Not sure how to deal w it. He was a fun guy to work with. He's a good person, but pretty crazy. This is the second time he decided he reeeeallly had to make a hard sell. I'm agnostic. I feel like it's gonna really offend him bc he sent me paragraphs about the religious text and I simply don't care. But I don't wanna hurt his feelings. This time... Science proves it.

Can I have it both ways? I'm not gonna be an Islamic but I still wanna be his friend. but he's being so weird about it and I'm bad about confrontation. I'm cool with his choices but damn

  • Tomboymoder [she/her, pup/pup's]
    ·
    2 months ago

    I haven’t seen the messages, but it could be he’s taken your “not wanting to hurt his feelings” as being more interested/receptive than you are.

    • YourMom [he/him]
      ·
      2 months ago

      I was told:

      The text of the oldest Quran manuscripts and the Quran used today are very similar. Islamic sources and scientific studies emphasize that the text of the Quran has been preserved and uncorrupted for centuries. This is one of the basic principles of the Islamic faith.

      Scientific studies have also shown that the early manuscripts of the Quran and the current editions largely overlap. When the oldest copies, such as the Sana'a Manuscripts, Birmingham Manuscripts and Topkapı Mushaf, are examined, it has been observed that the textual differences are minimal. These differences are usually due to differences in spelling, minor grammatical details or punctuation marks; however, this does not affect the meaning or content of the Quran.

      Scientists and historians state that there is more than 99% agreement between the oldest manuscripts and the current Quran. This shows that the text of the Quran has been meticulously preserved for centuries and has survived to the present day without being corrupted.

      In summary, the basic text of the Quran has remained almost completely the same, both from the perspective of Islamic belief and scientific study.

      I think it's too crazy and like the other user said, worthy of abandoning

      • bastion@feddit.nl
        ·
        2 months ago

        Well, if you want to see if keeping him as a friend is possible, just respond with:

        You: I'm not interested in religion, and won't engage in conversation about it.

        Friend: blah blah meaningful blah religion blah.

        You: I'm not interested in religion, and won't engage in conversation about it.

        Friend: panicked or something religion blah blah convincingness blah, manuscripts, manuscripts.

        You: I'm not interested in religion, and won't engage in conversation about it.

        <cycle repeats until>

        Friend: gives up and is just friend Or Former friend: freaks out or ends friendship

        • YourMom [he/him]
          ·
          2 months ago

          Ok that's good. That's what I'll be doing. Seems obvious, but really it's not when you're in the moment and you're a coward like me.

          • Hexboare [they/them]
            ·
            2 months ago

            The book is old and unchanged!

            Next he'll be convinced that an honourable merchant who did nothing wrong sold poor quality copper just because the tablet of his customers' complaint still exists thousands of years later.

            • YourMom [he/him]
              ·
              2 months ago

              Honestly I know very little outside of Christianity so your reference is way over my head

              • Hexboare [they/them]
                ·
                2 months ago

                https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complaint_tablet_to_Ea-n%C4%81%E1%B9%A3ir

                The complaint tablet to Ea-nāṣir (UET V 81) is a clay tablet that was sent to the ancient city-state Ur, written c. 1750 BCE. The tablet, documents a transaction in which Ea-nāṣir, a trader, sold sub-standard copper to a customer named Nanni.

                Nanni, dissatisfied with the quality, wrote a cuneiform complaint addressing the poor service and mistreatment of his servant.

                Written in Akkadian cuneiform, this tablet is recognized as the "Oldest Customer Complaint" by Guinness World Records. From 2015 onwards, the tablet's content and Ea-nāṣir in particular gained popularity as an internet meme, due to its modern-sounding nature of dissatisfaction with goods

                • YourMom [he/him]
                  ·
                  2 months ago

                  Yeah that is solid but will absolutely be countered in a way I cannot fully articulate a response to. That's his thing now. I have a really hard time researching this and then coming up with a conclusion, so I hope you will help me with my response so I do not offend him lol.

                  edit: had no clue it's a meme, I am even more screwed

                  • Hexboare [they/them]
                    ·
                    2 months ago

                    I was making a joke about the idea that because something is old and remains accurate to the original, it must necessarily be true.

                    This line of argument might be persuasive to a Christian who is concerned about the accuracy of the Bible after so many translations, but the Quran is not even very old compared to other written works.

                    We have extensive hieroglyphic descriptions of ancient Egyptian religion but that doesn't mean someone ought to began worshipping Ra and Osiris, for example.