Venting here.

[zebo-the-fat]

What is the point of a god who does nothing ?

They don't claim he does nothing. The real objection is when you have the power but are selective about it. No sane parent would treat their own kids in such a selective manor. Imagine what Child Protective Services would do if for example, they came across a couple with 3 kids, where one was well fed and had a clean room, the second kid had a room full of cockroaches, and the third kid was beaten and bruised and living in the unheated garage in the dead of winter.

I have yet to see any sign of him doing anything

[Brian37]

They don't claim he does nothing. The real objection is when you have the power but are selective about it. No sane parent would treat their own kids in such a selective manor. Imagine what Child Protective Services would do if for example, they came across a couple with 3 kids, where one was well fed and had a clean room, the second kid had a room full of cockroaches, and the third kid was beaten and bruised and living in the unheated garage in the dead of winter.

I have yet to see any sign of him doing anything

If you ever do go see a mental health professional

[The Valkyrie]

When it comes to my mother and religion, that gets on my nerves real quick. So yesterday at my mom's long term care home, a Catholic priest who often visits passed us on his way to his car while we were outside. So he says "You know God knows you are here".

It took me every fiber of my being, though I did give him a dirty look, not to fucking shout at him. "THEN THAT MAKES YOUR GOD A FUCKING PRICK"

My mom's friend who was with us, could tell I was irritated by him and she knew I was an atheist. Her friend is another can of worms I wont get into, but when she said "Just let him say it and let it go".

I need to vent here because I love my mom and she still supports me to this day even with everything she goes through and the thought of her not being around is terrifying to me. 

So again, I am relegated to implied silence even though it is my own mother so all I can do is scream about the horrible logic theism causes.

There simply is no polite way especially if one wants to claim a cosmic security guard how horrible that claim is. IF you want to make that claim then sorry, there is no way I can find such a god moral. My mom doesn't want to be there, I don't want her to be there. I hate seeing her have to give up more of her independence much less having to go through the operation that lead her to have to move to long term care.

I don't care if you want to call this god Allah or Yahweh or Jesus or chalk it up to any other multitude of god claims in human history. If one has the power to protect someone, like a police officer, or teacher or baby sitter but sits on their hands and does nothing, they are dicks. My mother spent 30 years of her life as a teacher. So why is she going through all this? Because of reality, because of old age, not because of some stupid old bronze age myth claim of a sky wizard battling a ground troll. 

It is 2016 not 329. God does not exist. My mom is simply old and everyone gets old eventually. It sucks yes, nobody wants to get old, but that is the reality. I simply get tired of listening to horrible logic and not only horrible logic, but immoral logic on top of that. My mom has been nothing but good to everyone in her life, even with all our quirks and differences, so if this is someone's idea of caring, they can go fuck themselves. My mom is alive because of doctors not sky wizards. 

Yes I am cussing and angry. No, I don't want religious people arrested or harmed. I AM SIMPLY SAYING YOUR LOGIC SUCKS and I am tired of having to bite my tongue. It was understandable that humans made and bought those myths back then. But when it comes to my mother knowing our scientific reality, in 2016, you are not only insulting my intellect, you are insulting my mother as well.

Let us forget about the priest unfortunate comment and concentrate on your idea that .............If one has the power to protect someone, like a police officer, or teacher or baby sitter but sits on their hands and does nothing, they are dicks.............you are surely right but if you relate this idea to God then you are dead wrong.
Your free will automatically cut God intervention.
Why God should intervene and take away your free will?
God may well intervene but only if you build up a good relationship with him not when you decide to keep your free will regardless.  

"Free will": the ultimate cop out.

[Brian37]

Exactly Val, it is an intellectual cop out, "I don't know so therefore I will pull shit out of my ass because it suits my own desires." It does not pass the logic test one bit. It is trying to burn the candle at both ends.

[Catholic_Lady]

I think the priest had no idea you were an atheist and thought what he said would be of comfort to you. The dirty look must have caught him off guard if he noticed it.

I am sorry about your mother.

[Brian37]

I think the priest had no idea you were an atheist and thought what he said would be of comfort to you. The dirty look must have caught him off guard if he noticed it.

Way to miss the point. If you were born in Saudi Arabia most would assume you were a Sunni like them. If you were born in Iran most would assume you were a Shiite. If you were born in India, most would assume you were Hindu or Sikh. When you are the minority the majority gets upset when you question. I don't have the same freedoms you do. I don't mean Constitutionally, I do certainly. But if I had even tried to be polite to him in objecting to his bad logic, to far too many humans, of any religion the silence of the minority is expected. 

The truth is that he could not handle a real conversation about his logic in a neutral setting, instead, he peddles like Jews and Muslims and Buddhists hiding behind a costume and and old writings of antiquity. He doesn't have to be aware of what he is doing no, but he is still having an unreasonable expectation of supremacy without any backing of neutral objective fact. No, I am not picking on him because he is catholic. I am saying I do get tired of my personal life an personal moments being hijacked by others knowing that if I object even if politely, I will be met with scorn as if I had murdered their family.

Holy people of ALL religions in our species history, hide behind words, not evidence, and falsely attach the good in our species evolution to a sky hero. I really don't care about his intent, collectively speaking, majorities worldwide stupidly act like they are victims if anyone questions them. 

The web for many atheists, especially in red states, is our only connection to the freedom to express our objections, much in the same way but worse it is for Christians and Gays and minority Muslims and atheists living in the middle east. No, I don't have it anywhere near as bad as a Kurdish Christian in Iraq, but I am tired of the dirty looks and looked at as suspect in the rare times I do tell people outside the web.

The few times I have worn an atheist hat or shirt in public, I have gotten dirty looks and shouted at. I have had someone try to have me fired.

That is nothing compared to the stories I have heard in my 15 years of being on line about atheists being kicked out of their apartments, having their personal property destroyed, and teens living as prisoners in their own homes with fundy family members. But it still sucks, that that presumption of silence is expected. A costume and old book does not make you right nor does your title.

[AceBoogie]

To OP

That sounds very frustrating and aggravating. Kudos to you for not flipping out on that guy. Unfortunately religion allows people to have gaps in their logic and ability to reason. It allows otherwise intelligent (and sometimes not so intelligent) people to be very stupid at times. Religion gives people an out, a way to explain evil in the world, a way to deal with hurt, a way to cope with difficult emotions or situations in life.

Does that excuse the shitty behavior that people sometimes exhibit in the name of religion? No. But sometimes it does help to understand where other people are coming from, even if you want to choke those people sometimes. I hope your mother is happy and healthy, given her situation. Concerning the priest... he's a sheep who doesn't know any better. Let the sheep live in ignorant bliss. If he challenges you or makes you feel unbearably uncomfortable, maybe then it will be time to confront him with some harsh truths about his god. Until then, let him be an asshole and ignore him.

[Fake Messiah]

Well aren't the priests ones with short fuse? When he said "You know God knows you are here" you could have replied with something funny and neat, because you know it takes little to make this guys berserk, like when they forbade playing chess. So you could have replied:

"What she knows I'm here?" - you know how they hate the thought that a woman may be the god.
OR
"You don't have to use your pick up lines on me, I'm not an altar boy."
OR
"What! Allah knows I'm here?!"

[Brian37]

To OP

That sounds very frustrating and aggravating. Kudos to you for not flipping out on that guy. Unfortunately religion allows people to have gaps in their logic and ability to reason. It allows otherwise intelligent (and sometimes not so intelligent) people to be very stupid at times. Religion gives people an out, a way to explain evil in the world, a way to deal with hurt, a way to cope with difficult emotions or situations in life.

Does that excuse the shitty behavior that people sometimes exhibit in the name of religion? No. But sometimes it does help to understand where other people are coming from, even if you want to choke those people sometimes. I hope your mother is happy and healthy, given her situation. Concerning the priest... he's a sheep who doesn't know any better. Let the sheep live in ignorant bliss. If he challenges you or makes you feel unbearably uncomfortable, maybe then it will be time to confront him with some harsh truths about his god. Until then, let him be an asshole and ignore him.

I wouldn't say every religious person or holy person doesn't know any better. I think even in the face of evidence people are so desperate to ignore harsh reality that the idea of having a cosmic security guard is too much for them to reject. But ignorant sheep or willfully ignorant it is a universal behavior with our species to far to much put gap filling above reason. Dawkins in "The God Delusion" explains in evolutionary terms why humans gap fill based on false perceptions. And Victor Stenger's two books "God The Failed Hypothesis" and "The New Atheism" really put a nail in the coffin of sky hero claims.

[Brian37]

Well aren't the priests ones with short fuse? When he said "You know God knows you are here" you could have replied with something funny and neat, because you know it takes little to make this guys berserk, like when they forbade playing chess. So you could have replied:

"What she knows I'm here?" - you know how they hate the thought that a woman may be the god.
OR
"You don't have to use your pick up lines on me, I'm not an altar boy."
OR
"What! Allah knows I'm here?!"

Ha ha ha ha ha! Yea but for right now, she has to live there. Reminds me of a joke I made up.

Have you heard about the new Catholic confessionals? The windows are groin height.