Two Recent Encounters With christians

[freedomfromforum]

Encounter #1

The other day I had lunch with one of my
former buddies who is still a christian.
He reported having recently had what he
calls a “god encounter”. In this encounter,
my pal (we’ll call him “Hal”), apparently
bumped into an old acquaintance who had
come down with the same condition as
Hal (a common skin disorder). Hal reports
that he and his old buddy were “so excited”
that they both had the same malady, and
they saw this re-acquaintance as “god’s
hand of providence” reuniting them so
they could pray for each other. Seriously?
how fucking stupid do you have to be to
actually rejoice for having an uncomfortable
skin disorder?

I asked Hal if the mutual prayer time
helped any with the rash or the itching, and
Hal said “No, but isn’t god great!?” I was
struggling to see how god could be getting
credit for doing nothing for their condition,
and I was curious what was so great about
the meeting. I asked Hal, “Are you under
the impression that god gave you the skin
rash in order to bring you two together?”
Hal was silent; I added, “If that were
the case, would you still praise god for
bringing you two together? Surely god
could have done that without having to
cause the two of you so much pain and
discomfort associated with your rash.”
Hal stepped back, looked me up and down,
and said, “I heard you lost your faith,
but I had no idea how bad it had gotten.
May I pray for you?” I told Hal that my
question was a Sincere one, and that it
deserved Proper consideration. Hal
seemed Very uncomfortable and asked
if We could change the subject…
(one that he brought up to begin with)

I’ve seen this over and over again.
When a christian is asked a sincere
question that causes them to truly
consider the bullshit coming from
their own mouths, they often attack,
divert, and/or avoid. Needless to say,
I’m sure “Hal” walked away re-
considering his “god encounter”. I
wonder If he can consider our meeting a
“god encounter” since it was of actual
value?


Encounter #2

I bumped into an acquaintance from
the last church I left. The pastor there
is a Pentecostal preacher with a Southern
Baptist upbringing. The last straw, and the
reason I finally left the church, was
the “tongues and interpretation of
tongues” that was being practiced there.
All a bunch of “Shambalambana Tooduto
booku” crap - you know the type. I
heard that crap there one time and left.
(I was obviously still christian at this point)

Following my departure from that
church, I met with the pastor to explain
why I left, and what I believed the bible
says about the heresy being practiced
in his church. He sharply rebuked me
for my lack of faith and said that he was
glad I had left the church since
I was behaving “So rudely”. I told
the pastor that I saw his church
closing within the next six months,
and that he would have to repent
to the congregation for his
arrogance in presuming a Moses
role over the church, and for not
listening to the people. He told me
I was no prophet, and that my
prediction was a “dung heap.”
Now, back to the guy I bumped
into…. You’ll never guess what he
had to report to me…
Yup, the church closed. Exactly five
months and twenty-two days
following my “dung heap” prediction,
the church closed, and the
pastor publically repented to the
church for his poor leadership and for
not listening to the people. I used to
call that prophecy - now I know it was
just a common sense observation that
the church was a doomed mess.

Another one bites the dust…
I could not be happier.

[tokutter]

Encounter #1

The other day I had lunch with one of my
former buddies who is still a christian.
He reported having recently had what he
calls a “god encounter”. In this encounter,
my pal (we’ll call him “Hal”), apparently
bumped into an old acquaintance who had
come down with the same condition as
Hal (a common skin disorder). Hal reports
that he and his old buddy were “so excited”
that they both had the same malady, and
they saw this re-acquaintance as “god’s
hand of providence” reuniting them so
they could pray for each other. Seriously?
how fucking stupid do you have to be to
actually rejoice for having an uncomfortable
skin disorder?

I asked Hal if the mutual prayer time
helped any with the rash or the itching, and
Hal said “No, but isn’t god great!?” I was
struggling to see how god could be getting
credit for doing nothing for their condition,
and I was curious what was so great about
the meeting. I asked Hal, “Are you under
the impression that god gave you the skin
rash in order to bring you two together?”
Hal was silent; I added, “If that were
the case, would you still praise god for
bringing you two together? Surely god
could have done that without having to
cause the two of you so much pain and
discomfort associated with your rash.”
Hal stepped back, looked me up and down,
and said, “I heard you lost your faith,
but I had no idea how bad it had gotten.
May I pray for you?” I told Hal that my
question was a Sincere one, and that it
deserved Proper consideration. Hal
seemed Very uncomfortable and asked
if We could change the subject…
(one that he brought up to begin with)

I’ve seen this over and over again.
When a christian is asked a sincere
question that causes them to truly
consider the bullshit coming from
their own mouths, they often attack,
divert, and/or avoid. Needless to say,
I’m sure “Hal” walked away re-
considering his “god encounter”. I
wonder If he can consider our meeting a
“god encounter” since it was of actual
value?


Encounter #2

I bumped into an acquaintance from
the last church I left. The pastor there
is a Pentecostal preacher with a Southern
Baptist upbringing. The last straw, and the
reason I finally left the church, was
the “tongues and interpretation of
tongues” that was being practiced there.
All a bunch of “Shambalambana Tooduto
booku” crap - you know the type. I
heard that crap there one time and left.
(I was obviously still christian at this point)

Following my departure from that
church, I met with the pastor to explain
why I left, and what I believed the bible
says about the heresy being practiced
in his church. He sharply rebuked me
for my lack of faith and said that he was
glad I had left the church since
I was behaving “So rudely”. I told
the pastor that I saw his church
closing within the next six months,
and that he would have to repent
to the congregation for his
arrogance in presuming a Moses
role over the church, and for not
listening to the people. He told me
I was no prophet, and that my
prediction was a “dung heap.”
Now, back to the guy I bumped
into…. You’ll never guess what he
had to report to me…
Yup, the church closed. Exactly five
months and twenty-two days
following my “dung heap” prediction,
the church closed, and the
pastor publically repented to the
church for his poor leadership and for
not listening to the people. I used to
call that prophecy - now I know it was
just a common sense observation that
the church was a doomed mess.

Another one bites the dust…
I could not be happier.

I had a similar encounter with a close relative.

She posted on her facebook page a picture of a soldier in Iraq (pretty sure) sitting in a chair, asleep, holding a little girl who's head was bandaged.

Her comment was the usual...look....the lord at work...praise jesus.

Reading the story I find out the girls family was......wait for it.................yes....SLAUGHTERED...and she got a bullet through the head....but lived.

So I called her on it.

To which she replied she was focusing on the brotherly love the soldier was showing.

[Doubting Thomas]

I’ve seen this over and over again.
When a christian is asked a sincere
question that causes them to truly
consider the bullshit coming from
their own mouths, they often attack,
divert, and/or avoid.

It's because those kinds of questions make them totally uncomfortable. That's why they tend to surround themselves with like-minded people, so they don't have to consider those uncomfortable questions which make them question their own faith.

I mean really, rejoicing that God gave you a skin condition? It's obvious your friend never ever considered that God wouldn't have to do that to bring two people together, and their meeting and shared skin condition are just coincidences.

[Drich]

I myself am not a 'feel' gooder. I don't look for the 'good' in everything myself and simply tolerate those who do, but at the same time I know we are all members of the same body, and not every member of the body is called to be an eye, or a hand or a foot. (Meaning we can not all act think and function the same way.) We all have our respective tasks and all God asks of us it to simply be faithful to what we have been given. Which i know is what the 'feel fooders' are doing. I know the 'body' needs feel gooders if for no other reason than to offset people like me.

[Brakeman]

I myself am not a 'feel' gooder. I don't look for the 'good' in everything myself and simply tolerate those who do, but at the same time I know we are all members of the same body, and not every member of the body is called to be an eye, or a hand or a foot. (Meaning we can not all act think and function the same way.) We all have our respective tasks and all God asks of us it to simply be faithful to what we have been given. Which i know is what the 'feel fooders' are doing. I know the 'body' needs feel gooders if for no other reason than to offset people like me.

It looks like your congregation has the bowels covered too.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

These were my two most recent encounters with Christians.

1) I did the marketing yesterday, and the girl who rang up my purchases was wearing a small crucifix round her neck. She was polite, friendly and efficient.

2) On my run earlier this moring, I stopped at a local park for a breather. A big black dog (you know the sort - uber-friendly, wants nothing more than for you to throw a stick for him) came galuphing up to me, cavorting like some sort of canine lunatic. I played with him a bit when his owner came up and said, 'Sorry! I hope he didn't bother you.' I assured the man that I was very fond of dogs, and his animal seemed to have a very sweet disposition. We chatted for a minute or two, and the man left with a cheery wave and said, 'God bless you!'

They aren't ALL whack-a-nuts.

Boru

[genkaus]

Apropos your first encounter - is there a name for that specific psychological phenomena?

This is something we encounter quite often when a tragic event us juxtaposed with a silver lining. Recently, a close friend of mine and his parents were in a car accident. While the parents escaped with relatively minor injuries (broken arm and a concussion), my friend's condition was quite serious for a bit. He had a broken femur and jaw, underwent a few surgeries and has been confined to bed for the past few months. He is, however, expected to make a full recovery. Now, none of them are particularly religious, and yet, during my last visit, they made the grating statement "Thank God it wasn't worse". I was tempted to ask if they blamed him for the accident as well.

However, these kind of pithy comforting statements, which if you think about it, should not be all that comforting - are made all the time. "Thank god he survived". "Thank god he didn't suffer". "Thank God they found the cancer in time". And so on. Essentially, you are not blaming god for the terrible thing that has happened and yet you are crediting him for not making it even worse? There should be a name for this phenomenon, right?

[Doubting Thomas]

I think "Thank God" has become just a saying in our society and any more doesn't really have much religious meaning to it. It's like saying "Thank goodness."

[freedomfromforum]

They aren't ALL whack-a-nuts.

Boru

Yes, you are correct. I know many
very kind christians. Odds are they'd
be just as nice as atheists. I will do
better to post good reports. Thanks
for your gentle reminder.

[Heir Apparent]

"They aren't ALL whack-a-nuts."

No, this is very true. But it's more fun to hear about the crazy ones