Quote:
Originally Posted by GoNative
I have quite a number of friends who are religious. I've made it quite clear that I think they're nutters for believing in such rubbish but that hasn't always meant an end to our friendship. We just don't discuss such things much. At the end of the day though I have no problems with not having friendships with people because of their beliefs, be they previous friends or family. I get to choose who I have friendships with (that includes family) and if I choose not to be friends with religious nutters then I can't see how that's a problem. I'm certainly not one of these people who needs to be liked by everyone. Don't mind at all if I offend people!  |
You have lived in Japan for a while, so you know this.
One of the major contrasts in western and Japanese cultures is how often arguments revolving around religion/science/god/belief/faith/etc occur.
Japanese people have pretty nutty beliefs too by western standards, and among the people here there is a huge range of belief, but it hardly ever enters conversation, and even if it does, it hardly ever gets emotional, and it's virtually non-existent to hear of a person making such factors a basis for friendship or not.