Interfaith friendships

[Anonymous]

What do you do to establish and maintain good relationships with your non-Christian friends and neighbors? How can you build good interfaith relations?

[Anonymous]

I don’t understand this question? Most of my friends aren’t the same faith as me…. I go to Church they don’t. We do other things, go for walks with our kids, meet up at parks, go out for dinner, to see shows etc…..

[Anonymous]

I’m Jewish and I have many Christian friends. As long as they are not trying to convert me we have no problem maintaining friendships.

[Anonymous]

My parents are not of the same faith. My husband is atheist, and his family is of yet another faith.

So.

What's your question again? You seem to hail from the Middle Ages. Just act normal.

[Anonymous]

I... am friends with them? I rarely talk about religion to my friends so it rarely comes up. I make an effort to remember their religious holidays and make plans accordingly; I assume they're doing the same for my holidays. I don't send my non-Christian friends Christmas cards (they get New Year's cards) and generally don't wish them Christian greetings. I don't know; my best friend when I was 6 was Jewish. Friends and religion don't really overlap in my experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you do to establish and maintain good relationships with your non-Christian friends and neighbors? How can you build good interfaith relations?

Troll post or Crazy Christian?

[Anonymous]

If your religion is such a big part of your day to day life that you have to ask this question, then it's unlikely that you'll be able to make and maintain friendships with non-Christians.

*I have no idea what religion the vast majority of my friends are. I know some are Catholic because their children go to Catholic school/they posted about their kids' confirmation last year and know some are Jewish because their kids go to the local Jewish camps and sometimes can't come to weekend events because they have Hebrew school conflicts. I guess I can assume the most of my arabic friends are Muslim and Indian friends are Hindu, but that's always the case.

[Anonymous]

Just try not to talk about your religion all the time OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you do to establish and maintain good relationships with your non-Christian friends and neighbors? How can you build good interfaith relations?

Troll post or Crazy Christian?

Charitably, probably a deeply intellectually-challenged but devout sort of person who thinks others are going to literal hell (fire and brimstone variety) for not sharing her beliefs. So, hard to be friends with them, because she'd pity them so much and it would grieve her.

Or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you do to establish and maintain good relationships with your non-Christian friends and neighbors? How can you build good interfaith relations?

Troll post or Crazy Christian?

Charitably, probably a deeply intellectually-challenged but devout sort of person who thinks others are going to literal hell (fire and brimstone variety) for not sharing her beliefs. So, hard to be friends with them, because she'd pity them so much and it would grieve her.

Or something.

Get help, if you actually read all that into OP’s post. Seriously.

[Anonymous]

Ha, I've sometimes wondered about "interfaith" relationships as an atheist.

I have some friends who are religious and incredibly lovely people, but as a lifelong atheist (both parents were atheists) I can't help viewing religion as irrational. If something very bad happened to me or to my spouse or child and a religious friend said something like "this is all part of God's plan," that would certainly be the end of that friendship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you do to establish and maintain good relationships with your non-Christian friends and neighbors? How can you build good interfaith relations?

Don't proselytize, don't ask intrusive questions about their faith or cross-examine them on it - curious questions okay but the third degree or argument is not - otherwise act normal and you should be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you do to establish and maintain good relationships with your non-Christian friends and neighbors? How can you build good interfaith relations?

Don't proselytize, don't ask intrusive questions about their faith or cross-examine them on it - curious questions okay but the third degree or argument is not - otherwise act normal and you should be fine.

This. and realize too that your non-christian friends and neighbors likely don't think of their friendship with you as an "interfaith relationship" but just as a friendship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ha, I've sometimes wondered about "interfaith" relationships as an atheist.

I have some friends who are religious and incredibly lovely people, but as a lifelong atheist (both parents were atheists) I can't help viewing religion as irrational. If something very bad happened to me or to my spouse or child and a religious friend said something like "this is all part of God's plan," that would certainly be the end of that friendship.

Either you're a troll, or as bad as OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you do to establish and maintain good relationships with your non-Christian friends and neighbors? How can you build good interfaith relations?

Troll post or Crazy Christian?

Charitably, probably a deeply intellectually-challenged but devout sort of person who thinks others are going to literal hell (fire and brimstone variety) for not sharing her beliefs. So, hard to be friends with them, because she'd pity them so much and it would grieve her.

Or something.

Get help, if you actually read all that into OP’s post. Seriously.

Sorry, not sorry. That kind of question is incredibly offensive to me, who grew up with multiple faiths in my own international, multi-ethnic family. Naturally my friends are of different religions as well, different countries, different skin colors and cultures.

It's just like asking: "Can you be friends with people who are not white?"

If you can't see the problem in these two questions, YOU are the problem.