If you were ever a theist...

[Brakeman]

.. one day I realized that if someone is happy in their faith, if on some level it brings them a sense of joy, even if I didn't believe in the origin of that joy, who was I to talk them out of it? If someone is harming others with their beliefs, that's a different story.

Let me tell you a true story from my past.

A Family that was very close to us growing up and whose dad and my dad were ordained in the same Second Baptist church of Maryville (Now defunct) during the sixties and seventies had a tragic ripping apart. They had a Daughter, Debbie, who was about a year and a half older than me and a son Danny who was maybe 1 and a half years younger than me. When we moved on to other churches in the eighties we saw them less but warmly met them on most holidays. Anyway in 1982, when Danny was sixteen, Debbie came out as gay to her religious parents. Because of the condemning uproar and dis-ownment, Danny who loved his sister so much, ran out into the yard and set himself afire with gasoline. He died so horribly that neighboring kids who witnessed it were quite scarred.

This boy I played with as a child died because christian teachings and christian parents who may also have felt a sense of joy, voiced christian condemnation against his beloved sister.  

I was at his funeral. Nothing was said about the reason he killed himself, only talk of lambs, jesus, and heaven. If someone like me now would have addressed the contradictions and moral problems with the bible with their parents before 1982, I might have a fantastic friend who I could call up and maybe our kids could have played together. Instead I have very distant friendship with a scarred Debbie who wanted nothing to do with her mom or her dead dad the last time I spoke with her, and only a gravestone for Danny.

I also have a first cousin who is gay and has AIDs and likely won't see much of 2016. I didn't know anything about his gayness or his disease, I didn't even know what had become of him. Only recently because of a dire turn for the worse was anyone in my family aware that anything was wrong other than they wouldn't talk to us much because they are Mormon. I couldn't and still can't be a friend and a shoulder for him because or the mormon church wall his family have built around him.

As for most of my extended family they are christians of various cherry picked states but I cannot be myself to any of them because of the extreme ostracizing I would receive for declaring myself an atheist on facebook or such. I must live in a closet and nod and attempt to change subjects on nearly every holiday get together and I must ignore their ridiculously stupid posts on facebook every day. But hey, whatever gives them joy right..

So I am sensitive to the idea that religion has a good side or is harmless. I know you don't want to get into any debate with me but do know that there are bad side effects for believing ancient false claims from the middle east. This isn't just about going along with cute Noah's ark children's books.

Thanks for letting me vent!


Last minute addendum,

Fuck god for saying My friend Debbie should be stoned to death because she is gay.
Fuck any christians that think sweet Eric is being godly punished with aids because he is gay.
Fuck god for saying my wife  should be stoned to death because she wasn't a virgin when we married.
Fuck god for saying it's good parenting to beat your kids with rods.
Fuck god for saying that my daughters are more unclean and are to be subservient to some man's sons.
Fuck god for the huge list of punishable condemnations that don't meet our moral standards anymore and were never really good or right when they were written. They were just an artifact of the bigotries and ignorance of goat herders from the bronze and iron ages.