Not sure what religions you're referring to, but you're right, you can't be Christ-like and witness to the lost if you never have contact with them. However, you won't find me as a Christian hanging out in a gay bar anytime soon. There's a line.

As a Methodist, we are not taught this. As a mother I want my daughter to 'hang' with Christians only because I do not want the bad influences of this world to find her till she is a strong person. I never thought about this till last year, fourth grade, there was a young lady (twelve years of age) who had failed more than once. She runs wild (we live in the same neighborhood,) I have never seen either of her parents. Anyway, my daughter decided to emulate her, she started doing bad in school, bad attitude (she was nine at the time.) This from one girl!! My daughter barely made it into the fifth grade (after summer school) and her attitude has not changed much, but I have made sure that her friends are ones where the parents are decent and are raising well mannered, respectable children. Not wild hooligans-we pray for her and others whose parents are too caught up in their own lives that they could care less about their childrens lives-this shows big time. Sorry if I rambled, tried to make it as short as possible. In His service, <:))))<>< "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21

You need to stay away from those that preach this. Unless we "do" associate with "these", hug them, help them, be there for them, listen to them and reach out to them, carry them when they can't do it on their own, we are worst of the worst. We can fool our selfs and others, and play our Christian games, but I wonder how will we we stack up agianst this scripture? Matthew 25:43-45 (King James Version) "43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me."

Hi! Some religions require there members not to associate with people who don't believe what they teach because they don't want their followers to learn that what they teach isn't what they make it out to be--which is that they are they only religion that has the truth. It is not singular to Christian religions; but, it does happen within the Christian community. I say that if your faith cannot withstand exposure to other peoples faiths or beliefs then maybe you don't have the truth after all. A separate issue is; be a part of the world while not being of it. This means that Christians should live in the world--that is not separate themselves as most cults tend to do--but not to conform to it. They should associate with people who are not believers in order to show them that Jesus is the way by their actions. We are to be salt and light to non-believers. They are not to be intimate friends with these people because non-believers won't be able to support them in their faith and may even cause them to doubt what they believe. That is not to say you cannot have non-believeing friends. Indeed, I have many non-believers whom I cherish as friends. But, I also have many believeing friends whom I can turn to for support and advice in times of crisis. I hope that helps.

There is the expression, "birds of a feather, flock together". You do have to take the counsel in the Bible for what it is worth 1 Cornithians 15:33 puts it very clearly. If you hang out with rotten fruit, you will get contaminated and become rotten yourself.