I am an athiest and need to tell my Christian friend to reduce her God references........

[PosieParker]

I have a lovely lady who babysits for me and does a little ironing for me. She's a devout Christian and knows that i have no faith. I have been very kind and told her that faith is a truly wonderful thing for her, etc. However her references to 'The Lord', 'Jesus Christ our Saviour' 'I'll pray for you, for your car, that it doesn't rain' (not worthy prayers if you ask me) what you need is the cleansing of Christ', plus her pro life views and her belief in evangelist healings (I am very sceptical of these and think they're all con artists) PHEW, rant over.
Anyway how do I tell her that I find her constant referal to her religion quite offensive and feel she ramming her views down my throat. I don;t want ot offend her but feel she completely disregards the fact that I do not believe in God.
Do i have to just grin and bare it??

[Tortington]

you could get another babysitter. christianity or faith of anykind is a dominant factor in someones life.

[PosieParker]

That's not true, I have other friends who attend a church or mosque regularily and they rarely speak of their religion. Maybe they'll cross their chest when an ambulance goes by but not constantly talking about God spoke to then and asked them to fix someone's garden.

[Cappuccino]

I think telling someone that you find them referrring to something which is clearly at the centre of their life to be offensive is offensive in itself

you are asking her not to be herself

I don't think this is a thread about religion at all; she wishes to express herself in a way you do not like but which is not harmful to you or your children (she is not swearing at them or smoking around them). You either ask her not to express herself - not a kind thing to do - or you accept her as she is

or you do your own ironing

[PosieParker]

She is a very reliable babysitter but shouldn't share her views that only people with God in their lives are good.

[Divastrop]

ooh i dont know ,but i have the same problem with my mother who says things like'i lit a candle for(name of dc) so s/he will get better' and such,knowing full well i turned my back on the church as soon as i left home.

i would just ignore it tbh.

[Divastrop]

i would rather someone swor in front of my dc than tried to ram religion down their throats.and it can be harmful.

[PosieParker]

I though someone may have said that they would not be offended but I guess that's way too much to expect and probably know it's too offensive to say anything. It's just i would never spout on about my pro choice beliefs with her because I knew she may have opposing ideas and so would expect the same courtesy.
However I am just going to have to keep the conversations short

[FairyMum]

Ignore it. YOU know the truth

[ElizabethBeresfordSW19]

She probably doesn't give it a thought, and would find it almost impossible to leave out the God references in front of you. If you did ask her it would make you both very awkward.

You NOTICE all the God references, but does it really upset you??

[AMumInScotland]

I don't think you can really tell her not to express her views, but you can make it clear when you disagree with her. If that makes her unhappy, you could perhaps then suggest that you both stay away from that topic?

[PosieParker]

Divastrop... I have considered showing her Jesus camp, as she's asked me to record God TV on my sky plus

[BrassicaNapusNapobrassica]

DO you pay her?

[PosieParker]

I did say when she started the 'murder of abortion' talk she was going to that it was a good job we didn't discuss these things!! But she still continued.

[PosieParker]

Yes I pay her,...... DD1 awake back in a bit.

[ElizabethBeresfordSW19]

Yeah that would annoy me. That's not even directly linked to religion in my opinion. I know religious people who've had abortions and people with no faith who wouldn't do it.

BUT I can't stand to hear a few cells prioritised above a living breathing woman.

[ElizabethBeresfordSW19]

Just to clarify, before anybody murders me, in a perfect world there'd be no abortion, btu I ALWAYS feel the mother's pain MORE than I feel for the termination of the foetus. That is the case in a very early abortion anyway. I am talking before ten weeks.

[Divastrop]

she should really keep her views to herself,i mean,most of s have strong opinions about one thing or another but if we know a friend doesnt share our view then we just avoid that subject.

@ 'a few cells' though

[AMAZINWOMAN]

If she was expressing her political views,or football views, most people feel quite happy to have an open discussion.

As soon as religion is mentioned, most people are scared to say anything! as they dont want to upset anyone.

[PosieParker]

'tis so true, I wish i could just say Derren Brown has proved that these evangelist healers are con srtists, it's really scarey what is done in the name of religion.

[Greyriverside]

If it's ok for her to express her opinions then it must be ok for you. Tell her what you think of it all.

I'm afraid that you will lose your babysitter, but do you want someone suffering from delusions to be babysitting anyway?

Can you rely on her to call a doctor if need be or would she try prayer and faith healing?

[PosieParker]

[allgonebellyup]

tell her the Jesus Preachers aint welcome in your home!

[cory]

Most experienced Christians have worked out that constantly shoving Jesus into people's faces is not a good way if you want to make yourself useful in this world (which is what we should all want as Christians).

I would find this annoying, though I am an Evangelical Christian; it's sort of not respecting somebody's private space.

If I knew somebody was in trouble, I might ask once 'is it ok if I pray for you?', but if I kept on about it, it would seem to be more about me than about the other person, since I clearly wouldn't be helping them.

[cory]

I would add that most Evangelical Christians I know are perfectly level-headed people who would call the doctor first and then pray (silently) that the doctor might do his job.