Okay okay, I know I promised a blog last week, but more important things arose...like school and going on vacation for a week at Lake Havasu.

I spent the last week at Havasu with someone who I consider to be my best friend.  Now, this may sound odd to you, but he is what many would paint as a fundamentalist Christian.  In fact, his entire family believes that every word of the entire Bible is the exact literal truth of God.  They don't deny the fact that they all believe that the Earth is about 6,000 years old, that there will be a Rapture, that the early Old Testament characters lived for almost a millenium, that there was a huge flood that covered the whole planet, and that evolution is both blasphemous and completely impossible.  Hell, even my friend's truck has a sticker on it saying, "Ten Commandments, Not Ten Suggestions."  And yes, he does believe I am going straight to Hell when I die and be burned alive for eternity.

But he's still my best bro'.

Funny, huh?  To be honest, my friendship with him is more meaninful than with most of my other heathen friends.  I've even endured the pains of attending his youth group a few times (partly out of curiosity and partly out of courtesy).  But what's really unique is the fact that he's actually willing to laugh at many of the blasphemous jokes made by me or on television (here's looking at you Simpsons, Family Guy).  We both saw the Simpsons Movie and he laughed the hardest at all of the jokes aimed at Christians (says Homer, "This book doesn't have any answers!").

But after going to Lake Havasu with him and riding around on Jet Skis, driving speed boats, cliff jumping, etc etc, I came to wonder if there were other people people out there who share a heathen/Christian relationship (by heathen, I mean non-fundamentalist Christian).  When people think of a fundamentalist, Pat Robertson or some similar nutjob comes to mind, always shouting hateful words at people purely because they don't share the same faith.  But I can honestly say that my friend is exactly like Pat Robertson without the needless religious hate, sexism, bigotry, racism, and hypocrisy.

From what I can tell, religion isn't what makes a person bad or good.  Both my friend and Robertson hold the same religious beliefs, but I'm pretty sure Robertson is the only one going to hell between the two.

So this blog is more of a question aimed at you, the readers.  Do you have a close friendship, or even a romance, with someone who holds ideals that are at odds with your own?  I've even heard of atheist/Christian married couples existing somewhere out there.  I'd even like to hear from friends who are politically incompatible.  Does it add or take away from your relationship?  Frustrate or englighten you?  Ultimately, do you believe you're better or worse off because your friend is so opposed to your ideals?

Or are you the type of person who sticks to your own flock?

Personally, I wouldn't want to change a thing since my friend's views do influence my own in positive ways.  In fact, I think I'm a better and more tolerant person because of it.  Being around people who think the same as you is nice, but it gets boring being around people who agree with everything you have to say.  Diverse belief, in my humble opinion, makes us wiser as we are exposed to dissenting opinions and attitudes.

-RAmen