I'd never want to rule out a friendship with anyone, but I have an honest question. Since friends are defined as people who care about each other and enjoy each other's company, can an atheist ever really be friends with a Christian who believes that anyone without faith will eventually go to hell? It seems to me that either conversion must always be a topic of conversation, making the Christian bad company, or the Christian doesn't care enough to try and save the atheist from their supposed fate, making him not care much for the atheist.
I would like to think that maybe there's the scenario that a Christian would be concerned enough to pray for my damned soul destined for hell, but that they would respect me enough to honor my wishes not to evangelize me. So just because they don't try to "save" me wouldn't mean they didn't care, but that, just maybe they did.
ReplyDeleteI gotta be honest, the atheist penguin in this cartoon seems like a dick to me. And I agree with D'Ma, it is possible that the Christian cares about the atheist and will pray for him, but honor's his wish to not be evangelized to. I could also imagine the Christian saying something like "Look man, I care about your soul a lot, but I know pestering you won't help you, so I'm not going to do it. However, if you ever want to talk about it I would love to." It would demonstrate that he cares without being annoying.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought of that, but then the theist would basically be praying for God to alter my will thereby disproving free will which most theists don't like to do. The only way to really save my soul, from their perspective, is to change my mind through words and action.
ReplyDeleteStill, good point. I agree that this post is only true through an exaggerated prism and doesn't show that atheists and theists can't be friends so much as atheists and the most devout fundamentalists can't be friends.
They can't all be winners. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe words are flawed in this post, I'll accept that, but the penguins themselves aren't helping. Both their expressions look dickish easily. I'm thinking about drawing my own cartoons in the future. I might splurge for a Wacom tablet to commit to the idea.
Yes. At least with some Christians, for their is a type which readily leaves the real conversion up to God. They don't see it as their job to convince you. All they have to do is tell you the message. After that, it's up to God to work on your heart, and it's out of their hands.
ReplyDeleteThese types of Christians often also think that God has specific timing on when a person will be converted. That group will understand that it's just not the right time for you... if you are going to be converted at all. But, of course, because they like you, they'll "know" in their hearts that God will eventually convert you.
I read somewhere that a person who really believed that most people in the world are destined to go to Hell would not be able to sleep at night from the anguish of contemplating such a prospect. Either that or they don't feel much concern for them. In practice devout christians seem to sleep pretty well, so something is not adding up.
ReplyDeleteWell, some Christians get out of this by believing that their good example will convert you without any actual words, but they eventually get really frustrated when it doesn't work.
ReplyDeleteI am a Christian, and I don't have a deep, meaningful, bosom-buddy friendship with any Atheists, but I do have some atheists that I would call friends or, at least pleasant acquaintances (pleasant for me anyway, maybe it is not so pleasant for them). I find it helpful having these people in my life. I have learned a lot about atheism, and people in general by speaking with them. And, while there may be a lot of religious discussion, it is not always me trying to convert them. Sometimes we just take turns asking and answering questions, and sometimes they try to convert me.
ReplyDeleteI also believe, as one of the other commenters mentioned, that it is up to God to do the convincing, and my place is to present the message.
One other courtesy that I offer my atheist friends, is that I do not re-present an idea that they feel they have refuted. For example: I believe in a literal translation of Genesis, one that involves "created kinds." I have not provided a satisfactory definition for "created kinds," so I will not mention it to them again until I give them one.
We can be friends. I do care about you. I will annoy you. but that wouldn't be any different than if I wasn't a fundamentalist Christian.