{"id":186,"date":"2009-11-07T04:38:57","date_gmt":"2009-11-07T11:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asktheatheist.com\/?p=186"},"modified":"2009-11-07T06:20:43","modified_gmt":"2009-11-07T13:20:43","slug":"disrespectful-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asktheatheist.com\/?p=186","title":{"rendered":"Disrespectful Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"

Question from Rick:<\/strong>
\nI have a friend who is a christian. He is aware that I am an atheist, and do not believe in god\/gods or anything like that. But when we talk he always seems to slip a bible reference in there. And I don’t mean scriptures. For example, we’ll be having a conversation about women (as most guys do) and he will always say something like, “well that’s how they are, its right there in the bible, you know what I mean?” And I always respond like “I hear you talking, but you know I don’t believe that.” And that starts a whole argument about who’s right or wrong. I like him as a person, but dislike him as a christian. Any thoughts on how to handle the situation?
\n
\nAnswer:<\/strong>
\nIt’s hard to go on the words alone. The way in which he says such things would tell us a great deal more. He might simply not consider your atheism before referring to the Bible as if you’re about to agree with him, implying that he’s inconsiderate or simply a bit self-absorbed. (Perhaps he doesn’t have many atheist friends.) Or, perhaps he has you pegged and he says things like that to draw you into a religious discussion, which apparently works like a charm.
\n
\nI tend to suspect the latter, in the absence of context. Christians are told to spread the capital-W Word whenever possible, and very little emphasis is placed on making it stick. The idea is that the more a man simply thinks<\/em> about God, even in terms of denial, the more likely he is to come around. It’s ultimately God himself who’s supposed to do the converting, and the prescribed way for mortal Christians to help is to keep Him in your face.
\n
\nBack to your friend…if you don’t like to hear about the Bible, someone like this isn’t going to lay off if you don’t straight up ask him to. If you do ask, and he carries on, maybe you’ll know more about why. Or you could just ask why.
\n
\nKeep us posted, Rick. Anyone else have friends like this?
\n
\n– SmartLX<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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