L.B. Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 1. The Damned Funniest Thing The damned funniest thing I have heard in a LONG while was at a church this past Sunday (Those of you that know my situation know that I am not able to NOT sit and listen to this shit). A visiting preacher-type was telling the assembled congregation that he worked among a people group who married but lived in separate houses as man and wife because they believed that women had a spirit that caused their men to get weak and die (No married-life thread hijacks, please, lol). What I found almost impossible to keep from laughing at is the attitude of the congregation. They LAUGHED and chuckled and snorted at "those dumb pagans" who believed in such superstitious nonsense as spirits that did such things to married couples. I nearly pissed myself trying to hold back a guffaw of my own! Not 5 minutes later, the crowd was singing a song about invisible Jebus and the UberGhostie living in them and leading them and telling them all sorts of fantastic things! Pity, those poor pagans hadn't enough sense to reject the idea of spooks and spirits, but, boy howdy, WE have the TRUTH about the REAL Spook who REALLY tells us things in our heads! GLOW-ray! 2. Xtian "Liberty" I read the debate between BuddyFerris and Antlerman. AM made a comment that the typical Xtian understanding of the spiritual life is that after one is 'saved', one is expected to live a 'saved'-type life of obedience to the 'word of god'. Buddy replied that he believes Xtianity to be totally centered on a Gnostic, individualistic, supernatural 'relationship' with the UberGhostie who speaks silently and leads people to their own private understanding of 'scripture'. I call BULLSHIT. I have had enough of the idea that Xtians put out there that the Xtian life is somehow SO personal and intimate that there are dynamics of, for example only, MY relationship with the Jebus/Ghostie/Yow-wee conglomerate that may RADICALLY DIFFER from anyone else's. I have HEARD that sort of talk out there, but I have NEVER seen it accepted as plain truth in real life. In other words, I have heard CLAIMS that each person's understanding of the bible is totally sufficient to guide them, but I have never seen ANYONE given the freedom to act on those 'leadings of the spirit', to the extent that their personal practice of the Xtian faith was ALLOWED to be different from some dogmatic doctrinal norm. I guess what I am pissed about is all the salesmanship that goes on in the Xtian world. Everyone works very hard to try and boil these dogmas down to little bites that everyone can digest, but time and again those pithy little statements are nothing more than smokescreens covering up the bigger and deeper and more fucked-up realities of the xtian life. F'rinstance: "God loves you" (unless you are saved or destined to be saved, otherwise you are irreversibly hell-bound). "Jesus died for your sins" (if you believe and accept him; otherwise it didn't work 2000+ years ago. Of course, the bible says that he died for the sins of the whole world, yet it's clear to the fundies that only by DOING something to act on his sacrifice can you appropriate something that was supposedly a done deal way back then). "God has a plan for your life" (again, as long as you show the churchites that you pray, attend meetings, read your approved holy book and talk the talk. You simply CAN'T live the xtian life totally inured to anyone else's opinions of your 'walk'. You MUST live so that the pew-sitters can SEE and APPROVE your worthiness to belong according to THEIR standards). "God does wonderful things for his children" (oh? That's funny. In the bible, Phillip was magically transported to his preaching assignments; God has chosen to 'humble' me by letting me pay $3/gal for fucking gas for a regular old human car. God provided miraculous food for his prophets and cures for the sick that even the unbelievers supposedly witnessed. Me? Fuck that. I get to work a shit job and pay fuck-all high prices for groceries and then go to hospitals and pray useless, sentimental prayers that do nothing but consign the patients to mystical wills of imaginary gods). "God spares his people from dangers in answer to prayer" (Yeah? Why don't we ever show videos in church about the Xtian family who DIED under some tragic circumstances? How come we shout hooray for the testimony of the few who have coincidentally survived the tsunamis and hurricanes and yet we never admit the fact that thousands of prayerful, sincere xtians DIE from diseases, accidents, 'acts of god' and other fucked-up things?). Anyway, I am just sick of the Pollyanna image of blessings and good things for xtians/shit for the unbeliever that dominates the religious landscape. There was a time when a little rough-edged, hard-to-swallow honesty about the shit that even the holy xtians have to bear would have done me a world of good in my struggles with the 'faith'. Too bad that everyone just kept on telling me that the good things, blessings, healings, provisions, peace and happiness would all be mine if I was REALLY sincere and REALLY seeking 'god' and REALLY into prayer and REALLY fitting into every other god-damned xtian mold they devised. It's as if, by trying to 'encourage' someone to REALLY seek 'god', they are implicitly telling you that YOU just plain AREN'T trying hard enough. There's no reason to tell the successful, well-adjusted, healthy or financially-secure person that THEY need to DO MORE... the xtians always ONLY hand out that shit to the ones who make their little fairy-land look bad by their apparent and obvious and public failure to be all that 'tha larrd jayzus' wants them to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 There was a time when a little rough-edged, hard-to-swallow honesty about the shit that even the holy xtians have to bear would have done me a world of good in my struggles with the 'faith'. Too bad that everyone just kept on telling me that the good things, blessings, healings, provisions, peace and happiness would all be mine if I was REALLY sincere and REALLY seeking 'god' and REALLY into prayer and REALLY fitting into every other god-damned xtian mold they devised. It's as if, by trying to 'encourage' someone to REALLY seek 'god', they are implicitly telling you that YOU just plain AREN'T trying hard enough. There's no reason to tell the successful, well-adjusted, healthy or financially-secure person that THEY need to DO MORE... the xtians always ONLY hand out that shit to the ones who make their little fairy-land look bad by their apparent and obvious and public failure to be all that 'tha larrd jayzus' wants them to be. I hear ya, brother! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 "God has a plan for your life" (again, as long as you show the churchites that you pray, attend meetings, read your approved holy book and talk the talk. You simply CAN'T live the xtian life totally inured to anyone else's opinions of your 'walk'. You MUST live so that the pew-sitters can SEE and APPROVE your worthiness to belong according to THEIR standards). Yeah, and if you don't live that way then they criticize and judge you behind your back. I know because people in my former church did that to people who did not show up in church. "God spares his people from dangers in answer to prayer" (Yeah? Why don't we ever show videos in church about the Xtian family who DIED under some tragic circumstances? How come we shout hooray for the testimony of the few who have coincidentally survived the tsunamis and hurricanes and yet we never admit the fact that thousands of prayerful, sincere xtians DIE from diseases, accidents, 'acts of god' and other fucked-up things?). What about the Christians who died in 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina? Or my fundy mother who died from cancer? (sarcasm) Oh, wait....they weren't REAL TRUE Christians. Noooooo, they never are, because only the REAL Christians have miracles. Or...it was all part of Gawd's Plaaaaaaaan! (/sarcasm) Yeah, the plan that nobody knows about, but always points to when Bad Things Happen, to try and make themselves feel better. Because that's all it is, a teddy bear to snuggle up with when the going gets rough, but doesn't offer any real protection. It's as if, by trying to 'encourage' someone to REALLY seek 'god', they are implicitly telling you that YOU just plain AREN'T trying hard enough. There's no reason to tell the successful, well-adjusted, healthy or financially-secure person that THEY need to DO MORE... the xtians always ONLY hand out that shit to the ones who make their little fairy-land look bad by their apparent and obvious and public failure to be all that 'tha larrd jayzus' wants them to be. That's the feeling I had for the past 20+ years. The feeling of being on a treadmill and never being able to stop, because you're never a good enough believer and never will be. Fundamentalism leads to perfectionism. Perfectionism only sets people up for failure because nobody can be perfect. It's a lose-lose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Wow. I'm wondering if, by some means of scientific experimentation or advanced technology, you've camped out in my brain for a while. That was, like... perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Kenny, glad to see you're reading L.B.'s posts. I figured you might be able to identify on some level. In fact, reading your thread I would have convinced myself L. B. had simply taken a new name. You think may be he camped out in your brain for a while. Interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeFromReligion Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 I can so empathize with you! What I've come to loathe are the Christians who pat me on the back and tell me that god gives special children to special people. Yeah right! I know everyone who has ever said that to my dh and me about our disabled daughter has been thinking in their minds, "glad it's you and not me." I won't even go into my fundy in-laws who completely shun my dd and I'm positive it's because they're embarrassed by her disabilities. It disproves their belief that god is loving, caring, and wonderful. My step-mother, who is no relation to my dd by blood, absolutely adores her and as far as I'm concerned she's the ONLY grandparent my dd has! My idiot FIL keeps saying god should be praised for taking such good care of my dd. My question is if god was so good and caring then why did he allow her to born disabled in the first place? Seems like a monster to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
par4dcourse Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 1. The Damned Funniest Thing The damned funniest thing I have heard in a LONG while was at a church this past Sunday (Those of you that know my situation know that I am not able to NOT sit and listen to this shit). A visiting preacher-type was telling the assembled congregation that he worked among a people group who married but lived in separate houses as man and wife because they believed that women had a spirit that caused their men to get weak and die (No married-life thread hijacks, please, lol). What I found almost impossible to keep from laughing at is the attitude of the congregation. They LAUGHED and chuckled and snorted at "those dumb pagans" who believed in such superstitious nonsense as spirits that did such things to married couples. I nearly pissed myself trying to hold back a guffaw of my own! Not 5 minutes later, the crowd was singing a song about invisible Jebus and the UberGhostie living in them and leading them and telling them all sorts of fantastic things! Pity, those poor pagans hadn't enough sense to reject the idea of spooks and spirits, but, boy howdy, WE have the TRUTH about the REAL Spook who REALLY tells us things in our heads! GLOW-ray! There's a cute thread posted not long ago (I can't find it) but it's Billy Graham speaking about what makes a cult, and it runs in that vein. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Here is the thread about Billy Graham on Cults. I have no idea if L.B. is still around. He started this thread back in October....LATER: I checked his profile just now. His last post was Dec. 31 and his last visit was Jan. 2, so he might still be around. I just feel kinda responsible here. Skip N. Church (super moderator) doesn't like threads that go nowhere. I had originally given Kenny the link to L.B.'s profile. I believed Kenny might like to read about L.B.'s situation because of the similarities of his and L.B.'s "walks" but did not realize that it would result in reopening old threads. We should probably start a new thread if we want to start a new discussion, but I will leave that decision up to the mods. Like I said, I feel kinda responsible, esp. since most respondents are fairly new members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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