Fundie Pet Peeves

[dB-Paradox]

That reminds me about something I saw on TV a few years ago. I can't remember how the discussion came about (perhaps a church was sponsoring a meal or something), but this lady said that it didn't matter how unhealthy your food is as long as you pray before you eat. Praying for the nourishment of your body supposedly took out all the bad stuff. I can't remember if I saw that before or after deconverting, but either way I found it to be quite ridiculous.

There's a verse in the new testament somewhere that speaks of Christians being safe from poisons...can't remember the verse or the reference. But it's there. I guess that rule of protection has since expired?

[OpheliaGinger]

I always found it funny that my family would pray over a high fat casserole and no vegetables so that it would provide nourishment.

[Guest ephymeris]

Fundie Pet Peeve: I work in a hospital and I see so many people relying on false hope or, worse, giving false hope in the form of fundy mumbo jumbo for healing.

 

Examples:

Taping a "prayer cloths" to yourself and wearing ridiculous christian paraphenalia cuz you're so sure gawd will take

care of you and heal you, but you accept that pesky dialysis 3 times a week that keeps you alive.

 

Prayer groups and prayer chains that pray spinal cord patients will "be healed" and walk...really, that's just cruel.

What about the 15 year olds that live in a sip and puff chair for the rest of their life? Did they not have enough

faith? How cruel.

[Snakefoot]

Fundie Pet Peeve: I work in a hospital and I see so many people relying on false hope or, worse, giving false hope in the form of fundy mumbo jumbo for healing.

 

Examples:

Taping a "prayer cloths" to yourself and wearing ridiculous christian paraphenalia cuz you're so sure gawd will take

care of you and heal you, but you accept that pesky dialysis 3 times a week that keeps you alive.

 

Prayer groups and prayer chains that pray spinal cord patients will "be healed" and walk...really, that's just cruel.

What about the 15 year olds that live in a sip and puff chair for the rest of their life? Did they not have enough

faith? How cruel.

I really struggle with the hope/false hope thing. It's a conundrum: Is a false hope better than no hope if it gives the person comfort? False hope ultimately fails in the kinds of cases you cite, and that is devastating to the family and loved ones.

 

I usually come down on the side of trying to prepare the family for the inevitable, but still feel bad for the patient and do nothing to take away their delusion of a "final hope."

[OpheliaGinger]

Fundie Pet Peeve: I work in a hospital and I see so many people relying on false hope or, worse, giving false hope in the form of fundy mumbo jumbo for healing.

 

Examples:

Taping a "prayer cloths" to yourself and wearing ridiculous christian paraphenalia cuz you're so sure gawd will take

care of you and heal you, but you accept that pesky dialysis 3 times a week that keeps you alive.

 

Prayer groups and prayer chains that pray spinal cord patients will "be healed" and walk...really, that's just cruel.

What about the 15 year olds that live in a sip and puff chair for the rest of their life? Did they not have enough

faith? How cruel.

 

That reminded me of a story that was told at an AOG church I went to; a man just came out of a lung transplant surgery and started yelling praises to God. The doctor told him to keep it down lest he damage the lungs. I bet the pastor intentionally left out the extra part where the most likely had to go back into surgery to fix what he tore up.

 

My mother works in a hospital and once had a co-worker go into a room and told the Pentecostals to keep it down because their loud praying in tongues was scaring other patients.

[Guest ephymeris]

 

I really struggle with the hope/false hope thing. It's a conundrum: Is a false hope better than no hope if it gives the person comfort? False hope ultimately fails in the kinds of cases you cite, and that is devastating to the family and loved ones.

 

I usually come down on the side of trying to prepare the family for the inevitable, but still feel bad for the patient and do nothing to take away their delusion of a "final hope."

 

I would never take away someone's hope. I would never say "you're never going to walk again" because I can't know that. I am honest about the spectrum of probable outcomes if they ask but I would never tell them something is impossible. I just tell them to keep working on their rehab, encourage them to see gains and progress as they come and not to dismiss small gains for the pie in the sky dreams, and stay focused on what we can do now.

[summerbreeze]

This is my pet peeve about fundies: their use of the word "just." If you have them in your family you know what I mean ... "dear loooord, we just, come before you, and just, looord, we just ask you to just reign down the peace that comes only from your ... your word, and we're just blessed by your word, and we just ask you to..." (insert request for goodies here)

 

Why do they do that?

[summerbreeze]

I am sooo glad that you posted this about the word "JUST" ! I've noticed that all my relatives, when saying "grace' ( gag )....Lord we JUST thank-you for this food ( that we bought, thank-you ) ....Lord we JUST give praise and glory to you...blah blah blah....it's enough to make you sick. J U S T sick ! ha

[★ Citsonga ★]

There's a verse in the new testament somewhere that speaks of Christians being safe from poisons...can't remember the verse or the reference. But it's there. I guess that rule of protection has since expired?

 

That's from the tacked-on ending of Mark. Those last few verses are practically unanimously agreed among scholars to have not been part of the original writing, and some bibles even have text notes indicating such.

 

But, of course, fundies have practically no regard for scholarship, and since it's in the KJV it just has to be true, doesn't it?

[wt-hell?!]

There are hundreds I'm sure. But for today ---

 

I hate all the stupid church signs on every corner. This is a new one I hadn't seen until this evening.

 

People aren't the problem.

 

They're our project.

 

NO I'M NOT! LEAVE ME ALONE!

 

During October (National Depression Awareness Month), the same church posts:

 

We're Too Blessed

 

To Be Depressed.

 

 

I guess the proselytizing billboards littering all the roads also fall into this category and irritate the crap out of me too.

 

I saw this one the other day:

What's the name of your best friend?

Dog or God

 

This stuff annoyed me even as a christian. I always enjoyed a good laugh from there simple stupidity

[NewPerspectives__]

>> Fundie Pet Peeves

 

I've grown to hate "I'll pray for you"

Withous sounding too schizophrenic when it comes to someone "praying for 'me'". Take '18 Kids & Counting!' has Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar being prayed for by people from all walks of life and from all over. Honestly, I am kinda envious of that. I will think "Why cant they be praying for me"? But, I am so afraid they will ask that G-d to make my life so miserable. That I WOULD PREFER THEY SAY NOTHING, nothing at all in their prayers concerning me.

[Jedah]

I hate the fakeness of relationships that fundies have with each other.

[lunaticheathen]

I hate the fakeness of relationships that fundies have with each other.

I second that. It's one of the many things that drove me from fundamentalism and christianity itself. Nothing worse than youth groupie bitches.

[necrosmith]

Christians who use the word "brother" or "friend". How ya doin, brother? Good to see you brother! Welcome, friend!

The I'll pray for you as others have said.

God said it, I believe it, that settles it. In other words, "lalalalalala! I'm not listening to you! lalalalalalala!"

I'm not perfect, just forgiven! No, you're an ignorant retard.

[Sybaris]

My x-wife and her husband are new-fundies. After they took up with their new church, and before our kids were out of the house, I'd ask her something about them but it would take her a few days to answer. When she finally did she would preface the reply with "In Johns (her husbands) wisdom......". I quit talking to her altogether about our kids because I didn't give a rip about her husbands "wisdom" and obviously she had relinquished any independent thought to him.

[Crackalackish]

What about funerals? My BIL is a Baptist preacher and did both of my inlaw's funerals. At my FIL's he called out his sister-in-law that didn't believe (me) and said that his dad would be so disappointed that he wouldn't be in heaven with me. He didn't mention that my FIL loved me, and I him, and that he never said anything about my beliefs and accepted me as I am. Nor did he say anything about us, with two very small kids (one autistic who was 5 yo at the time) traveled 2 1/2 hours to the home where my FIL was dying 16 weekends in a row until he passed. But the pious BIL, who had grown children and lived 30 minutes away, came and saw him twice in those 16 weeks. Now who was my FIL disappointed in again?

 

Or at my MIL's funeral he talked about her for 10 minutes and all of it was stories about him, he never mentioned his 4 other siblings, ever, at their own mother's funeral. Then he spent the next hour going on about being saved and burning in hell. Lovely. My sister in law was very hurt and the other brothers just rolled their eyes, but I know they thought it was ridiculous. And again, she was alone for 5 years...we built her a house and paid all her bills. We visited every month, etc, and how often did she see BIL? Maybe once every 6 months, if he had time. We lived 2 hours away and had little kids, he lived 45 minutes away and had grown children. And they never did anything for her, groceries, nothing, they would show up emptyhanded and expect her to feed them, on her social security check (well, on the money we gave her). But had no problem telling us all about the trips they made or the motorcycles they bought. Remember, they lived rent free in the parish house and their kids were grown. Oh, and they have never paid us for their share of either funeral. And we are the awful ones?

 

Yea, fundy funerals, big pet peeve. Especially when done by a son who supposedly loved his parents but used their funerals for his own agenda instead. It was sickening.

[Moxie]

Pet Peeve 2: "Obama's scary!".. I hear this all the time. I wouldn't mind if it came from someone on the street, but when I hear it from fundies, for some reason it just pisses me off!

 

What they really mean to say is "Obama's black!"

[Moxie]

I hate it when christians say "We're not perfect, just forgiven."

 

Yeah, so they can go and mistreat some more people.

 

[★ Citsonga ★]

Crackalackish, that was pretty low of your brother-in-law. It must have been difficult to bight your tongue.

 

What I want to know is: Can he spell "hypocrite"?

[★ Citsonga ★]

I hate it when christians say "We're not perfect, just forgiven."

 

That reminds me of an email I got a while back with a bunch of atheist quotes, one of which said:

 

"Atheists aren't perfect, just evolving."

 

[Crackalackish]

Crackalackish, that was pretty low of your brother-in-law. It must have been difficult to bight your tongue.

 

What I want to know is: Can he spell "hypocrite"?

 

Yea, he's an asshole. They all used to idolize him (not my husband, he's always thought he was an ass) but I think his mom saw him for what he was when my FIL was dying. And the 5 years after. His sister has seen the light for sure. He is selfish and only does things that will make him look good to his congregation, but doesn't give a crap about his own family. Now that my inlaws are gone I hopefully will only have limited exposure to him.

 

Oh, yea, he used his own mother's funeral to announce his big surprise and was so joyful that his first grandchild was on the way. How happy he was that he was going to be a grandpa. He was thrilled to announce it because some of his congregation was there and they didn't know and he was so happy he could surprise them with such good news. While everyone else in the family was crying their eyes out because they had just lost this wonderful woman so suddenly. But he announces, from the pulpit in the middle of his eulogy, how thrilled he was feeling at the time. He's a real piece of work.

[Guest danny64]

ok this one is a bit to describe...but i will try. i think some of you will get it. ever notice how a pastor/preacher...especially a young one, suddenly becomes so damn funny and interesting except for not? i mean, this preacher will say something and everyone will laugh and in any other context the comment is just not funny. also, just the attitude that all the men have at a typical fundy church is really annoying and sad really. picture a fellowship meal, right after the lesson, in a small fundy church. ladies scurrying about, wearing god aweful dresses with giant flowers printed on them, carrying cassarole dishes and putting ice in plastic cups. the MEN are sitting on their asses, watching the women folk rustle up the grub, and pretending that the young preacher's stupid blathering is interesting conversation. if you have never seen the movie JUNEBUG you should. does a good job of presenting a fair picture of life in the bible belt and of a fundy church.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyMNMLppwcw

[OpheliaGinger]

if you have never seen the movie JUNEBUG you should. does a good job of presenting a fair picture of life in the bible belt and of a fundy church.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyMNMLppwcw

 

I'll have to make mental note of that.

[FreeLily]

Oh, I thought of another pet peeve. I live in the South so this happens a lot, but I've known people all over the country who do it. Before they eat, they bow their head and close their eyes and presumably say some sort of a meal blessing. It's quick, but long enough that people will notice if they're paying attention.

 

What they do in the privacy of their homes is not my business, but when this is going on in the work lunchroom in the middle of a lively unrelated conversation, it peeves the hell out of me. Subtle, but intrusive. I mean, can't they can't chew and pray at the same time?

 

BTW, LOVE the movie Junebug!

[Snakefoot]

Oh, I thought of another pet peeve. I live in the South so this happens a lot, but I've known people all over the country who do it. Before they eat, they bow their head and close their eyes and presumably say some sort of a meal blessing. It's quick, but long enough that people will notice if they're paying attention.

 

What they do in the privacy of their homes is not my business, but when this is going on in the work lunchroom in the middle of a lively unrelated conversation, it peeves the hell out of me. Subtle, but intrusive. I mean, can't they can't chew and pray at the same time?

 

BTW, LOVE the movie Junebug!

I think that's a combination of piety, Pharisee prayer, and "let your light shine before men."

 

I knew a family that said grace over all their food at once when they brought it home from the grocery store. Then they didn't have to worry with it at mealtime. Drove the fundies nuts.