I'm going on day 3 of the visit of my brother-in-law without my wife here to buffer us.
So far nobody has been injured.
I suspect I'll learn even more about the Bible than I knew before - whether I want to or not.
@jurban
#religion
Something you might try:
Pick a subject you know a great deal about, and bore him to death with it. Constantly change the subject back to one or several you choose.
Some ideas: astrophysics, sports, cooking, science, geology, ancient historical geology finds, Greek or Norse mythology, Buddhism, levitation, meteorology, space exploration, animals, theory of evolution, knitting, fishing, climate change, history of automobiles, Salem witch trials, monarchy.
@Priestess
The flaw in your strategy is that you assume he listens.
At all.
Okay then, you're going to have to be crazy. He says something religious, and you respond with something simple and off the charts crazy like Christopher Walken would say.
Example: "I like marsupials".
@Priestess
That might be dangerous.
But funny.
I have ways of cutting to the core of his belief system without being crazy or condescending.
For instance: "If God is all-powerful, why do people have to change laws to appease him? What do they get out of it? Will their crops grow taller? Will they increase their chances of getting into heaven? Are they going to be punished because they didn't try to change the laws?
Why not just observe with compassion and humility?
@jurban You know your brother-in-law better than I do.
If you really don't want to talk religion with him, what would happen if you say you don't want to talk about religion right now?
My cousin suicided last month. He got fired for always trying to talk religion with co-workers and customers, fell on hard times, and did some crazy things like go to a local nursing home and bother elderly people with his religious talk.
@Priestess
That's so sad.
I do believe that people that are locked into a highly-vocal religious disposition are desperate for structure in their lives. They feel the need to get others around them to hear about this structure so they feel more comfortable in society and the world.
My brother in law had some pretty difficult years recently (mostly with business). His recent journey seems to be focused on finding meaning to life and an emotional foundation.