When you are having a disagreement with a friend, one good strategy is to express how you feel using I-Statements. Focus on the behavior you don’t like and how it makes you feel, not calling the other person names like “jerk” or “loser.”
For example:
I FEEL lonely
WHEN YOU Ignore me
BECAUSE I have no one to play with
NEXT TIME Please include me
When talking about topics that are very important to people like religion, there is no need to lose friends just because you disagree with them. Be respectful. Say things like:
“I understand your point of view, but I disagree with the reasons you give fo what you think.”
Be open to changing your mind if your friend presents good evidence. If all you are doing is trying to be right no matter where the discussion goes (A Right Fighter), that’s not really a very meaningful conversation.
If the discussion gets too heated, change the topic and agree to disagree for now with the plan to pick up the conversation again later when both of you have calmed down and are thinking more clearly.
Oklahoma’s education leader Ryan Walters recently declared that every teacher had to use the Bible in class. The leader of one of the largest districts now says his staff won’t comply: “We are not going to require our teachers to teach from the Bible.”
Hemant Mehta notes with the new school year beginning in a few weeks, Nick Migliorino, superintendent of the Norman Public Schools, which serves over 15,000 students, said in an interview with the Norman Transcript that his district won’t be participating in this charade.
“I’m just going to cut to the chase on that. Norman Public Schools is not going to have Bibles in our classrooms, and we are not going to require our teachers to teach from the Bible,” Migliorino said. “The standards are clear and our curriculum is very clear. And we’re not going to deviate from that. I don’t know. I’m just going to be direct on that one.”
…“We’re gonna follow the law, we’re going to provide a great opportunity for our students, we’re going to do right by our students and right by our teachers, and we’re not going to have Bibles in our classrooms.”
Not so long ago, children were expected to say the Lord’s prayer in school. In fact, you might even detect the Christian message in your afternoon cartoons. Here are a couple of examples from extremely popular cartoons The Flintstones and Charlie Brown:
The Flintstones:
Charlie Brown:
There is currently a movement to put the 10 Commandments into schools in the states and secular activists are working hard to combat this.
Have you ever wondered what the one unforgivable sin is in Christianity? You could be the worst person in history, yet you can be forgiven by God. By contrast, you can be the nicest person in history, but if you have the sin of unbelief God can’t forgive you. That’s the one unforgivable sin!
Is reading like one of those hidden images that at first you don’t see it, but then it shines through and you can’t unsee it?
Or is reading like putting together a jigsaw puzzle but you don’t know what the picture on the cover of the box is?
What is reading like for you?
One state has said that The Ten Commandments must be displayed in schools. How do you think this makes children of other religions and no religion feel?
Have you ever noticed ads on TV are like fairy tales? They promise you “happily ever after” if you buy their product. Check out this ad for a baseball glove:
ACTIVITY: Design and record your own ad that promises a fun and happy life if someone buys the product.