Something's been bothering me for the past week or so, and I guess I just need to vent a little to people who can understand where I'm coming from.
One night last week my wife & I went over to her folks to visit. Her mother, sister, and sister's husband were there watching the end of "The Passion of the Christ" when we arrived. I didn't say a word, but made sure my 2-year-old son stayed in the other room watching kid's shows while the more gruesome parts of "Passion" were on screen.
Anyway, at the end of the movie, my very devoutly and fundie Catholic mother-in-law said something about getting out some other Jesus movie, and I jokingly said, "I've got 'The Life of Brian.'" Well I didn't know it but she took great offense at that, to which my wife told me that I should apologize. So I went out to where my mother-in-law was and apologized for the comment but that I didn't mean any offense. She was upset that I am still an atheist after nearly a year ago she asked me if I would go talk to the local priest, which I said I would some time but never did. Apparently she takes offense that I have my mind made up about atheism and believes that I need to keep searching for answers. She was asking me different things about what I believe and then reacting with disgust when I told her. But the only reason I ever agreed to go talk to the priest was because I felt pressured into it. I have my mind made up and unless he has this mysterious absolute proof for God's existence, there's no reason to talk to him.
I did tell her that it's not my fault that she's uncomfortable with her belief that I'm going to end up in Hell. I don't believe in such a place, so I'm not worried about it. If she's worried about that, then maybe she needs to examine her own beliefs. And basically why would I want to worship a being that threatens to send me to such a place? She also brought up a few other Christian beliefs which I refuted, such as the rapture which I told her wasn't in the bible, but she claimed it was in Revelation. I've read the entire book of Revelation and it is not in there. That's when she brought up the "You just need to talk to someone more knowledgeable about it than me." I probably should have then played the "if you don't know that much about your religion, then why should I follow it?" card. I know she hasn't read the bible.
So because I did say that I'd go talk to the priest some time (though I never said when), I feel like I need to just go and get it out of the way. But it's not easy because I work 10 1/2 hours a day and unless he wants to chat some evening it's hard for me to find time to do it. Nor do I consider it a priority. I don't see why it's incumbent upon me to keep talking to people until my beliefs get aligned with theirs.
I think one of the things which really pissed me off was that she was chiding me for having my mind made up, when she is the most close-minded individual I've ever met. Anyone who knows me knows that hypocrisy is one thing I can't stand in a person. But it's as if my atheist beliefs just don't matter and I should continue to respect her beliefs while she scoffs at mine.
So anyway, it's something that's been bothering me. Only way I want to really talk to the priest is if he shares some of his homebrew beer with me.
One night last week my wife & I went over to her folks to visit. Her mother, sister, and sister's husband were there watching the end of "The Passion of the Christ" when we arrived. I didn't say a word, but made sure my 2-year-old son stayed in the other room watching kid's shows while the more gruesome parts of "Passion" were on screen.
Anyway, at the end of the movie, my very devoutly and fundie Catholic mother-in-law said something about getting out some other Jesus movie, and I jokingly said, "I've got 'The Life of Brian.'" Well I didn't know it but she took great offense at that, to which my wife told me that I should apologize. So I went out to where my mother-in-law was and apologized for the comment but that I didn't mean any offense. She was upset that I am still an atheist after nearly a year ago she asked me if I would go talk to the local priest, which I said I would some time but never did. Apparently she takes offense that I have my mind made up about atheism and believes that I need to keep searching for answers. She was asking me different things about what I believe and then reacting with disgust when I told her. But the only reason I ever agreed to go talk to the priest was because I felt pressured into it. I have my mind made up and unless he has this mysterious absolute proof for God's existence, there's no reason to talk to him.
I did tell her that it's not my fault that she's uncomfortable with her belief that I'm going to end up in Hell. I don't believe in such a place, so I'm not worried about it. If she's worried about that, then maybe she needs to examine her own beliefs. And basically why would I want to worship a being that threatens to send me to such a place? She also brought up a few other Christian beliefs which I refuted, such as the rapture which I told her wasn't in the bible, but she claimed it was in Revelation. I've read the entire book of Revelation and it is not in there. That's when she brought up the "You just need to talk to someone more knowledgeable about it than me." I probably should have then played the "if you don't know that much about your religion, then why should I follow it?" card. I know she hasn't read the bible.
So because I did say that I'd go talk to the priest some time (though I never said when), I feel like I need to just go and get it out of the way. But it's not easy because I work 10 1/2 hours a day and unless he wants to chat some evening it's hard for me to find time to do it. Nor do I consider it a priority. I don't see why it's incumbent upon me to keep talking to people until my beliefs get aligned with theirs.
I think one of the things which really pissed me off was that she was chiding me for having my mind made up, when she is the most close-minded individual I've ever met. Anyone who knows me knows that hypocrisy is one thing I can't stand in a person. But it's as if my atheist beliefs just don't matter and I should continue to respect her beliefs while she scoffs at mine.
So anyway, it's something that's been bothering me. Only way I want to really talk to the priest is if he shares some of his homebrew beer with me.
Christian apologetics is the art of rolling a dog turd in sugar and selling it as a donut.
