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Dealing with your religious family.
November 16, 2011 at 5:32 pm
After reading this from Cinijin;
Quote:Further lamenting on this theme:
Even my own parents, who are Baptist Fundies, don't actually pray for god to heal their friend who has MS. No no, they actually pray that god will help the scientists and researchers to discover a cure.
It has always angered me to no end. EVEN THEY know (although they would NEVER admit it) that their god is not going to cure their friend.
I realised that if my parents were fucknuts, I'd have a lot of trouble dealing with them, thankfully both were atheist.
As most of you are from the US, I was wondering how you deal with your religious parents other relatives, and even religious friends.
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RE: Dealing with your religious family.
November 16, 2011 at 5:38 pm
(This post was last modified: November 16, 2011 at 5:42 pm by Anymouse.)
(November 16, 2011 at 5:32 pm)5thHorseman Wrote: I realised that if my parents were fucknuts, I'd have a lot of trouble dealing with them, thankfully both were atheist.
As most of you are from the US, I was wondering how you deal with your religious parents other relatives, and even religious friends.
Well, slowly my whole family has been sliding forward into athesim . . .
First my father slipped to atheism from Roman Catholicism before he was killed in Vietnam. Then my mother slipped from Wicca to agnosticism to atheism, then I married my atheist wife, and my own position started changing over five years to atheism, too.
My sister, though, in a reactionary move, became a deaconess of the MCC Church. My aunt Carolyn was Chief Presbyter of Chicago, my aunt Marilyn became an atheist in response to that.
"Be ye not lost amongst Precept of Order." - Book of Uterus, 1:5, "Principia Discordia, or How I Found Goddess and What I Did to Her When I Found Her."
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RE: Dealing with your religious family.
November 16, 2011 at 5:38 pm
I beat them.
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RE: Dealing with your religious family.
November 16, 2011 at 5:50 pm
Quote:No no, they actually pray that god will help the scientists and researchers to discover a cure.
Hmmm.... why wouldn't 'god' just tell them what the cure is? Assuming he wants them to find a cure he could hasten the process along and thereby save lots of lives.
Of course, if he doesn't want them to find a cure then god is just a prick.
Far more reasonable is the idea that there is no god to give a shit one way or the other.
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RE: Dealing with your religious family.
November 16, 2011 at 6:00 pm
My parents are not very religious, but I think maybe they never really thought about it.
I got them Dawkins book, don't think they read it.
I show them the facts, and I think they understand, its just so hard for people to think of something so ingrained into society to be a huge lie.
Religious friends? I just laugh at them and say... like are you for real? But usually I don't stay friends with them, they can't open their eyes, one track mind.
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RE: Dealing with your religious family.
November 16, 2011 at 6:02 pm
(November 16, 2011 at 5:38 pm)Anymouse Wrote:
Well, slowly my whole family has been sliding forward into athesim . . .
First my father slipped to atheism from Roman Catholicism before he was killed in Vietnam. Then my mother slipped from Wicca to agnosticism to atheism, then I married my atheist wife, and my own position started changing over five years to atheism, too.
I wouldn't say 'slipped'. I'd say 'climbed'.
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RE: Dealing with your religious family.
November 16, 2011 at 6:04 pm
(November 16, 2011 at 6:02 pm)ElDinero Wrote: I wouldn't say 'slipped'. I'd say 'climbed'.
Correction duly noted, Mr. Dinero. 
"Be ye not lost amongst Precept of Order." - Book of Uterus, 1:5, "Principia Discordia, or How I Found Goddess and What I Did to Her When I Found Her."
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RE: Dealing with your religious family.
November 16, 2011 at 6:18 pm
(This post was last modified: November 16, 2011 at 6:22 pm by Erinome.)
I ignore them as much as possible.
When forced to interact with them I remain civil, until a judgement is hurled toward me, then I react accordingly. When they start to pray I walk away.
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RE: Dealing with your religious family.
November 16, 2011 at 7:18 pm
Well my mom doesn't like it that I don't go to church, and I'm sure my in-laws don't either. But at least with my in-laws we have kind of an unspoken understanding. They don't pressure me to go to church and I respect their right to believe.
As for the rest of my family, most of them don't know I'm an atheist, and I'm not going to volunteer it unless asked. Most of my brothers & sisters live far away so I don't interact with them often.
Christian apologetics is the art of rolling a dog turd in sugar and selling it as a donut.
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RE: Dealing with your religious family.
November 17, 2011 at 12:19 pm
(This post was last modified: November 17, 2011 at 12:22 pm by mayor of simpleton.)
My parents are very much involved in the church (Christian) where they live. They seem to be under the assumption that my views are the same as theirs. I have found that voicing my opinion seems to get me nowhere. They just tune it out.
I simply let them believe what it is that they believe. It's not my life and I don't have to live it for them.
If I manage to do anything that is "good", well... of course this was Jesus, but if I fail at anything, well... logically that was 100% me. I've sort of learned to laugh at it under my breath.
The constantly pray for me. I'm quite sure that they feel that I am incapable to do anything without some sort of holy intervention. The logic goes as follows... if it all works out, then praise the lord, if it does not, then I obviously did something in disrespect to god; thus my punishment is just.
I sort of look at their prayers for me like people at a bowling tourney. There is silence until the ball is thrown, then they all cheer the ball on it's way. Right! As if their "cheers" will somehow influence the direction of the ball. I suppose it is their way of feeling like they have a stock in my life.
Then again, my family is really odd. I was a professional cyclist for 3 years (short list for the 1988 Olympics) and they never noticed it. In spite of them both being coaches for sports in High School, the obvious seems to escape them.
I suppose that in many ways, you cannot help the helpless.
Meow!
GREG
Moral is as moral does and as moral wishes it all too be. - MoS
The absence of all empirical evidence for the necessity of intuitive X existing is evidence against the necessary empirical existence of intuitive X - MoS (variation of 180proof)
Athesim is not a system of belief, but rather a single answer to a single question. It is the designation applied by theists to those who do not share their assumption that a god/deity exists. - MoS
I am not one to attribute godlike qualities to things that I am unable to understand. I may never be in the position to understand certain things, but I am not about to create an anthropomorphic deity out of my short-commings. I wish not to errect a monument to my own personal ignorace and demand that others worship this proxy of ego. - MoS
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