Robbobrob Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 My wife had a church group last night. They were discussing their mental images of what they believe God looks like to them, today, when they were teens, and when they were little kids. My wife said when she was little God was like the Buddy Christ of the movie Dogma. He was the beautiful young man, flowing brown hair, friend to all. When her family moved from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts, and settled into the area I grew up in, which is predominently Catholic, all she saw was what I term the FishStick Jesus....arms nailed out on the cross, looking dead up on a huge cross. Now, when she pictures God, it is a morphing, non-human entity, kind of like the Flying Speghetti Monster. She actually used the term FSM with the group. Many of the group said they thought of God, if at all, as a spiral, or some other similarly non-human entity. I am so proud of her. Couple years ago, she was still holding onto her Jesus version. But now she has gotten to the "I don't know what God looks like". Definately the step in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L.B. Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 You know, the thing that has brought my wife along on the path to deconversion (from Xtianity; we are still agnostic as to the 'beinghood' of a Supreme anything) was the following: 1) Prodigious amounts of emotional and job-related bullshit that she never had to put up with from 'unsaved' people, or that she at least didn't expect from Xtians and 2) her reaction to the Buddhist philosophies and teachings I have been studying and sharing with her; she has constantly replied, "It's all true, what you're saying... it's just a lot to process at once." Just keep BUILDING positive images in her mind of life without a need for the SkyMan and the Zombie Jew and the Ghostie. DON'T get trapped in the destructive language of the "angry atheist" stereotype when you share with her. Save the Angry Atheist bits for these forums... If the subject of what 'god' looks like or how people imagine 'him' ever comes up again, try asking why it is that the 'god' who demands worship and unswerving allegiance to a holy book would make understanding, experiencing and obeying him such a mysterious chore. Isn't it ironic that people who are supposedly 'his children' have such wildly diverse and often contradictory views of who or what 'he' is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWIM Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 My wife said when she was little God was like the Buddy Christ of the movie Dogma. God is alanis morissette, I be knows dis, cause I seened her in da movin pitchers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L.B. Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 "God is alanis morissette..." That being said, God is sexy as hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light_of_Reason Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 "God is alanis morissette..." No way! And here is was thinking God is Morgan Freeman or George Burns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 I've wondered ever since I was quite young how in the world men are supposed to relate to God, to Jesus? Is it a homosexual relationship? Is that why the fundies have such a hard time with gay marriage? Does it impinge on their secret sacred sexual relationship with the divine? Everyone knows sex ranks high in many religions. Maybe it's only children and the naive who don't know its very high place in Christianity. One of the things that hit me really hard when first reading these forums was that male sexual fantasies were the foundation of the Christian religion. It constituted sin. If THAT is what constitutes sin, then there is no need for women to repent of anything! No wonder I could never figure out what sin was. However, without the women the men could not perpetuate their religion so they had to somehow or other keep the women in bondage. And they managed alright. I cannot figure out how. Must be the biological demands child-bearing places on women. Otherwise, I cannot see how women would ever be satisfied to be subject to the men. I most certainly wasn't--not once I decided that social ostracism wasn't the worst threat in the world. Nobody ever wanted to marry me or have kids with me so I was free as the wind. Back to the topic of this thread. About how to get wives to deconvert. Since wives are of the opposite gender from Jesus, and husbands are not, well, how does that play into the equation? Or does it have any role? Do we see more female authors and poets referring to Jesus as the bridegroom and men as being children? Then there's the old song: Jesus lover of my soul--Jesus is the overt lover in there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbobrob Posted October 5, 2007 Author Share Posted October 5, 2007 That is a very creepy aspect of the whole thing, just what type of relationship with Jesus are these people having. If I had a relationship with another woman that Christians report having with Jesus, my wife would worry I was having an emotional affair. If a husband and wife both have a relationship with Jesus, then is it an emotional threesome, with Jesus playing the dominate role...and both husband and wife are the subs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwc Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Back to the topic of this thread. About how to get wives to deconvert. Since wives are of the opposite gender from Jesus, and husbands are not, well, how does that play into the equation? Or does it have any role? Do we see more female authors and poets referring to Jesus as the bridegroom and men as being children? Then there's the old song: Jesus lover of my soul--Jesus is the overt lover in there.... I've seen more than my share of women romanticize the relationship. Reminds me of Amy Marie (a very sad little xian from before you came here) that "married" jesus (like a nun but in more sadder, more pathetic way). Kept seeing him as a knight in shining armor and the whole fantasy of medieval chivalry (that never truly existed). I've heard any number of variations on that "love" theme from girls to women. As far as men go it's more of a "best friend" type of thing. Jesus is my pal. My buddy. I love him (but in that "manly" way "I'd take a bullet for jesus"). I most certainly did not have romantic feelings for him but I felt for him like I did my own family member (like my brother). The twisted thing about that is that I most certainly grew up with, and knew, my brother and I NEVER ONCE met jesus. Yet I diminished my brother by making him equal to an imaginary thing (fine for a child but inexcusable for an adult). Fortunately, all people are now in their rightful order and I have no more imaginary things in the list. mwc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 Thanks Robborob and mwc for answering my question. I wasn't sure if it was a decent question yet I'd wondered somethimes. After posting it I remembered the song How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds. One verse says: Jesus my brother, shepherd, friend, My prophet, priest, and king, My Lord, my life, my way, my end, Accept the praise I bring. That opens up a lot of possibililties for men to relate to Jesus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garrisonjj Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 That is why churches represent phallic and sexual symbols. The long high steeple representing the penis, and the vagina shaped stained glass windows actually represent elements for intercourse. This was once explained to me by a priest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garrisonjj Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 I've wondered ever since I was quite young how in the world men are supposed to relate to God, to Jesus? Is it a homosexual relationship? Is that why the fundies have such a hard time with gay marriage? Does it impinge on As far as sin goes, How can anthing one do affect such an all knowing, all powerful, all good creator in any way? I believe, though in the morality of the golden rule and not murdering anyone, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Wolf Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 BUddy Christ........WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! God is alanis morissette..." No way! And here is was thinking God is Morgan Freeman or George Burns. YES!!!! God IS Alanis Morissette you false prophet ass hole! The most high prophet Kevin Smith hath said so, so it is truth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 I've wondered ever since I was quite young how in the world men are supposed to relate to God, to Jesus? Is it a homosexual relationship? Is that why the fundies have such a hard time with gay marriage? Does it impinge on... As far as sin goes, How can anthing one do affect such an all knowing, all powerful, all good creator in any way? I believe, though in the morality of the golden rule and not murdering anyone, of course. I was just trying to get inside the fundy mindset. I don't know if you saw the thread of kkj about Recovering Atheist. It's in the Lion's Den now. kkj talked about homosexuals causing a serious decline in the population. (Not the exact words but the idea.) Now if fundies can imagine homosexual behaviour causing the population to decline, then what else might they imagine? Maybe they imagine a homosexual relationship with God, but they don't imagine it consciously. It is fairly common knowledge that if we suppress something important like that, we project it onto others. Thus, I am asking whether in some distorted crazy subconscious way gay marriage impinges on the fundy's suppressed imagined homosexual relationship with God. I'm not sure that this is clear. Nor do I think there is evidence for a deity. So I don't think anything you do can affect any deity. Go in peace, garrisonjj! I doubt that you're hurting anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 That is why churches represent phallic and sexual symbols. The long high steeple representing the penis, and the vagina shaped stained glass windows actually represent elements for intercourse. This was once explained to me by a priest. So THAT is why the Mennonites won't have steeples or rounded stained glass windows. Funny, though, that they didn't cut all sexual intercourse imagery from their church songs. The people I come from are so puritanical that kids are not even allowed to know where babies come from and sex education is pretty much nonexistent. Yet there's this one line in this one song that is sung regularly in church that is explicilty sexual intercourse imagery. I'm translating from the German here, but approximately, the poet is asking God to "thrust deeper into me." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts