RE: Changing Someone's Belief
August 3, 2012 at 10:16 pm
(This post was last modified: August 3, 2012 at 10:51 pm by Faith No More.)
If he is really looking for the truth, in the end, he would eventually be thankful that you led him to that truth. If he actually did say that he would be okay if Christianity is wrong, that may be an indication that he really does want to know what is the truth, because a lot of people, when faced with the idea that their beliefs are untrue, will kick and scream, insisting that whatever they believe to be the truth at that time is actually true. Normally, people are content to keep on believing what they believe as long as they seem to be reaping some benefits, so his statement that he would be okay with it not being true may actually be some sort of cry for help. At least, that's the way I see it.
On another note, it would probably help your friend if you didn't flat out tell him that life is meaningless. While that may be true from a cosmological standpoint, that doesn't mean we can't make our individual lives meaningful. We have to examine our lives and find that meaning for ourselves. Sometimes I find that even the search for meaning gives my life meaning, as if the purpose of my life is to figure out what is meaningful to me.
On another note, it would probably help your friend if you didn't flat out tell him that life is meaningless. While that may be true from a cosmological standpoint, that doesn't mean we can't make our individual lives meaningful. We have to examine our lives and find that meaning for ourselves. Sometimes I find that even the search for meaning gives my life meaning, as if the purpose of my life is to figure out what is meaningful to me.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
