Dealing With The Nightmarish Christian Worldview

[Tabula Rasa]

Hey all,

Christmas is starting to depress the hell out of me because it reminds me of the horrific christian worldview

that humanity is worthless, lower than shit, and without Jesus being born to be a human sacrifice, we'd all

be damned to hell by Yahweh who just so happens to be Jesus at the same time.

 

It also bugs the shit out of me that not only the christians believe this waking nightmare, but the jews and

muslims believe along similar lines, that if you don't toe Yahweh/Allah's line, he'll kill and/or subject you to

eternal torment.

Even though I don't believe it anymore, the idea that at least a third of the world's population believes the

universe is run by an omnipotent sadistic tyrant really fucks with my head.

Any suggestions on dealing with these depressing thoughts?

 

Thanks,

Tab

[Deva]

Yeah, isn't it downright weird, now that we are out of it, how Christmas cards show these cozy, down-home, good-old-days images when its really such a depressing worldview?

 

We are all born sinners, what joy!! Joy to the world!!

 

I would just try not to dwell on it, and throw out any religious themed cards, don't even look at them too closely. Try to keep your exposure to Christmas music to a minimum too.

[Amethyst]

Wear an MP3 player when out and about if you can, it'll block out the annoying music.

 

Or get a pair of earplugs and pretend to be hard of hearing.

[♦ Fuego ♦]

I was thinking the same thing today. How is it that we are in the 21st century and so much of mankind is still clinging to superstition, regardless of the brand? I think it has something to do with being "in with the in crowd". Many religions and cults pile on the acceptance and approval as long as the adherents echo back what the leadership is promoting. This was a powerful thing for me when I first joined a church, because I had never had many friends before, and certainly didn't get hugs from pretty girls before, so I had major social motivations in addition to the spiritual superstition that drew me there in the first place. That held me tightly for 30 years, and it wasn't until my desire for truth outweighed my desire to belong that I was able to escape completely.

 

I'm going to be doing Christmas with about 40 friends who are strong believers. Their Russian culture puts a high emphasis on conforming, and since I haven't been going to church for a few years, this really makes them nervous. I have only told one of them that I have any unbelief at all about the Bible. I doubt that I will out myself to them any time soon, but I hope to plant seeds of doubt through provocative questions. They are really bright folks, so I think that if they can make their own conclusions it will be much more powerful and effective than a confrontation of any kind.

[Looking4Answers]

It also bugs the shit out of me that not only the christians believe this waking nightmare, but the jews and

muslims believe along similar lines, that if you don't toe Yahweh/Allah's line, he'll kill and/or subject you to

eternal torment.

 

Jews don't really tow the same line and part of the reason is Jews themselves aren't really sure just who is and who isn't a Jew. Some hold that you are a Jew if you adhere to Judaism and, thus, being Jewish is a religious thing. Some hold that being Jewish depends on decent. If your mother was a Jew than you are a Jew (unless you converted to Christianity, of course). Some orthodox Jews believe that only they are Jews and that people who claim to be reformed or conservative Jews are not really Jews at all (even if one or both parents are Jewish). Even the court in Israel is confused about who is and isn't a Jew and this becomes particularly sticky when you consider that the nation of Israel is purported to be the nation for the Jewish people!

 

According to statistics, about 4% of Jewish people worldwide are orthodox in their beliefs. That leaves the other 96% to be anything from agnostic to some other form of Judaism. Even so, Jews make up a very small percentage of the population of people in the world. The real problem is the Christians and Muslims. I think I heard that the number of Muslims has finally outnumbered the number of Christians in the world. Between the two faiths we have a huge number of people represented.

[buffettphan]

The worst thing for me is the music. When I'm in the stores and some awful xmas music is playing, I plug into my own. I also use this song as my cell ringtone. The looks I've gotten from the people with their 'jesus is the reason for the season" buttons is worth a hundred times the $1.99 I paid for it.

 

http://www.last.fm/music/Jimmy+Buffett/_/H...+Bottle+of+Rhum

 

Oh...I almost got me a couple of those fundies in the store the other day. I turned a corner, pushing my shopping cart, and there were two of 'em hands-on praying right there in the aisle. (I just love living in the buybull belt.) Guess they weren't praying that some old fart heathen parrothead with beaches and margaritas on her mind wouldn't ram right through them.

 

[Thurisaz]

Any suggestions on dealing with these depressing thoughts?

 

Well it doesn't work well for everyone, but I simply say "fuck all this" and keep having a good time just like I do the rest of the year. I don't watch much TV or radio so most of the pre-"buy yourself poor!"-stuff doesn't reach me at all (the rest I can ignore quite easily), and as for celebrating I'll just have a small and fun ritual with my wife and an old friend of us on Yuletide so...