For example, you put yourself through university by studying hard and working full time. Then someone says, you should thank god for giving you the strength. Like wtf do you mean, I busted my ass day in and day out but I’m supposed to thank god for it?
Thank you for getting back to me. 🌹 I truly believe that many people feel this way. Tragic things happen in life. Believe me, I speak from experience too. Sometimes we walk a certain path, and something terrible happens to us. We wonder, ‘Why did this happen?’ But we’ll never know what would have happened if we had chosen the other path. Perhaps something terrible had to occur to protect us from something even worse. I know this might sound like making excuses sometimes, but I genuinely believe this. And there have been small incidents where I felt this was confirmed.
The fact that you believe God would not love you is, to me, a sign that you still believe in Him😊 and that is something good. Whatever you have experienced in life, or whatever you are going through right now, I wish you strength and all the best. I hope that soon everything will turn around for the better. I will pray for you. I know this sounds clichéd, but I truly mean it. You can always reach out to me whenever you want. Peace be with you. 🕊️🌹
Oh man, let me introduce you to Christopher Hitchens. Unfortunately dead now, he was an intellectual powerhouse who could cut down any argument for religion like a hot knife through butter. Start by searching Instagram for him. He’s also funny as shit. Incorporate some of his arguments against god in your conversations with people who insist that god has anything at all to do with your accomplishments and you should shut them up pretty quickly.
I’ve had a life of endless suffering due to many things. When people tell me it’s all part of our loving God’s plan for me, I almost lose mind. If God exists, he isn’t loving. Inflicting such awful things on your children isn’t love. It’s abuse.
I’m not sure “irritated” is the right word. If God is the reason good things happen, I have to ask why THE FUCK my daughter got a brain tumor at age 10. If that was part of God’s Great Plan then he’s a FUCKING ASSHOLE, and next time you pray you can tell him that for me.
Anything I say will seem reductive and hollow, but I’m truly sorry you’ve had to/are having to deal with this and I can’t imagine the hardship. I wish you and your family nothing but the best.
I’m irritated with everything people do all the time.
This statement is beginning to irritate me.
Got a bug up your ass and better no one touch the sumbitch, amiright!
/lemmy
They’re terrifying.
My entire childhood was spent in churches… Catholic, Baptist, and Assembly of God… and their schools.
They all had one thing in common, they were bat-shit crazy. I was horrified every day, adulthood and leaving them behind was a magnificent relief.
This is a huge part of why America is such a shithole, in my opinion.
… and of course they don’t pay taxes in the USA, with far greater tax relief than any secular non-profits… so we all get to pay for their ridiculous drek, whether Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mormons, even Church of Scientology, the taxpayers carry them all.
Not to irritate you, but you sound like someone who hasn’t accepted Our Lord in your heart.
But my therapist told me I need to stop getting into abusive relationships
A little irritated that they should presume upon my religious practice, like they think they need to act as hall monitor for God. Like you can praise God as you feel compelled, but don’t tell me how to; that’s between us.
Its a philosophical crutch, putting your reason for living or being a decent person in the hands of an other entity is easier than taking that responsibility yourself.
I guess the emotion I feel when some theist is mouthing off or drawing irrational conclusions is pitty. I do try to not be judgmental, but its hard some days.
I will note however, that if that’s what it takes for someone to be a decent person, who am I to GAF :)
My biggest pet peeve in this realm is people thanking God when it was the medical staff that did all the work.
I know dozens of people worked together to save my life but forget all that because I am going to thank my magic sky daddy.
I bet they wouldn’t have blamed god if you had died! He always gets the credit but never the blame.
He always gets the credit but never the blame.
Lol. Good point.
Of course, I suppose some are just quiet about it. It doesn’t pay to share what we blame God for, too widely.
Edit: And I suppose it’s eventually easier to let it go, than hold a grudge against a probably-not-there diety who is arguably either incompetent or didn’t care enough to help.
This but even beyond medical (though that’s probably the most egregious) same shit happens when people pool together to get any kind of cause and then someone turns around and thanks god. Like homie what about all the actual people who actually did the work?
True dat.
I live in a conservative suburb where every other person you meet is in some megachurch, so it’s inevitable. Having recently retired, I’m quickly running out of fux to give. One day I’m going to tell one of them how my Lord Cthulhu has changed my life, and see how fast they bail.
Or turn on you now that you have a fixed income
I was extremely irritated this week when the office catholic, who is quite happy to lie, cheat and steal, told me I’m going to hell unless I accept his god.
Biggest hypocrites I’ve found were in the years I spent at church. Not all of course but there are a ton of people who believe they’re allowed to do whatever they want as long as they repent and they look down on people outside of the church as if they were filth. Hell, even within the church, they had a superiority complex with “fellow worshippers”
Emotional pyramid-scheme.
Beyond being an obviously shitty (and annoying) thing to do, he’s not even right about his own theology; it’s been the position of the Catholic church for, at least, a century now that not only believers are saved.
So just Ls, all around, for that guy.
I was reading recently that thought as we know it, is a relatively recent development in humanity. Up until only a few hundred years ago, any ideas we came up with, were automatically attributed to the Gods. You didn’t come up with any ideas on your own, you wondered what to do, and God told you, and you did it.
It was only a few hundred years ago that people began to realize that they were thinking up these ideas on their own, and God had nothing to do with it.
Some people STILL think this way.
The idea of the weird voice in your head not being “you” can make a lot of sense, in a weird way.
I also once read that the Romans believed thoughts came from your heart. I get that. After all, when you feel loss or separation, you feel it in your chest.
Still, it’s interesting to think about - why do we think thoughts come from our head? I’ve tried to imagine thoughts coming from my heart, and it doesn’t feel right. I think it might be because our eyes and ears are right there, feeding information straight into our brain. And yet the Romans believed it. It must have felt right to them, so that would indicate that it’s a socialization sort of thing. We’re told where our thoughts emanate from, and we believe it.
I guess they didn’t know what the brain did exactly, but they must have noticed from battle injuries that the brain is key to being alive.
My mom showed me her list of answered prayers to prove prayer works. I looked at the list and it turns out I did most of that. If I’m doing all the work what do I need God for?
Have you entertained the possibility that you simply might be God ?
I have but then the LSD wore off
Title
Easy there Homelander.
HA! My X’s family of batshit crazy and dirt poor Fundies used to brag about how Gawd met all their needs. No. Actually, they just harassed their family and church members until someone gave in just to shut them up.
Have you ever seen Ghost with Moore, Goldberg, and Swayze?
Yeah, a long time ago, I don’t remember much about it. Patrick died and became a ghost or something.
🙃
It’s God working through you. CHECKMATE /s
These scapegoat goalposts on wheels are the most frustrating part. And goddamn if it isn’t the biggest case of resulting I have ever seen.
Atheist here. No, I don’t. The religious person who put in the work still put in the work, through their faith in God. The Atheist does it through their faith in themselves. It’s the same energy, because the religious person doesn’t think they have it in them. They do, but God makes it manageable. I get that. So when they say it about you, they’re just using tense they understand.
Like when they say “bless you” when you sneeze. They’re wishing you health in terms they understand.
Bless you is a great example. I don’t think most people say things like bless you or God gave you the strength to be literally religious, they’re just a spiritual person’s way of being polite.
I just say ‘holy fuck’
does that count?
I’m religious, and I say that too. I think you’re in the clear.
I assume most folks using that expression are not using it in a deep spiritual manner, so it probably does. Saying it also usually makes people feel at least a smidge better after venting those feelings, so you may inadvertently also be a little more blessed. 😇
yeah but when I say ‘blessed thee’ people look at me funny
That’s their loss. I’d laugh. 😄
Interesting observation - where I live many / most people will say Salud (good health) when someone sneezes, as an intentionally secular version of the more traditional Jesus
I was raised to say gesundheit. It’s German and basically means something like “here’s to your health.” Apple’s translation service says it just means “health”.
It does mean literally health.
Thanks. I saw someone else say that, and then I used Apple Translate (what’s built into my computer) to translate it. I’m part German but I’m not from Germany and I don’t speak German. I know a couple dozen words, mostly thanks to Rammstein, but my father taught me gesundheit.
Funny thing about languages, and I’m not sure English really does this. You sneeze in Germany, people say “health,” but what they mean is, “to your health” or similar. In Japan, you might be called an “otaku”, which is sort of a badge of honour in the west, as it is taken to mean you are a fan of something and very knowledgeable on the subject. In Japanese, it just means “house” or “your house” — as in, you never leave it. If someone calls you “otaku” in Japanese, they’re saying you never leave your house, you’re a basement dweller, you need to touch grass, and so on. Sure, in the west you can be a “homebody,” someone who prefers to stay at home, but not a “home.” It’s also early, so while I know a couple dozen words in German and like 5 dozen words in Japanese, English is my first language and it may very well have similar terms, I’m just blanking right now.
Yeah, you’re right, the implied meaning can be better translated with more words than the litteral one. And it’s nice to encounter a fellow German-through-Rammstein student ❤️🔥 (Mein Herz Brennt)
This is the first time I translated “bless you”. I never knew it was something religious. In german we simply say “health” (Gesundheit) when someone sneezes.
Its a hold over from the plague I think, plus general religiousnous in the past. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/feb/14/why-do-we-say-bless-you-notes-queries
That’s interesting. In spanish, we also say “health” (Salud). I wasn’t expecting it to be the same in a language as different as german.
The “religious” word we can say when someone sneezes is “Jesus” (Jesús). Which is also a weird thing to say. I’m pretty sure the origin is still christianism, but I can’t see why someone chose specifically that.
I say Gesundheit here in Australia like its muscle memory anytime anyone sneezes. My girlfriend hates it but its ingrained in me, I have no idea why. Its just a funny word
I say the same despite only speaking English because I once read it was less like blessing someone and more like saying “keep your demons to yourself.” I now believe that is inaccurate, but it does make for a story.
Thats a beautiful way to think about it
