ConureDelSol Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Ok, to start out I want to describe what I was feeling like when all this happened. I was suffering from taking too much of a drug I take for my autoimmune disease. Let's just say I felt like I had the flu, every joint ached badly, and both ends of my body had been taking a beating of sorts. It got real bad on the way to church and I really should've just had mom take me home. So we go to church and I'm informed by my dad that I'm going to be prayed over for my illness by this one pastor after the service. That didn't bother me too much. I thought it would only take a few minutes and we'd be done, I could go home and cradle my barf bucket. Obviously, this did not happen. Instead it would start out with the usual Jesus babble about how he wants God to heal his sister and blah blah blah. He would pray for a good five minutes and then I thought we were done. THEN, he would grab me AGAIN and start the same blah blah blah. He did this over and over again until the prayer quite literally devolved into him saying "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus..." and NOTHING else. So at this point I was a little annoyed. All of a sudden mom, brings up that I need to tell him that I don't believe in the power of prayer RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. He "overhears" this and starts his whole "You doubt God's power?!" This leads to him handing me off to another guy who happens to be BFFs with my dad. He starts the whole "I had cancer for six years and no doctors can explain why I got better. God healed me." I didn't want to start anything by saying "Just because the doctor's don't know now doesn't mean God did diddly squat." So I stayed silent and let him go through the whole, "Why don't you believe God can heal you of this illness?" I told him that no one has ever been cured, there is little to NO research on my autoimmune disease and that I have thousands of people praying for me every day and it doesn't do anything. He goes on about how things happen for a reason and that he believes that you "get inflicted with disease for someone else" so that you can help other people with your disease. In my head, I sit there and wonder about all of the thousands of people in third world countries with rare diseases that have NO ONE to preach to. They have NO ONE to comfort them. So I silently called his bullshit. THEN he starts on the "Do you believe in God" nonsense. I lied and said yes. He went through the whole Christian thing about if I believe all that wonderful shit that Jesus did. I said I doubt it. He goes on about how I believe in God because of all the proof that God exists like the universe being all perfect and babies being born. Not wanting to rock the boat any further by saying that those are in fact NOT proof of God existing, I just didn't say anything. He goes on this tirade of how wonderful God is and I start the whole "Why can't God just show himself and tell everyone exactly what to do?" He says he did that through Noah and everyone ignored him. So I told him that for all they knew, Noah was an insane old man and God should've popped out of the clouds to everyone in the world and said "Hey listen to this guy." He says that God did that with Adam and Eve. Yeah, but there were only TWO people on the Earth at that time and after that he only appeared to a small group of people at a time. Now he doesn't ever do that and only ever "speaks" through questionably sane people in time periods where there is no way to verify that they are inspired by God in ANY way. His response was essentially "Blah, blah, blah Bible stuff." Eventually I just cut him off and told him I would email him and I really wanted to go home. I know this is typical to be ganged up on like this, but I can't help but feel like they were trying to capitalize on the fact that I was sick. It was all "Wow, you feel miserable and there's no way to cure you? Well now that you're in the lowest of the low, let's try to take advantage of that fact and sell snake oil to you!" I am just so pissed over this. Also, I'm not going to email that guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator buffettphan Posted March 11, 2012 Super Moderator Share Posted March 11, 2012 What an extra load of BS you had to put up with at church this time! That's what they do though -- try to get to people when they are down and vulnerable. I am so sorry you're sick and hope you're feeling better soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Positivist Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 That sounds absolutely abusive to me. You must feel like crap after that. What an assault! And then after the assault is over, you get to go home and enjoy your suffering some more, wondering why AGAIN God does nothing. How can these fucktards keep peddling their wares? Ugh. Feel for ya, sister! Don't let the bastards get you down! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owen652 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 So you your Mum knows you're an 'unbeliever'? Can you just stay home? Why do you go to church? Sorry, I just don't know your situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConureDelSol Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 Thanks for all the well-wishing everyone! I go to church because, unfortunately, I deconverted while I was working there. My mom and dad don't know as far as me not believing in God, though they do know the Jesus bit. I plan to eventually get another job, but this one is just really advantageous because I'm allowed to do homework at work and if I need to make emergency doctor's appointments, I can go to them in the middle of the work day. Once I'm feeling 100% again, I'm going to go back to searching for pharmacy jobs (I'm a certified pharmacy tech and haven't had a chance to use that knowledge yet). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyanaprajna0 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 First, I'd like to say I hope you're feeling better. Second, I'd like to say that's a common xtian tactic, beat downs, taking advantage of those they see as weak, assault, and the like. It's immoral, and quite frankly, bs. No one should have to put up with that kind of nonsense. I'm sorry that you had to go through that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeelHappy Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Sorry you have to go through that, hopefully you feel better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverAgainV Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 CDS, I'm sorry you experienced that. What they did to you was downright abusive, manipulative & traumatic. That preacher took advantage of you being sick & vulnerable & tried to play you ..... despicable. That was typical side show & theatrics religious abuse IMHO. You did not deserve to be treated that way or put on the spot about your doubts...but again, that is how manipulators work. I'm glad you stuck to your guns inside your heart. It must be hard when everyone is screaming jeezus, jeezus. I can't believe in any god that works that way to manipulate & guilt people. Please take care of yourself. I hope you get better soon. ((hug)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackbauer Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 This is why I'm so sick of Christians. They prey on people when they are most vulnerable or at their lowest points. Even when they are well intentioned (unlike the OPs case), I get sick when I hear a Christian trying to "help" someone with Jesus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToonForever Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I think I'm even more appalled that your mom sold you out. Seems she thought if they prayed over you for that too, maybe you'd come back? She made a bad situation worse. That saddens me the most 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeelHappy Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I think the pastor really wanted to help, although that doesn't make it right. I've probably done stupid things before because I was worried about the person and their soul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
decafaholic Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Geez, what a day! Sounds like it's a charismatic type church, because ALL charismatic prayers eventually dissolve into "Jesus, jesus, jesus, jesus". I know, bc I was one for wayyy too long. Man, being ganged up on when you're already feeling bad sucks. I hope you feel better soon, and I also hope you can quit going to church soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I think you handled yourself pretty well. Hope you get to feeling better, and I wish you the best of luck in finding some other job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConureDelSol Posted March 12, 2012 Author Share Posted March 12, 2012 I think I'm even more appalled that your mom sold you out. Seems she thought if they prayed over you for that too, maybe you'd come back? She made a bad situation worse. That saddens me the most I think she just thinks that if someone just explains it to me right way that suddenly I'll believe. I think she thinks that if someone just explains everything to me the right way I'll believe again. I'm more upset that the one they handed me off to was my dad's best friend. He teaches "How to Brainwash People into Making Christianity the Only Thing They Ever Care About" type classes with this dude. I hope the guy just forgets I said I'd email him. I REALLY hope he doesn't talk to my dad or one of the pastors that actually has the ability to fire me about this. Geez, what a day! Sounds like it's a charismatic type church, because ALL charismatic prayers eventually dissolve into "Jesus, jesus, jesus, jesus". I know, bc I was one for wayyy too long. Man, being ganged up on when you're already feeling bad sucks. I hope you feel better soon, and I also hope you can quit going to church soon. I'm not sure if it's really quite as charismatic as some churches, though it's definitely different. The charismatic churches in this area are mostly black churches and this particular pastor happens to be the only black pastor on staff. We have one white pastor and the rest are latinos of some type. I'm thinking that this black pastor came from a charismatic church before he came here. He mostly counsels kids at the high school down the street (it's a pretty violent school with the kind of kids that would rather work at McDonalds and do crack the rest of their lives) and now I'm kind of afraid for them. Even my mom the next morning was like, "That was a REALLY weird prayer. I kept thinking he was done and then he would grab you and start up again!" The main reason I even know this particular pastor before is because I fixed his computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackpudd1n Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 That just made me so angry, hearing what they did to you. I think we can safely nominate these people for a Prick of the Year Award. Arseholes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephie Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I am reading this at work and cannot tell you all of the profanities that were going through my head. This shit pisses me off!! What they did was wrong and abusive. Just fucking wrong. I hope you get better soon so you can say, "Dueces" and get the fuck out of that environment. No one. NO ONE deserves what happened to you yesterday. You are entitled to form a belief about the world around you. You have done so with, my guess, is a lot of research and questioning. I hope you get better soon. There is one pissed non-cajun rooting for you from Louisiana! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Positivist Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Came across this last night and thought of you. "Some Thoughts about Faith Healing": http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/faith.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midniterider Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Ok, to start out I want to describe what I was feeling like when all this happened. I was suffering from taking too much of a drug I take for my autoimmune disease. Let's just say I felt like I had the flu, every joint ached badly, and both ends of my body had been taking a beating of sorts. It got real bad on the way to church and I really should've just had mom take me home. So we go to church and I'm informed by my dad that I'm going to be prayed over for my illness by this one pastor after the service. That didn't bother me too much. I thought it would only take a few minutes and we'd be done, I could go home and cradle my barf bucket. Obviously, this did not happen. Instead it would start out with the usual Jesus babble about how he wants God to heal his sister and blah blah blah. He would pray for a good five minutes and then I thought we were done. THEN, he would grab me AGAIN and start the same blah blah blah. He did this over and over again until the prayer quite literally devolved into him saying "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus..." and NOTHING else. So at this point I was a little annoyed. All of a sudden mom, brings up that I need to tell him that I don't believe in the power of prayer RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. He "overhears" this and starts his whole "You doubt God's power?!" This leads to him handing me off to another guy who happens to be BFFs with my dad. He starts the whole "I had cancer for six years and no doctors can explain why I got better. God healed me." I didn't want to start anything by saying "Just because the doctor's don't know now doesn't mean God did diddly squat." So I stayed silent and let him go through the whole, "Why don't you believe God can heal you of this illness?" I told him that no one has ever been cured, there is little to NO research on my autoimmune disease and that I have thousands of people praying for me every day and it doesn't do anything. He goes on about how things happen for a reason and that he believes that you "get inflicted with disease for someone else" so that you can help other people with your disease. In my head, I sit there and wonder about all of the thousands of people in third world countries with rare diseases that have NO ONE to preach to. They have NO ONE to comfort them. So I silently called his bullshit. THEN he starts on the "Do you believe in God" nonsense. I lied and said yes. He went through the whole Christian thing about if I believe all that wonderful shit that Jesus did. I said I doubt it. He goes on about how I believe in God because of all the proof that God exists like the universe being all perfect and babies being born. Not wanting to rock the boat any further by saying that those are in fact NOT proof of God existing, I just didn't say anything. He goes on this tirade of how wonderful God is and I start the whole "Why can't God just show himself and tell everyone exactly what to do?" He says he did that through Noah and everyone ignored him. So I told him that for all they knew, Noah was an insane old man and God should've popped out of the clouds to everyone in the world and said "Hey listen to this guy." He says that God did that with Adam and Eve. Yeah, but there were only TWO people on the Earth at that time and after that he only appeared to a small group of people at a time. Now he doesn't ever do that and only ever "speaks" through questionably sane people in time periods where there is no way to verify that they are inspired by God in ANY way. His response was essentially "Blah, blah, blah Bible stuff." Eventually I just cut him off and told him I would email him and I really wanted to go home. I know this is typical to be ganged up on like this, but I can't help but feel like they were trying to capitalize on the fact that I was sick. It was all "Wow, you feel miserable and there's no way to cure you? Well now that you're in the lowest of the low, let's try to take advantage of that fact and sell snake oil to you!" I am just so pissed over this. Also, I'm not going to email that guy. Did you feel like throwing up during this prayer time? It might have ended quicker if you could. But it sounds like you put up a good fight anyway. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thought2Much Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Did you feel like throwing up during this prayer time? It might have ended quicker if you could. But it sounds like you put up a good fight anyway. :-) Nah, if she threw up they probably would just think that was "the evil spirits coming out" and start praising Jesus for the miracle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephie Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Did you feel like throwing up during this prayer time? It might have ended quicker if you could. But it sounds like you put up a good fight anyway. :-) Nah, if she threw up they probably would just think that was "the evil spirits coming out" and start praising Jesus for the miracle. So sad that people actually believe that crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
older Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 If I had been in your shoes I might have said, "Well I'm going to pray, too. I'm going to pray that you'll leave me the fuck alone." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paine Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 This may be wholly inappropriate , but please take it as it is offered...... I WOULD GO ALL LINDA BLAIR ON THEIR ASSES RIGHT ON THE ALTAR, WIPE MY MOUTH AND SAY....."THANKS! I FEEL 100% BETTER!" I do SO hope you feel better and that you can get the SCIENCE BASED medical attention that you need and that your parents don't short you on that.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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