Yeah, man. Fuckin’ Christians, always looking down their noses at you and getting into fights over stupid shit. Like their beliefs. Or other people’s bumper stickers, OH WAIT. Heh.
I think what was wrong here is that your boyfriend sort of, took it upon himself to challenge these people’s beliefs. I mean, what the hell? That’s not a very nice thing to do. I mean, yeah, sure, he showed them up for the hypocrites they were, but fuck, man. Great job. One down, six billion to go. Christianity doesn’t hold a monopoly on hypocrisy, and they’re just trying to live virtuously like everybody else. So I dunno. Give your fellow human beings a break, their lives are just as confusing and fraught with pain as yours is without your rudely calling into question their basic beliefs.
Oh, and D.Crispin, lemme first say that I respect you deeply for your faith. I’m not Christian, but I know that faith is a powerful thing. It’s important to believe so truly that you know, just as powerfully as you know the sky is blue and the earth is round, that if you stay true to your faith, despite everything anybody ever says, good things will happen. It’s important to be captivated by something outside, far and above of the realm of humanity, and you seem to me to be like that. It’s rockin’, it’s rapturous, it’s like sharing ice cream with your best friend and lover, only they’re not actually there and it’s just you, basking in both the good feeling that would be had IF they were there, but at the same time there’s no judgment, no harm, you can feel exactly the way you want to, cause you know that Jesus loves you even if you’re making a fool of yourself.
Here’s the thing. Jesus believed in forgiveness, and Jesus believed in love. Like, infinite forgiveness, and infinite love. That’s why I hear you talking about “faith has always been exclusive and must always be exclusive, no matter who we hurt or offend.” But what. If you loved your friend, but thought they were doing something wrong, would you go up in their face and be like, “I’m right! You’re WRONG. If you don’t change you’re fucked. You better change RIGHT NOW. End of story.” No way. That’s not love. You’d try and help them, yeah, but if you truly loved them, you’d take it upon yourself to get to know them, and go through whatever pain and torture and questioning of your own beliefs were necessary, walk through the Dark Night of the Soul a thousand times and feel your ego nearly die a thousand times, to find a way, their way in which they might know the truths that you know. You can’t just say nonbelievers are bad and wrong. God doesn’t want His children to go to Hell, but every human being is different; every human being must find their way to God (and Jesus) in their own way, and if you love them, you will try to help them along their own path, even if you have to refine things out of your own beliefs, and not be all, “pluralism is bad! You gotta be a Christian the way I am a Christian!” Then, you’re just being silly - you’re talking to yourself and not to them, and the only person you help is (maybe) yourself (as only personal masturbation can).
Look. I’m not trying to argue with you. Religious arguments never go anywhere. I’m trying to discuss how we believers in God and in Jesus as a Very Special Person with Divine Qualities of Love and Vision (that’s about as far as I’m gonna go, lol) can go about helping our friends see the truth, and not just live on our islands of safety away from the people who don’t agree with us.