-being is greatly impaired by being around certain types of self-righteous asshat believers. I still have a few friends from my former church days. Sometimes they are cool; one of them is not so cool and makes it a point to remind me of how much 'better' my life would be if only I would 'apologize to the LORD for my selfish mistakes'. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TrueFreedom Posted February 12, 2015 Moderator Share Posted February 12, 2015 The largest group of people I know personally is probably CINOs. Catholic/Christian In Name Only: I wish that I knew more of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonTheDruid Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Oh yes. Most of my family and friends are Christians, though I do believe some are atheists. In fact, my best friend is a Christian, but she isn't evangelical about it and we've had a few friendly chats about religion, but we don't talk about it much. She has a lot of friends who aren't Christians also, and she doesn't like the militant sort. She's pretty relaxed about it. Honestly if she didn't tell me she was a christian, I'd be surprised that she was haha. One family I used to be really close with I now don't speak to as much since I said I wasn't a christian, and there are a couple people who I'm not sure know, but I sure do post enough pagan and pantheism related things on FB they should have gotten the idea by now. Anyway, I honestly prefer a Christian who isn't all in your face about it as opposed to my ex who I think was an atheist but constantly would joke about how she's 'so going to hell' all the time and enjoyed writing about angels and heaven and stuff like that T,T I wish I could meet a wider group of folks with different beliefs D= The town I live in is all pretty religious. Maybe I should move to Portland haha I bet I could find some like-minded folks there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts