Give my Preacher cousin his 15 minutes of fame

[The Industrial Atheist]

I remember hearing that scripture being read in Church and it's mind boggling that I stayed in that religion. Fuck a god that punishes people for things other people did.

No. You're only reading the scripture in part...He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generations of those who hate Him. Then the next verse reads that He shows mercy unto thousands who love Him and keep His commandments.

He's saying that he visits wrath upon the generations of children who follow in the sins of their fathers but shows mercy to all who turn from the sins of their fathers to love God and keep His commandments.

I haven't read the Bible much in a year, but wouldn't they then have their own iniquity? Like why add the fathers inquity? It seems like it would be a rather redundant way to say "Yep, they'll get what they deserve," if that's what you mean. I guess where I got the interpretation of people suffering because of what there ancestors did was, years ago when I went to a Pentecostal Church they did a thing for generational curses and that scripture was mentioned in it.

The whole concept seemed off to me but I was willing to try it with the issue I had.

In any event, since I don't find the scriptures to be sacred or anything I would rather people believe less unjust interpretations of scripture whether it's what the author intended or not.

[drfuzzy]

I remember hearing that scripture being read in Church and it's mind boggling that I stayed in that religion. Fuck a god that punishes people for things other people did.

No. You're only reading the scripture in part...He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generations of those who hate Him. Then the next verse reads that He shows mercy unto thousands who love Him and keep His commandments.

He's saying that he visits wrath upon the generations of children who follow in the sins of their fathers but shows mercy to all who turn from the sins of their fathers to love God and keep His commandments.

RIIIIGHT.  And my cousin probably would preach that forcing America to put Christian prayers and Christian Bible studies in all public schools would definitely prove to this god that we have turned back to HIM.  Prove to this vengeful, malevolent war god that the USA really does love him so can he please stop killing our kids now?  Would saying the Lord's Prayer be enough?  Oh no.  You don't understand these people.  Enough would be to have absolute control over what was taught in schools and a Theocracy for a government.  THAT might be enough.  Maybe.

And why . . . in any universe . . . should we obey and "worship" a being because if we don't he's going to punish generations of our children?

[ErGingerbreadMandude]

I don't think that if that kid were a god fearing Christian he would've shot at and killed 17 other people.

[Catholic_Lady]

Why not ask him what he is "actually saying", to be sure you have it right?

[Whateverist]

Maybe having a relative who says this kind of crazy shit is crazy making if you live in a community which agrees with the shit and thinks you are off base for complaining.  Getting a sympathetic audience for his perspective strikes me as absolutely okay and more than appropriate here.

I don’t think that is a problem. It’s the part that requires a meme with personal information that could be used to track him down that concerns me.   I think you are missing my point.

Well it isn't quite like abortion doctors who have to worry about jihadist xtians gunning them down though, is it?

---

Maybe having a relative who says this kind of crazy shit is crazy making if you live in a community which agrees with the shit and thinks you are off base for complaining.  Getting a sympathetic audience for his perspective strikes me as absolutely okay and more than appropriate here.

Getting a sympathetic audience to listen to his perspective is one thing, but he's wanting people here to do his dirty work for him and attack his cousin. He would be better off confronting him openly than for his family members to find out later on that he had been going around on the sly trying to recruit people to attack his cousin.

Translation: he was talking about the weird shit his cousin says so that those who share his perspective can share if they also think his cousin is a whack job.  

So?

[Chad32]

I remember hearing that scripture being read in Church and it's mind boggling that I stayed in that religion. Fuck a god that punishes people for things other people did.

I've always had a problem with the concept of someone being punished for something out of their control. It was probably the biggest problem I had with the Eden story. I don't know where this idea came from, except to manipulate people who cared about their kids. Don't step out of line, or we'll make your kid and grandkid suffer.

[Whateverist]

I don't think that if that kid were a god fearing Christian he would've shot at and killed 17 other people.

Being religious doesn't make you safe from murderous rage.  Muslims do it, Christians do it, pretty much any person can do it, but mostly under duress.  But when the source book or a respected religious leader calls for blood you guys become even more susceptible.  Bowing down to an authority and questioning your own judgement puts you at a greater risk.

[drfuzzy]

Why not ask him what he is "actually saying", to be sure you have it right?

I have heard this from him and many other preachers.  It IS what he is actually saying, this is what they truly believe.  Fill in the blank _____ for some societal change - Roe vs. Wade, segregation, gay rights, separation of church and state, no more required prayers in public schools, gay marriage ---  and then they take acts of violence, like Florida and Sandy Hook and Columbine, or weather, like Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey, and it is God punishing us for turning away from him.  His message is quite clear: we took the Lord's Prayer out of public schools in 1963 and now God is retaliating by killing our kids.  You don't hear that in Catholic churches but it's a major theme in Fundamentalist churches.

He's not alone.  All you have to do is type "is god punishing America" into Google to come up with dozens of people who are saying the same thing and worse.
http://holywar.org/S50.htm
https://creationsciencestudy.wordpress.c...ed-states/
https://www.mediamatters.org/research/20...ods/133804
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/...19301.html

---

I don't think that if that kid were a god fearing Christian he would've shot at and killed 17 other people.

Not even close to the point of the OP though.  God doesn't have to use a "god-fearing" Christian to go kill innocent kids as punishment for the Lord's Prayer being taken out of public schools in 1963.  That's why school kids are getting shot.  It's not about gun laws or mental illness, silly, they are dying because we no longer force them to recite the Lord's Prayer every morning.

---

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressive...nt=Feb2018

In an article for the American Family Association, Christian radio host Bryan Fischer argues that  God allows school shootings like the one that claimed 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, because there is not enough prayer in public schools.

Joey is not alone.

[Rhondazvous]

Ask him if he'd be okay with having Muslim prayers be compulsory in schools. Or  $cientology ones.

Yes, if students are forced to pray to Yahweh, but Muslim teachers are forbidden to lead their students in a prayer to Allah, that would be a clear violation of the Constitution. They will claim that Murica is a christian country. If that be so then why, oh why do they need compulsory prayer?

[drfuzzy]

Ask him if he'd be okay with having Muslim prayers be compulsory in schools. Or  $cientology ones.

Yes, if students are forced to pray to Yahweh, but Muslim teachers are forbidden to lead their students in a prayer to Allah, that would be a clear violation of the Constitution. They will claim that Murica is a christian country. If that be so then why, oh why do they need compulsory prayer?

They think that the idea that an American school would even have Muslim students is absurd.  And anyway, all other religions are just false.  This is obvious.  In the state of Tennessee about half of the population is Protestant Christian, but that is tempered by the large cities, which do have more diverse populations.  I read somewhere that the areas outside the big cities, where my cousin lives, are 80% Christian - or more in some places.  His contact with people of other religions is "I met some Jews once - - and in Nashville I saw one of them "New Age" shops. A shop for witches! Proud as evil always is!"  His whole world is Christian and that's the way all of America is supposed to be, and places that aren't - well, that's where the anti-god evil doers dwell.