My best friends believe that I am going to Hell

[The Humanist Manifesto]

I have grown up with a few close friends. We get along in every aspect of life, except religion. I am an active atheist and my friends are Catholics and Protestants. I've tried getting my convincing and logical arguments through to them but they have long ago closed their eyes of reason so that they can see faith.

We belligerently argued about the topic. I decided that it would be best to not talk about that subject around them because I value our friendship greatly. As an active atheist, I felt disappointed in myself that I wasn't able to communicate persuasively enough to get through to them.

We have great fun outside of the topic but I know in the back of their mind they quite literally believe that I am going to burn in a fiery hell for all eternity.

Honestly, that is very discomforting. How am I supposed to react to that?

They may treat me as an equal but my friends actually believe that they are above me

[spiritletter]

They're being awfully arrogant, aren't they? And judgmental? In assuming they are judge of your spiritual condition they are betraying their own teachings.

[EdTheOvertgeek]

I have grown up with a few close friends. We get along in every aspect of life, except religion. I am an active atheist and my friends are Catholics and Protestants. I've tried getting my convincing and logical arguments through to them but they have long ago closed their eyes of reason so that they can see faith.

We belligerently argued about the topic. I decided that it would be best to not talk about that subject around them because I value our friendship greatly. As an active atheist, I felt disappointed in myself that I wasn't able to communicate persuasively enough to get through to them.

We have great fun outside of the topic but I know in the back of their mind they quite literally believe that I am going to burn in a fiery hell for all eternity.

Honestly, that is very discomforting. How am I supposed to react to that?

They may treat me as an equal but my friends actually believe that they are above me

If you are bothered, get new friends. The way you describe your attitude suggests you have just as much of a dogma as they do. Your last sentence says that you think they might feel they are above you, but your first paragraph suggests you think they are not reasonable thinkers and you have tried to "reach them." Kind of makes it sounds like you think yourself more superior to them also.

No; it suggests that they he thinks that they are just being irrational about religion.

Now at The Humanist Manifesto:

It does sound like a tricky situation, butthem believing that you are going to go to hell does not neccesarily show that they believe themselves to be above you; they may believe it to be an injustice, although they might not and believe that God is always right therefore is right in sending you to hell.

If I were you I'd just stick with these friends; actions are all that matters. If they show goodwill towards you, accept that goodwill and return it.

Getting new friends might be an idea in case they suddenly reject you and you'd be left with very few/no friends.

Trust me, having no close friends is really ____. I should know this because I don't have any. it's not that everyone is horrible to me; it's just that some are, I'm rubbish at making friends and I tend to bore people.

Anyway, enough of me rambling on about my dull life in an attention seeking manor; to conclude, if i were you, i wouldn't be too concerned but ensure that I'd have some spare friends just in case.

[EdTheOvertgeek]

sorry to disappoint you but everyone when they die goes to hell
Christian and non Christian alike.
In scripture the english word "HELL" simply means to cover as in the word HELmet
(HEAD COVER)
Jesus Himself was in HELL for three days
The problem is what you have been told what hell is
there are 4 words in scripture that have been translated Hell(in the king james for reference)
1 Hebrew word =Sheol which simply means grave or a pit
2The greek equivalent is hades
3 tartaros which means abyss which appears only once in scripture
4 gehenna which is a valley on the east side(Ithink) of jerusalem so is an actual place we can visit today
Gehenna simply means the valley of the son of Hinnom
and in the days of Jesus was the place where they threw their rubbish to be burnt
also unclaimed criminals bodies were throwin to be burnt as a way of disposal
hope this clears up some missunderstandings that most of humanity has on what hell is and is'nt
Like this has got a hope in hell LOLOLO

A word means what people tend to mean it as. This together with the fact that people mean a place of eternal torture of sinners by 'hell', we can conclude that 'hell' means just this.

Also, if you are using this as a contention for the claim that we are all roasting for an eternity, it is invalid, because your claim that we are all going to hell relies on the claim that hell means one of the aformentioned deifnitions.

Sorry if that was patronising and made you feel that I believe you to be an insane zealot who is confused by a definition swittching fallac, but I thought I'd better point this out just in case you really did believe that everyone is going to roast for an eternity in hell.

[EdTheOvertgeek]

I don't think we should condemn atheists. They are valuable critics and point out all the sham and hypocrisy in contemporary Christianity, and their is plenty of it. They are generally good and honest people.

I am not an atheist, but I understand their positions.

Let me suggest -- and this will not doubt create an uproar -- atheists are religious in their own way. They are as adamant about the non existence of God as many believers are about the existence of God. The limitation here is that all the arguments between believers and atheists end up being theological.

For me, my pursuit of spirituality has nothing to do with theology. When I practice my path, my life goes better than when I do not.

Most atheists are not adamant about theology, but rather depend on rational contentions such as the burden of proof for their beliefs.

[EdTheOvertgeek]

Judgement is a natural thing and stopping it is thought blocking. Judgement is acceptable, but the implementation of a judgement isn't always.

As for the arrogance, that is quite natural too. We all like to feel better than others and it's not always harmful. We need to be careful, however, about the effects of the means of satisfying this appetite for ego; we need to ensure that in ganing ego, we do little harm.

The basis for their arrogance (if they are being arrogant), however, does seem to be harmful.

[MagusYanam]

A word means what people tend to mean it as. This together with the fact that people mean a place of eternal torture of sinners by 'hell', we can conclude that 'hell' means just this.

Also, if you are using this as a contention for the claim that we are all roasting for an eternity, it is invalid, because your claim that we are all going to hell relies on the claim that hell means one of the aformentioned deifnitions.

Sorry if that was patronising and made you feel that I believe you to be an insane zealot who is confused by a definition swittching fallac, but I thought I'd better point this out just in case you really did believe that everyone is going to roast for an eternity in hell.

Well, ETOg, it is true that a word tends to mean what people associate with the word, but sometimes such an association can be misleading.

For example, when Jesus said 'hell' (or gai-Hinnom, the trash heap outside Jerusalem) he meant something different than the image of hell that comes immediately to the minds of us 21st-century folks. According to Jewish theology (at least the theology that acknowledges an afterlife) gai-Hinnom also refers to a place of purification, where the garbage cluttering a soul would be burnt off for twelve months before the soul is released into heaven.

So in a way it is a sort of equivocation fallacy when a conservative Christian assumes that their version of Hell is correct, simply because a translation of the Gospel of Matthew has Jesus mentioning 'hell' or something about 'everlasting fire'. At the trash heap, the fires never went out either, but the soul didn't spend eternity there.

[Determined1]

It doesn't have to be a problem, if you truly love someone.
My bro- in- law, who to me IS my blood, is an atheist but my sis is not (though you'd never call us devote LOL!)
Anyway, they've been married 12 years and respect each others beliefs, he knows her perspective and she knows his.
It's also never been an issue w/ me, even when explaining this difference for my kids. Uncle Joe just has different beliefs than us, but I also don't believe there's one gate into the beyond, so there ya go! LOL
Edited for spelling, duh!

[McCulloch]

It doesn't have to be a problem, if you truly love someone.
My bro- in- law, who to me IS my blood, is an atheist but my sis is not.
Anyway, they've been married 12 years and respect each others beliefs, he knows her perspective and she knows his.
It's also never been an issue w/ me, even when explaining this difference for my kids. Uncle Joe just has different beliefs than us, but I also don't believe there's one gate into the beyond, so there ya go!

Does your presumably Christian sister believe that her unbelieving husband will spend eternity in torment? Do you believe that your unbelieving brother in law will spend eternity in torment?

[Determined1]

No way!
We both believe we all in up together and frankly I believe in reincarnation, and my baby sis is the closest thing to pure innocence that I have ever had the honor of knowing. As i said, he is my bro in my heart, so I'd never think that.
Also if you read the last thread through I stated very plainly that I don't believe there is just "1 way".
Blessings "D"

[john_anthony_gonzalez]

I have grown up with a few close friends. We get along in every aspect of life, except religion. I am an active atheist and my friends are Catholics and Protestants. I've tried getting my convincing and logical arguments through to them but they have long ago closed their eyes of reason so that they can see faith.

We belligerently argued about the topic. I decided that it would be best to not talk about that subject around them because I value our friendship greatly. As an active atheist, I felt disappointed in myself that I wasn't able to communicate persuasively enough to get through to them.

We have great fun outside of the topic but I know in the back of their mind they quite literally believe that I am going to burn in a fiery hell for all eternity.

Honestly, that is very discomforting. How am I supposed to react to that?

They may treat me as an equal but my friends actually believe that they are above me

I too know what it's like to be an atheist, but since i've become a Christian i find it hard to believe that their are many true atheist our their. I do know that their are some out their. To me a person who believes that after they die the best the can look for is a 7x4 box that is being dug into the ground is something that i dont here that many atheist talk about. I say keep your friends and let them know how you feel and you would appreciate it that if they kept their religion to themselves and quit acting like their above you.