Still struggling.

[God of Mr. Hanky]

---

Don't be surprised, as time goes on,
if this behaviour on her part turns out to extend beyond the religious stuff.

My own mother, a devout Christian,
has zero doubt, by this point,
of my Agnosticism and my profound Anti-Theism views,
and knows far better, by now, than to try and engage me on the subject,
because she knows she'll be pulverized in a debate,

but that same pattern of denial still stretches to other things,
and it is just as maddening...for example:

Mom has enabled my narcissistic sister to destroy our family
but takes no responsibility for her own entirely pivotal role and the consequences that result;

I warned her and warned her and warned her that she was driving me away
and past the point of return,

yet only an hour ago,
Mom bizarrely asked me if I want to invite my sisters to my upcoming 40th birthday,
as if none of the shit of the past 10 years ever happened,
and as if I am not at this very moment struggling to cope with the enormous losses
and tragic fallout that resulted from all of Mom's favouritism,
and my sister's evil manipulations.

Unreal.

Well, I am not going to wear out my teeth knawing files.

Once I am finished dealing with my present situation,
THEN reality will come crashing down on my mother
....whether she's in denial, or not.

I have stopped expecting her to be reasonable,
and now just regard her as basically just a crazy old lady
to whom it is an utter waste of time to try to explain even the simplest concepts.

I just walk away when she says stupid shit like that,
not deeming it worthy of a reply.


Oh, you're not alone, there.

Some of the finest artwork, most exquisite music, and most magnificent architecture in all of human history,
has been created in praise of God....or in service of the Church, depending on how you look at it.

Just savour the honey, and cast away the sting, that's my advice.

---

Remember, a magic number of Christians have to die before Jesus returns. The people who died when the roof collapsed and those that were hit by the bus all add to that number.  Who knows when the magic number will be reached?

At least one of the fundy preachers I encountered believed that it would happen after the conversion of last person who would every be converted...or realistically, when the last of them who would produce offspring were dead.

[MTL]

Remember, a magic number of Christians have to die before Jesus returns. The people who died when the roof collapsed and those that were hit by the bus all add to that number.  Who knows when the magic number will be reached?

At least one of the fundy preachers I encountered believed that it would happen after the conversion of last person who would every be converted...or realistically, when the last of them who would produce offspring were dead.

[KevinM1]

Movies over, i find it horribly immoral, that they celebrate and worship someones torture, assuming the man even existed.

Christianity is really masturbatory when it comes to the crucifixion.  It's the part where everything gets twisted - the more he suffers, the more you owe him.  Even though vicarious blood sacrifice is really friggin' immoral if anyone stops to think about it for even a second.

I mean, why should I be glad that this guy sacrificed himself for me if I'm the one who did wrong?  How does his torture and death absolve me?  And that's assuming I did anything so heinous and vile that the only fitting response is torture followed by death to begin with, which by my calculations I haven't even remotely approached yet in my 36 years on this mud ball we call a planet.

It's the ultimate guilt trip, designed to end all questioning and thought on the matter.  "Jesus died for your sins!"  Well, sin is a silly concept, one which flies in the face of reality.  And I didn't ask him to do anything for me seeing as I didn't exist back then.  I don't know this Jesus fellow, and really don't want to.

[Socratic Meth Head]

Movies over, i find it horribly immoral, that they celebrate and worship someones torture, assuming the man even existed.

Christianity is really masturbatory when it comes to the crucifixion.  It's the part where everything gets twisted - the more he suffers, the more you owe him.  Even though vicarious blood sacrifice is really friggin' immoral if anyone stops to think about it for even a second.

I mean, why should I be glad that this guy sacrificed himself for me if I'm the one who did wrong?  How does his torture and death absolve me?  And that's assuming I did anything so heinous and vile that the only fitting response is torture followed by death to begin with, which by my calculations I haven't even remotely approached yet in my 36 years on this mud ball we call a planet.

It's the ultimate guilt trip, designed to end all questioning and thought on the matter.  "Jesus died for your sins!"  Well, sin is a silly concept, one which flies in the face of reality.  And I didn't ask him to do anything for me seeing as I didn't exist back then.  I don't know this Jesus fellow, and really don't want to.

My family just says "You are rejecting the truth" I believe the contrary is true. They have yet to give me any reason why they are right and I have given them multiple reasons why they aren't correct, like flaws in out bodies only evolution could have made, failed prophecies that I have "misinterpreted", highly illogical scenarios, shown that we have no historical records of Jesus, and things the bible describes (Jesus conversation with god in a garden alone) that no one could have ever documented and yet it is discussed as truth.

[Socratic Meth Head]

I forgot to mention, earlier my Brother said he would no longer debate me because... lol "I was rejecting the truth". After I presented how god says dont be anxious about food for god will provide that and I told him of a map of christian nations being similar to hungry nations.

"God broke his promise" is what I told him and he got fired up telling me I was spreading bullshit.

[KevinM1]

Christianity is really masturbatory when it comes to the crucifixion.  It's the part where everything gets twisted - the more he suffers, the more you owe him.  Even though vicarious blood sacrifice is really friggin' immoral if anyone stops to think about it for even a second.

I mean, why should I be glad that this guy sacrificed himself for me if I'm the one who did wrong?  How does his torture and death absolve me?  And that's assuming I did anything so heinous and vile that the only fitting response is torture followed by death to begin with, which by my calculations I haven't even remotely approached yet in my 36 years on this mud ball we call a planet.

It's the ultimate guilt trip, designed to end all questioning and thought on the matter.  "Jesus died for your sins!"  Well, sin is a silly concept, one which flies in the face of reality.  And I didn't ask him to do anything for me seeing as I didn't exist back then.  I don't know this Jesus fellow, and really don't want to.

My family just says "You are rejecting the truth" I believe the contrary is true. They have yet to give me any reason why they are right and I have given them multiple reasons why they aren't correct, like flaws in out bodies only evolution could have made, failed prophecies that I have "misinterpreted", highly illogical scenarios, shown that we have no historical records of Jesus, and things the bible describes (Jesus conversation with god in a garden alone) that no one could have ever documented and yet it is discussed as truth.

Like Rob said, they're relying entirely upon emotion-based appeals because they have no actual refutation.  They come from a place where Jesus and the Christian god are 'just the way it is', where it's such an integral part of their environment they simply don't question it and feel really uncomfortable when others do and aren't dissuaded by threats or the implication of displeased authority.

You don't know it, but you're actually conducting what's known as a breaching experiment (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaching_experiment).  Their reactions to you pointing at and questioning the underpinnings of their social norms is revealing a whole lot about the actual social structures in play.  And it's uncomfortable for them to wonder if maybe the emperor really isn't wearing any clothes.

Did you ever play Metal Gear Solid 2?  That game was also a breaching experiment.  Gamers had certain expectations going in, and the game turned about all of them on their heads, especially towards the end.  The same thing is going on here, in real life.  You're their Hideo Kojima.

[SteelCurtain]

Did you ever play Metal Gear Solid 2?  That game was also a breaching experiment.  Gamers had certain expectations going in, and the game turned about all of them on their heads, especially towards the end.  The same thing is going on here, in real life.  You're their Hideo Kojima.

Fuck yeah! Truth.

GDog, you should invite your brother on here to see if we're all rejecting the truth. We can perform an experiment.

[Socratic Meth Head]

My mom sent me this "http://youtu.be/K4vrIpziFBc".

My response was: "This story is very anecdotal, he gives very little reason besides wanting to make his daughters envoirnment better. I doubt what he is saying because no one becomes an atheist because it is an "easy stand to hold" they become an atheist because they simply lack a belief in a god. Also, there is no such thing as a devout atheist. Atheism is not a religion. Thats like calling religious people anti-religious."

[Angrboda]

He became a Christian because as an atheist he was toxic. Well, good for him. What does this say about atheism apart from him? Nothing.

[Socratic Meth Head]

Well, my mom is making me have another bible study.

This is the text.
"Be home in a few. -my brother-, get our bible study ready!"