Friends Like These: Chat With a Christian
OK, just to get it out of the way. With a title like that and me being an atheist, you probably can foresee the punch line of this piece. However, this case is unusual for these reasons. (1) The Christian and I are not strangers, we are real-life acquaintances, for years. (2) While we are diametrically opposed on the Spiritual Scale, we have enough passion in common – women's rights, especially – that our friendship has been built on a solid respect of those things we both deem important and a mutual respect for those things we may disagree with.
Until last night.
It began when, on Facebook, I posted a video of Christopher Hitchens, the Vanity Fair editor and author, criticizing some of the tenets of Christianity. This is a common enough thing – people post videos and links all the time about things they like and support. Indeed, The Christian is known for posting from a 'God Wants You To Know' application. That's all well and good. …or is it? On came the comments. It is important to stress that I have not edited any of the language chosen by The Christian or me in the exchange below.
The Christian: "This man is a raging narcissist. I think he doesn't like the concept of God because he thinks HE is God. I agree evolution is not a theory, it is a working model and I am a devout Christian. If I want to read about theology, I read the Bible or Church teachings if I want to read about science I read a science book or website. He reduces religious people and theology to essentialist terms ( of his own making) and doesn't account for the extreme variance in theologies across faiths and denominations. YAWN."
Vincent Truman: "Predictably enough, I don't see the narcissism so much as an objective discounting of certain theological ideas (admittedly, not theories, as they cannot be tested). I find no missteps in his presentation, which dotes, we may both agree, on a rejection of faith and/or wish fulfillment."
The Christian: "Well, I agree he rejects faith but I don't agree with him that faith is wish fulfillment. I repeat: He is a self-involved YAWN."
Vincent Truman: "Now, be fair, Missy. I don't piss in your pool with your daily 'god wants you to know' app, so don't feel obliged to denigrate my corner of the philosophical market."
The Christian: "You regularly denigrate my Christian viewpoints through your posts, that is fine you are entitled to your opinions and you have to realize on some level you do open yourself up criticism it by posting it on Facebook. I am being fair, I frankly do not mind you commenting on my faith-based posts. I don't like Christopher Hitchens and stand by all my prior comments. He is a man after all, not a deity."
Vincent Truman: OK, then I'll consider myself invited to slap down your posts on your own page. I thought we were being mutual respectful, but I can suspend that, too. 
The Christian: "This is a laughable waste of time. Time to prune my friend list."
At which time I was immediatley deleted from her friends' list.
Another commercial for 'love thy neighbor – unless you don't wanna' theology.
