This is conversation with a young woman I met in my new field office yesterday evening.

"Hey"-Young woman
"Hey"- Me
"I wanted to talk to you"-YW
"Oh, yeah"-Me
"Yeah, I heard you talking to Michael by the elevator this morning"-YW
"So?"-Me
"Why did you make that joke about jesus, the one with the cross? Are you an athiest?"-YW
*Laughs* "Were you insulted?"-Me
"You don't beleive in God do you?"-YW
" I geuss it would be a dead giveaway if I told you to mind you own buisness."-Me
"Why don't you beleive in God?"

An it went on for about eight more minutes untill I told her to leave my office. It was so unbeleiveably annoying I nearly cursed her out. Someone who I did'nt even work with, someone who was in a totally different department. Thought it would be okay to badger me about my beleifs because we had a mutual freind.

Care to relate some sences like this an how you delt with it?

I actually dealt with this today (also with a co-worker), but the person I dealt with was not quite so upfront. This person was talking about God, and all the wonderful things God had done in thier life, hoping that I would in turn volontarily tell them about my religious beleifs. My response was to stare blankly and say nothing. People can't stand to be ignored, and when you ignore them they usually either become more persistant or go bother somebody else.

Thankfully, this person decided to go bother somebody else. If that were not the case, I would simply say that I don't think it is ethical to discuss religion in the workplace, and that if they continued to do so, I would take it up with management.

Don't get mad. It's a waste of energy. Besides, the world is full of dupes. If you got mad about all of them you will be walking around angry all the time. If you laugh at them openly in the workplace, your job is at risk. Play by the rules if your going to play. But ussually it is best to not play at all if possible.

Amen!

I have this Jesus freak coworker who preaches the entire eight hours. I have never seen anyone so completely obsessed with his religion. Every single sentence that comes out of his mouth have to include "praise the lord" or "halleluiah" somehow, even if its not related to what he is saying.

He haven't have the nerve to talk to me, but he has made comments about "the Devils music" to other workers (I guess he has seen me arrive to the parking lot with Marylyn Manson or Iron Maiden playing on my car stereo)

But when the moment comes that he tries to talk to me about his wonderful savior, I have the answer already prepared:

"I come here to work not to discuss religion"

My question regarding this "Jesus Freak" at your workplace is this:

How does he know what you're listening to is Manson or Maiden unless he listens to it himself?

Or like most of the younger herd, he was "turned" (Blade reference) and wasn't a "pureblood" (another Blade reference) and thus burned, threw away, or sold all of his collection and gave it to the church.

I say crank it up and make their ears bleed.

Just my 5 cents...(it would be 2 but inflation..blah, blah, blah)

On some occassions, dealing with Christian whackos in close quarters is absolutely unavoidable. In those cases I suggest mind games, using:

The Roman Ritual

Fire, darkness, and chains characterize damnation, use them to your advantage. Never use a bible to argue against a Christian. While you may feel that you possess knowledge of the bible sufficient to smash their religion to ruin, you can easily lose the debate for lack of appropriate quotation. They will seek to involve you in an endleess discussion during which any point you make appears "out of context," and any contradiction or failure on their part has its explanation hidden within the rest of the book.

In his Epistle to the Ephesians, Paul describes the "armor of God" as the Christian defense against the principalities of darkness, and the "Word" (the Bible) complements this armor as a sword. Instead of engaging the Christian in a duel of doctrines, use fiery darts - a multitude of concise points made from a safe distance - to weaken their overall resolve. The nearer you come to discussing Christianity, the nearer the Christian comes to victory; but if you can keep him occupied with other cogent issues, he may even lose his own religion.

If they have the Girdle of Truth, replace it with Chains of Shame!

Even the Christians admit that every man cannot help, but sin. This admission works well to you advantage if only you can discover specific sins made by the subject of your assault. If he or she admits to sin freely, know that it does not trouble his conscience, making poor sport. Instead of attempting to expose crimes and bring them to the table for discussion, allow the Christian to retain hidden failures, in order to make him feel weak and without grace. Bring issues to his mind in such a way that he need not discuss them openly, but merely reminds him of the moral frailty which stings his soul. In time the Christian may grow to depend so heavily on "truths" that he dwells on insignificant facts which make him feel ashamed. Offer him a sense of spiritual imperfection which his own mortality will never allow him to overcome. If the burden of his guilt grows too much to bear, he may abandon his Girdle of Truth for a fantasy.

If they display a Breastplate of Righteousness, you can recognise them easily, and put them in a Prison of Confusion!

You will often find a righteous man offering to "stand up for something," and thereby inflate the importance of issues that make his position look appealing. He may not realize that his insistence on a particular stance makes him a target for the opposition. It should pose no great trouble to find a situation in which his convictions prevent effective action, and to place him squarely therein. He will feel dissonance between conscience and necessity, forcing him to accept either an immoral action or the dire burdens of morality.

If they wear Shoes of Readiness, place Traps of Temptation along their path!

Learn to anticipate the course of the Christian crusade, replace their objectives with fruitless persuits, and make any deviation therefrom fraught with difficulty. Convince them to take the simplest route to success if they proceed with caution, and if they act with zealous abandon bring every possible interference to their attention. Also present ways that they can benefit personally from their objectives, as though it makes their cause all the more charitable.

If they carry a Shield of Faith, give them the Blindfold of Obscurity!

Unless a person knows everything, some of his belief must rest upon incomplete foundations. The Christian will admit these gaping holes in his position, justifying them with faith. While they may concentrate on religious issues of faith, you may bring to their attention many other instances of intellectual insecurity, leading to a general feeling of hopeless ignorance. If you persist, they will discover that they mysteries of their faith have no greater importance than the mystery of their mortal existence.

If they have the Helm of Salvation, listen to them witness from an Armchair of Entertainment!

It will do you no harm to listen to the story of their conversion, if you have the time to hear it. If circumstances permit, request that they "witness" to you regarding the events leading to their salvation. Let the Christian see that you receive their tale with an eager smile, but that you place no great importance on the episode. These stories almost always involve the Christian sinking to the lowest form of depravity imaginable, and then suddenly discovering a new and beautiful world of love and glory. If they see that the story ellicits excitement from you rather than scorn, they may embellish the events and thereby commit errors of vanity, or even speak utter falsehoods, especially if it involves visions and miracles. If the Christian merely believes out of hand, and has no tale of conversion, your dissapointment will encourage a sense of spiritual deficiency. If you can relate tales of other conversions to which you have lent an ear, the Christian may respond with hostility toward these colorful, unkown people, and seek thereafter for his own "mystical experience."

Lions of Ridicule and Fiery Darts of Failure defeat the Sword of Spirit which they call the "Word of God!"

Make no hesitation to engage a Christian on any religious issue. Know that they desire this engagement as a sacred duty to rid the world of wickedness. As the lion with its prey, play along as they encite you to repentence in prayer, and react with grave temerity to any scriptural rebuke. If you do this with obvious insincerity, any who observe you will bestow upon the Christian the gift of laughter. The campaign will appear farsical at best. Your display of humor will encourage other to take the Christian less seriously. The Christian may or may not notice the public mockery.

Exactly. He says he was "under the Devil's influence" until he was "born again". And yes, I have heard him mention he burned all his old "evil" music CDs.

Very thorough! I prefer The Vortex of Skepticism because I question all things. To include some humor, with a pinch of abuse!

Why DO you believe in a god?

WHAT is in the bible?

WHERE is that in the bible?

No, where is BELIEF in the bible?

Have you ever read any other work of fiction, and do you believe in any of the characters therein?

How do you feel about the volumes of contradictions found in the bible?

How many commandments have you broken?

:GASP: How can you think god still loves you?

If I become so annoyed that I strike you, will you turn the other cheek?

I just saw you look at my crotch - are you thinking about SEX right now?!?!?

Would you like to supersize that?

It's too time consuming to argue with religious lunatics.
If not necessary,I will never argue with them.
I just ignore them,like I couldn't see them,I couldn't hear them,and walk away with a straight face,seem couldn't aware their existence.In fact,I find it quite useful.

And if they are clever enough,they could perceive the signal that: I ain't wasting a second to hear you shit.
If not,they just take the insult.

Call the dog-catcher. He will know what to do....

Quote:

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beleifs.

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Yes. These do, indeed, become tiresome.

AND, AND...why won't he do it??!! Why won't he just add the D!!?

I've had to deal with people like that a few times. I try to ignore them, if they single me out I tell them: "How does that affect your life?" Unfortunately, and pathetically, sometimes people get pissed off by it.

Quote:

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The Vortex of Skepticism

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I like this a lot, and in situations where its totally OK to be abusive toward the offending Christian, its perfect.

The Roman Ritual is more for those times when you're in a "polite" social environment. Its somehow alright for them to step out of line and discuss religious matters (this is perhaps because they're so abundant in the United States), but still "wrong" for us to antagonize them. The "RR" humiliates them, but by the time they figure it out, it's too late and they end up leaving you alone.

If I care what a person's reaction will be and expect them to be easily put off, I pretend to be a wishy-washy agnostic. "I think all sorts of religious beliefs are valid, but I haven't found the right ones for me yet."

If I expect someone to be less easily offended, I just say "I don't believe in God, let's talk about something else."

If I really don't give a damn what someone thinks, I play "cynical atheist" and say that everyone can stuff their religion. At least in this way, if any unpleasant word of mouth gets around, it's not quite as bad as establishing a "devil-worshipper" reputation.

What do you do if you really like the person who's asking? I mean that could be the mother of your next 1.5 children (german joke, 1.5 is the average).

Some day you'll have to stand up for them; I usually get positive reactions.