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Leaving Well Enough Alone?

Suddenly

Unregistered
S
Just a hypothetical question inspired by my adventures in The House Of No Fun.

You are talking to a guy who is in prison for natural life with no parole + 30 years for something he most likely didn't do, but he has been legally convicted and it is pretty likely his appeals will go nowhere. He's going to die there. He is borderline retarded, and in all respects, being a serious felon nonwithstanding, a polite and decent sort, even though he's been "inside" for 15 years or so. You are talking with him about his case and his life in general. He respects you as an authority figure, as you are his attorney. One thing he often says is that he respects your honesty about his case, as you seem to be much more open and honest than his previous attorneys (not in those exact words).

He then explains how much happier he has been since he found Jesus. He asks you what you think of Jesus.

Your response?
 
How about "'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you' is a motto you can't really go wrong with."?

And then a nice big genuine smile :)

Adam
 
My response: "Well, with a career ERA of 5.26 and a win/loss record of 23/32, I wouldn't hire him for my team, but he seems like a nice enough chap."

You did mean Jesus Sanchez, right?
 
Suddenly said:
Just a hypothetical question inspired by my adventures in The House Of No Fun.

You are talking to a guy who is in prison for natural life with no parole + 30 years for something he most likely didn't do, but he has been legally convicted and it is pretty likely his appeals will go nowhere. He's going to die there. He is borderline retarded, and in all respects, being a serious felon nonwithstanding, a polite and decent sort, even though he's been "inside" for 15 years or so. You are talking with him about his case and his life in general. He respects you as an authority figure, as you are his attorney. One thing he often says is that he respects your honesty about his case, as you seem to be much more open and honest than his previous attorneys (not in those exact words).

He then explains how much happier he has been since he found Jesus. He asks you what you think of Jesus.

Your response?
Click to expand...

I would tell him that I know many people who feel the same way he does and that you are glad he has found some comfort in his situation.

If he persisted, I would try to keep turning it around to get him to talk about how his life is better now than before.

I think this is honest. I would not tell him my personal beliefs and I would not question his. The important thing is that he has found a source of comfort. We all search for meaning. Having a meaning can make the most unjust, inhumane circumstances tolerable. People who fail to find meaning in the face of hopeless injustice lose the will to live and die. Or so said Victor Frankl (This is not an appeal to authority...more like an example, sort of)
 
Suddenly said:

You are talking to a guy who is in prison for natural life with no parole + 30 years for something he most likely didn't do, but he has been legally convicted and it is pretty likely his appeals will go nowhere. He's going to die there. He is borderline retarded, and in all respects, being a serious felon nonwithstanding, a polite and decent sort, even though he's been "inside" for 15 years or so. You are talking with him about his case and his life in general. He respects you as an authority figure, as you are his attorney. One thing he often says is that he respects your honesty about his case, as you seem to be much more open and honest than his previous attorneys (not in those exact words).
He then explains how much happier he has been since he found Jesus. He asks you what you think of Jesus.
Your response?
Click to expand...

"I'm glad you're happier."
 
There's nothing wrong with letting people who are happier with innocuous beliefs keep them. Being a skeptic doesn't mean you have to slap down every person who espouses some belief of something you're skeptical of. It means you speak out when people are being hurt or effected by those beliefs. The guy in your hypothetical is making a bad situation a little easier to deal with through his beliefs.

There's nothing wrong with that.
 
If I knew I was going to be locked up in a building for the rest of my life, I think I might also start believing in Jesus and heaven. Otherwise, what is there to look forward to?

Let the guy have his hope. It would be cruel to take it away.
 
I'm pretty much with U.S. on this one as far as not slapping down beliefs. The trick to that situation as I saw it was to somehow answer the question in a way to avoid his following up with the question you really don't want to answer, which is something like "You believe in Jesus too, don't you?"

It seems similar to my handling of my mother's use of magnets to control her carsickness. She claims she doesn't feel sick when riding in a car while wearing them. My position would be that since this belief allows her to resume an important life activity, to try to make her understand that the magnets really have no effect would be an irresponsible and hostile action. So I try to avoid the issue if she brings it up.

The larger issue with regard to some of this stuff is that the beliefs for some people do them more good than harm. Problem is, some of these core beliefs require them to spread the word and witness their experiences, and this can create uncomfortable situations. I'm sort of musing over what factors are relevant to making the decision whether to leave well enough alone, or speak your peace.
 
I don't know how personal your relaitionship with this guy is, but if he tried to convert you or examine your beliefs, one response is to refocus it. Something like "I am here to help you and our time together should be focused on you and how you are doing. I respect your beliefs and I understand that you feel better since you've embraced them. Why don't you tell me more about how your life is since you've become a Christian?"

This sets boundaries, validates his feelings and gives him the opportunity to share and even preach a bit, if that's important to him.
 
Marquis de Carabas said:
My response: "Well, with a career ERA of 5.26 and a win/loss record of 23/32, I wouldn't hire him for my team, but he seems like a nice enough chap."

You did mean Jesus Sanchez, right?
Click to expand...

See, the problem there is that the Marlins should have converted him to a closer. 'Cause everyone knows...Jesus saves!

On topic: Yeah, not a real good spot for hard-core debunking speech.
 
In this instance, I would you should just lie (its not as bad as it sounds).

To tell the truth and say "I dont believe in God" would just hurt him, its clearly not your job to hurt people. I would respond "I'm happy for you" or "I'm glad Jesus has made you so much happier". If he follows up with "Do you believe in Jesus", I would swallow my arrogance and say something along the lines of "I believe people as a whole are destined for to discover something greater than theirselves".

The real truth behind someone's personal beliefs is not the necessity in the hypothetical situation.
 
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