A very close friend and roommate has found atheism and has become a horribly toxic person to be around.

It seems to me that a lot of this (in addition to his issues handling his lack of belief w/ maturity) is sort of a classic "became an edgy college student" story. I personally suspect there's also a bit of a "is not acclimating to his new environment well" story, given the issues w/ ADD, social interaction, and his own insecurities. I don't know how to resolve this situation, but I do have a bit of advice as an atheist and someone who knows/has been a person w/ similar behavioral problems, if it's welcome.


Firstly, I would advise that you try to mentally separate the different things that are causing Josh's problems. While his specific brand of identifying as an atheist is a problem, and a pretty big one, it does not seem (to me, at least) to be the cause of all the others. Collapsing all of them might make it harder to come to a solution, and will definitely make it hard to communicate your feelings to him. If I know atheists who are asses about religion, telling him that atheism causes him to be an ass will be a great way to set him off -.-

Secondly, if you want to keep interacting with him, and want to hang out as just friends - does he have other friends, or activities he enjoys for their own sake? Try encouraging doing those things. It's easier to encourage someone to grow through channels that they're already using imo.

But lastly, it sounds like the choice you listed is "I want to move out and stop talking to Josh, but I don't want to live alone (but I also have friends I can move to)." I guess it sounds like the more pertinent problem is just figuring out good arrangements to move out, since you sound like you've already decided the solution to this problem and that that solution is to move out? That's not a bad thing, btw - we all need to surround ourselves with supportive friends, not asses who will make us feel berated all day. But if you've already decided you want to stop interacting w/ Josh, I don't think there's really much more to talk about on the subject.

/r/Christianity Thread