How to spiritually support my christian friend as an atheist
A close friend of mine who is a christian is very ill right now. I would like to pray for them but my utter lack of belief in anything remotely theist makes that impossible for me. How can I still support them?
Christians have reasonable expectations from their friends who do not share their beliefs. So, what could an atheist say? “You are on my thoughts and in my heart.” Or, "I am here for you." The words will come to you. Your Christian friend will greatly appreciate that. Compassion is something we can share just from being human. Filial affection and friendship transcends all divisions in the human family. That would certainly mean a lot. Many non-Christian philosophers have written about friendship, for example, Aristotle in his Eudemian Ethics (see book VII: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0050%3Abook%3D7%3Asection%3D1234b ).
