How the Heck Do you Talk to Religious People?

[PepperBlossoms]

It's also hard to not want to change others when your parents did that to you your entire life.  Ugh.  Parents can be the worst.

[hyruga]

8 hours ago, PepperBlossoms said:

It's also hard to not want to change others when your parents did that to you your entire life.  Ugh.  Parents can be the worst.

Why are you blaming your parents. Stop living in the past. You only have the present moment. Re-read the power of now by Eckhart Tolle plus his other books.

Why are you mad when people don't listen? If you have already found more inner peace through your own work, you would not be so easily bothered by what they do. Also, learn to be more open-minded and exude out more love. Read Ego is the enemy.

Of course, there are many other good books to read but these are some foundational books that you can read.

[Brandon Nankivell]

Nobody is forcing you to continue engaging with your friend. If you are in a situation (like a job) where you must interact with your friend, then simply accept that they aren't willing to go there.

[Adamq8]

12 hours ago, PepperBlossoms said:

I guess there is a part of me that just still has quite a hate for Biblical religion that I want to shout to everyone all the logical fallacies it has but also it is like, well am I going to look like an arrogant fool and it doesn't even matter in the universal notion of things and am I just as bad as a religion person that is trying to convert you if I do that...

I guess when your friends tell you - I don't want to talk about it - for some reason, I get mad and don't want to be around them anymore - which is dumb but IDK.

Dude, Christianity is and has been the biggest religion in the world, it has an incredible rich tradition.

If you live in the West and got an education you can thank Christians for that.

I have been anti christianity for most of my life, thought it was horseshit, until i deepend my understanding of what it truly is, and I gotta say I am way more impressed with it then any other school of thought or religion.

And the profound thing is, that the trinity makes sense and it avoids the philosophical problems of dualism and non dualism, it incorporates both and transcends it.

It is both one and many because God holds both of them in his trinity.

I strongly recommend you read the Church fathers, Gregory of nyssa,  basil the great, gregory the theologian, dionysius the areopagite, John of damascus, gregory palamas, maximus the confessor 

Just from these individuals alone, who fought heresies, you will gain an incredibly rich understanding of the Christian faith.

 

 

 

 

[PepperBlossoms]

5 hours ago, hyruga said:

Why are you blaming your parents. Stop living in the past. You only have the present moment. Re-read the power of now by Eckhart Tolle plus his other books.

Why are you mad when people don't listen? If you have already found more inner peace through your own work, you would not be so easily bothered by what they do. Also, learn to be more open-minded and exude out more love. Read Ego is the enemy.

Of course, there are many other good books to read but these are some foundational books that you can read.

@hyruga Ego is the Enemy sounds cool and I have Power of Now but haven't read it.  Thanks.  I think I was just mad/upset and started using my ongoing conflict with Christianity as a punching bag instead of just trying to find peace.  I will have to look at those.

4 hours ago, Brandon Nankivell said:

Nobody is forcing you to continue engaging with your friend. If you are in a situation (like a job) where you must interact with your friend, then simply accept that they aren't willing to go there.

@Brandon Nankivell Yeah true.  I am not in a situation where I have to engage with that person.  I guess I like the opportunity to learn new things when talking to people with different views; but I am also stepping into the fire doing that and sometimes I can't handle it.  I have been trying to get better at not getting upset when someone criticizes me or when they have a different view and it has been a work in progress of wanting to be able to do it but also I can get angry/hurt/reactive.  I have also realized that there are many things and ways to learn and that if it is too unstable with one method, that there are other methods.

1 hour ago, Adamq8 said:

I have been anti christianity for most of my life, thought it was horseshit, until i deepend my understanding of what it truly is, and I gotta say I am way more impressed with it then any other school of thought or religion.

I strongly recommend you read the Church fathers, Gregory of nyssa,  basil the great, gregory the theologian, dionysius the areopagite, John of damascus, gregory palamas, maximus the confessor 

@Adamq8 What is the best way to read these Church fathers?  

I can see your perspective that there could be some beauty/insights/wisdom in it.  I guess I can get upset over how suppressive my church seemed but it would be nice to find some beauty in it as that could ease the tension.

1 hour ago, Twentyfirst said:

there's two kinds of religious people. one who is in organized mafia style religions (99 percenters) and the rare that is in a freelance religion of his or her own with some helpers on the way of course

@Twentyfirst ha wow interesting way to put it.  I guess also there will be variation in what the mafia style is like and how open to interpretation it is versus how much it is "by the book" or "this suggested way only".

Edited February 18, 2022 by PepperBlossoms

[Adamq8]

@PepperBlossoms https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Works-Church-Fathers-Christian-ebook/dp/B01F9PRR92

 3 dollars on Amazon Kindle.

The mystical theology of the eastern church - Vladimir Lossky. 

 The divine names - Dionysius the areopagite.

Christ the eternal tao - Hieromonk damascene.

Orthodox dogmatic theology - Michael pomazanski.

Mere christianity - CS lewis.

The orthodox church - Timothy ware.

Orthodox Mysticism and Asceticism Philosophy and Theology in St Gregory Palamas' Work - Constantinos Athanasopoulos.

The philokalia, this book is the profound book of orthodox faith, on prayer, Asceticism, fasting, the spiritual path etc.

Byzantine theology - John meyerdorff.

Nihilism the root of revolution of the modern age - Seraphim rose.

Orthodoxy and the religion of the future - Seraphim rose.

Experience of God - David bentley hart.

On the cosmic mystery of Jesus christ - Maximus The Confessor.

Haha now you have alot of sources to investigate and read about

I am sure after you read books like this, your faith will be much stronger. 

 

 

 

[PepperBlossoms]

5 hours ago, Adamq8 said:

Haha now you have alot of sources to investigate and read about

@Adamq8 haha yeah woah!  I've got lots of reading to do! Thanks. 

[hyruga]

Yeah without the Jews (the ones who helped started Christianity and also the ones who got gassed in WW2), maybe Western societies would be as poor as the Africans right now or be a closed minded societies like North Korea or China in the 1960s.

Life would be so backwards without Christianity. We wouldn't be here on this online forum slamming Christianity. We would go back to life in the early 1800s when we laugh at people who tried to invent electricity and telephones to connect the world together.

19 hours ago, Adamq8 said:

Dude, Christianity is and has been the biggest religion in the world, it has an incredible rich tradition.

If you live in the West and got an education you can thank Christians for that.

I have been anti christianity for most of my life, thought it was horseshit, until i deepend my understanding of what it truly is, and I gotta say I am way more impressed with it then any other school of thought or religion.

And the profound thing is, that the trinity makes sense and it avoids the philosophical problems of dualism and non dualism, it incorporates both and transcends it.

It is both one and many because God holds both of them in his trinity.

I strongly recommend you read the Church fathers, Gregory of nyssa,  basil the great, gregory the theologian, dionysius the areopagite, John of damascus, gregory palamas, maximus the confessor 

Just from these individuals alone, who fought heresies, you will gain an incredibly rich understanding of the Christian faith.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 19, 2022 by hyruga

[Nahm]

On 2/15/2022 at 1:55 PM, PepperBlossoms said:

How do you stay friends with them or talk to them?

By staying friends and talking with them. Not judging, basically. Not being interested in ‘being right’. 

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Do you suppress yourself or are you unrestricted and say, fuck it?

Not judging feels great. Nothing to suppress. 

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I feel like, yes it would be cool to learn more about why they are religious and the thought process - but other than that - how does one explore various concepts with them when a religious person is basically not supposed to do that?!??? 

By not pigeonholing them as a ‘religious person’ or believing you know what they should or shouldn’t do. See if they want to before you project they’re not supposed to. Some want to, some don’t. 

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The breath of topics just seems to be not allowed because I will go to an area that they "do not want to talk about".

What feels discordant for you, also feels discordant for them. Without overthinking this, it’s very obvious. 

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No I can't talk about this or this or this because it is all counter-culture and the religion doesn't want rebels, they want conformists, and so they don't want to rebel either necessarily...

If that doesn’t feel good, reach for a better feeling thought. 

Religion isn’t a person, or entity, and ‘want’ can’t be rightfully pinned on religion. A church is full of people exactly the same as you. Humble on down to love. Stop projecting and pigeonholing. Allow yourself the feeling-luxury of hearing what someone says, rather than believing you already know. 

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MEH

I feel like I will just piss them off even if I am just talking out loud.

When a religious person says they like me, I am like - WHYYYY - how am I supposed to be myself around you?  I feel so restricted.

That’s what you’re thinkin. And that’s what you’re feelin. 

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I don't want to fight, I just want to explore - but they don't want to explore. 

The thoughts are discordant. You don’t know what anyone else is thinkin. 

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Yeah sure, there are the "safe" topics like the weather but, that can get boring after awhile.

Highly specific to this thread and only that it might ‘knock you down a peg’ in a humbling helpful manor allowing more unity and less discord, consider a completely different perspective. What’s the difference between a church / religion, and a cult? One difference is that the church and religion is about God. Wether one goes there to be with God, to worship, to believe in God, to see about or explore God, or whatever… it’s made super clear, no mistaking, that’s it’s all about, God. Whereas a cult is not about God, and revolves instead around one person, and typically that persons financial gains, self image, and sexual engagements. 

[Jakuchu]

Why talk at all? 

I observed this. When "less conscious" people come together they just start babbling without actually saying something. Most people don't know the difference between talking and saying something. It's like they are trying too kill the silence that's there

Edited February 18, 2022 by Jakuchu