OK, so here’s the deal. Despite the fact that I was a Wiccan (teen years), Buddhist, or even Luciferian at the time, I’ve always had at least one or two Christian friend, & at least one friend who was a Christian Minister of some sort. Currently I have five friends who identify as Christian, with one of them being an Episcopal Priest. While they knew me as a Buddhist, they don’t know I’m a Lusiferian… And I aim to keep it that way. As far as they know, I’m still Buddhist, & much of that is still very much apart of who I am & my daily practice & philosophies.
Now, with all of them, but most with my Priest friend, I talk of many personal things & they are very excepting of me & think very highly of me. Amongst the things we talk about is the Bible. I put on no airs in allowing them to believe that I believe, but they know my background as a Preachers kid & former Minister myself (though I still retain a Non-religious Ministers Licence which gives me all the immunities & privileges of a Minister).
I know quite a bit of scripture, Especially the parts that many people tend not to know, & have a habit of educating people about their own religious text. I still study the Bible, & read it quite often, & even though I don’t believe it & disagree with much of it (not all, as there are some common humanist teachings which are common to many world faiths & philosophies; many older than the Gospel accounts, such as those placed forward by Buddha).
I still study to keep myself well armed & familiar with text & teachings, well enough to pull references & spot genuine references of teachings & scriptures well within context… Often so I could easily make or see the case for both sides of a debate, if I feel or need to.
And, it’s entertaining to me to see people twist themselves in knots & perform all sorts of mental contortions & gymnastics to defend the clear faults in their doctrine, faith, reasoning, & God.
I do this not to convert, but to point out the flaws in their reasoning & morals, as well as lead them to see & cause noticeable dissidence between their personal morals & beliefs & those set forth by their doctrinal codes, books, & teachings. If they lose their faith, that’s not on me but squarely on their shoulders. My goals are simply to challenge bad & harmful philosophies, foundations, thoughts, morals, teachings, & belief systems. I couldn’t care if they were Christian or not.
In fact, there are a few people who give the argument that if they weren’t a Christian that they earnestly believe they would be raping, murdering, stealing, & all sort of horrific things, all their wicked hearts would desire…believing that without the Belief & faith in God, there would be nothing stopping them from doing these things. For these people, it is very telling if one of two character types:
A. They have serious doubts about their own moral & character strengths & goodness.
Or
B: They secretly wish to do these things, but fear God & losing their shot at heaven that they don’t act upon them, or simply don’t do them where anyone has found out.
For person “A” I attempt to convince them of their own goodness. And, these sort are often easy to spot for they are often kinder than their religion.
For person “B” I don’t challenge their belief systems because apparently it’s the fragile pin that is keeping their Shit together. But, if they are concealing something, they often, soon tell me, because people (even complete strangers) often feel the need to confide in me with things they wouldn’t even tell their Priest. Often, they say it’s because they just sense that I wont judge them & keep things confidential. And, they are right, unless it would either be harmful to them, someone else, or would be making me party to some crime.
Yet, for people like my Priest friend, I’ll talk about Biblical principles that we both agree upon, & some we disagree on… each politely debating & presenting our side, with mutual respect.
He doesn’t try to convert me, I don’t try to convert or deconvert him. We spar, often with me winning & or causing him to do a fair amount of thinking & study (which he also spurs in me) only to have him come back, each time, a little more open, humble, excepting & supporting of others (such as LGBTQ+ or GRSN, or Government Party members). In other words, I have found that he has become far more modern in his thinking & values (or “worldly” as fundamentalist would say) sense meeting me. As have my other Christian friends.
Yet, I’ve had Muslim, Wicca, Druid, Buddhist, Atheist, None religious or even Non-spiritual, Taoist, Christian, Agnostic & other sort of friends & friendly acquaintances throughout most of my life whom I cherish & live dearly. Friends whom I have helped & who have helped me, become more compassionate, self-confident, loving, kind, knowledgeable, inclusive, tolerant, & better for knowing each other & having frank & Civil conversation.
Most of all, I love to find out what makes people tick.
The end
