The Bible

[Cinjin]

Yeah, my dad really sucked the fun out of fundamentalist.


What are you gonna do? I cannot be the person someone else wants me to be.
It's amazing to me how someone will sacrifice everything for an entity they openly admit they have neither seen nor heard.
I could never simply write my son off as an acceptable loss for a deity that didn't even have the decency to show up.

No being great or small could ever have that kind of power over me ... let alone one that was the masturbatory creation of primitive cowards.

[Doubting Thomas]

My mom knows I don't go to church but doesn't say anything to me about it. I don't think she knows I'm an atheist, but as long as she doesn't ask I won't tell.

[Clueless Morgan]

My mom knows I don't go to church but doesn't say anything to me about it. I don't think she knows I'm an atheist, but as long as she doesn't ask I won't tell.

Like I said, I don't think my mom remembers me telling her I'm an atheist and since the topic of religion so rarely comes up in casual conversation I don't know when it will come up naturally again. When religion does come up I already express my skepticism about whatever the claim is that we're talking about and the conversation never broaches anything about belief in what we're talking about, it stays firmly in the realm of the likelihood of the claim being made.

The other problem is my that mom recognizes that some Christian traditions are adopted from other faith traditions and cultures, she just thinks that Christians were brilliant in adopting those traditions in order to further their cause. Many a time she has commented to me that Christians were brilliant when they moved the date of Christmas to December 25th and incorporated the pagan tree. She's also said things to me about how ingenious ancient priests were when they devised slight-of-hand illusions in order to get people to believe they are capable of miracle working and how they were so clever in devising hidden mechanical ways of opening doors so it would appear they would open on their own or something... SHE KNOWS IT'S ALL BULLSHIT! But she'll follow up statements like these with almost teary eyed awe that when Akhenaten tried to get Egypt to go monotheistic it was like God's rough draft - "he was trying to make himself known, it was just too bad the Egyptians were so conservative!"

Confirmation bias. She sees what she wants.

Anyway, what was this thread about before I derailed it??

[The Valkyrie]

My mom knows I don't go to church but doesn't say anything to me about it. I don't think she knows I'm an atheist, but as long as she doesn't ask I won't tell.

My mother knows I'm an atheist and she hates that. But what she seems to hate more is that I'm nearly 29, still single, have a great career and, far worse, don't have any kids (and don't want any).

Oh, and it's my fault my younger brother became an atheist, apparently, even though he says it's what he saw in Afghanistan done in the name of religion that did that.

Still my fault, though!

[Zazzy]

Perhaps one day we'll have a discussion about it and I'll learn whether she feels the same way Cinjin's father feels. Then I might have to do some reevaluating.

Do you WANT to have that conversation? I can't imagine how I'd feel in your position, knowing about the experiences of folks like Cinjin.

I've given this a little thought since first reading this post (and I'm doing the thinking on a few glasses of wine, so...) and I can't imagine ever wanting or trying to have this conversation. Of course, my mother gets angry if people ask her if they can pray for her. Is this something people need to do with their parents? I feel crappy asking, but I want to know, and this is outside of my parental experience. If it makes anyone feel better, even though my father is a BIG atheist, I don't have a relationship with him because of his narcissism. So atheist parents are not the be-all and end-all.

[Cato]

I'm linking a fair critique of the show. Don't waste your time. My wife and I started watching, but this soon turned into Bible show and tell since she thought I was making up the interjections of unsavory bits that the show conveniently omitted.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree...reality-tv

[Lion IRC]

Yep. Definitely 'unsavory' bits in the bible.

If they showed everything and depicted it realistically, it would be adults only TV.


From Church readings today.

"It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested and tortured with whips and scourges by the king...
...We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors.
At that the king [Antiochus], in a fury, gave orders to have pans and caldrons heated. These were quickly heated, and he gave the order to cut out the..."
From 2 Maccabees, chapter 7


"...Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here and slay them before me."
Luke 19:27

[Clueless Morgan]

Perhaps one day we'll have a discussion about it and I'll learn whether she feels the same way Cinjin's father feels. Then I might have to do some reevaluating.

Do you WANT to have that conversation? I can't imagine how I'd feel in your position, knowing about the experiences of folks like Cinjin.

I've given this a little thought since first reading this post (and I'm doing the thinking on a few glasses of wine, so...) and I can't imagine ever wanting or trying to have this conversation. Of course, my mother gets angry if people ask her if they can pray for her. Is this something people need to do with their parents? I feel crappy asking, but I want to know, and this is outside of my parental experience. If it makes anyone feel better, even though my father is a BIG atheist, I don't have a relationship with him because of his narcissism. So atheist parents are not the be-all and end-all.

To keep this thread on topic, I've started a new thread to continue this discussion:
Atheists dealing with their religious families

My reply can be found there, unless there's already a thread about this topic in which case someone will probably link it...