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Goodbye Jesus

You Want To Know What I Believe, Don't You..?


LifeCycle

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  So, my wife and I moved into this new neighborhood on the East side as we finally got a piece of the pie.  It's a great place to take the dog on a walk as there are trails and ponds scattered about.  Here's the deal.  I'm in the buckle of the bible-belt and once thought this was great.  Now.... Not so much.  One of our neighbors was excited to tell me that God called him to this new church he's been attending for a little bit now and that it's been a real blessing to him and his wife - and even a blessing to others there!  I replied with, "That's great!"  But wanted to reply with, "Listen old man, I know the only reason you're telling me this bullshit is because you want to hear how I'll respond so you can determine if I'm a believer or not... And yes, that's where he was going with it all.  I do believe that there are those who are so naive they think everyone believes as they do - especially here... but I was onto him.  Regardless, he was a sweet old guy and it was nice to meet him (See, I'm capable of looking at the person and not their fucked up belief structure).  But it caused me to ponder this whole personal belief thing and who really needs to know, or not.  And also who feels they have a right to know.

 

  As a Christian, the importance placed on finding out what others believe is so great it's really embarrassing.  This really is a personal issue and it's not open for discussion among strangers.  I find it offensive honestly.  And that a person would steer a conversation just to find out.  What about what I do for a living, or what I like to do for fun or the list goes on and on...

 

  My mother... She's the worst... Whenever I tell her of a new person I met the very first thing she asks is if they're Christian or not!?  The fuck!?  I don't give a fuck and I tell her that it's not important.

 

  For you Christians reading this... You need to learn to look past, through or around what a person believes and appreciate that person for that person.  Discussing religious affiliations is not an ice-breaker!  That's really only up for close friends to discuss. 

 

/rant

 

 

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I try to avoid any discussion with people related to religion or politics--they just never go well. It seems like unless you believe exactly how they do- you are in the wrong. I always just disengage myself when discussions on these subjects come up. It has served me well!!!

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After an occasion where I was approached by a three-person evangelizing tag-team while collecting my laundry from the laundry mat, I knew that I wanted to prep for any other random person off the street nosing about for what my beliefs are for any future similar incidents.

 

I try to avoid any discussion with people related to religion or politics--they just never go well. It seems like unless you believe exactly how they do- you are in the wrong. I always just disengage myself when discussions on these subjects come up. It has served me well!!!

 

This is my rule of thumb, too.

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Goodness, I'm fortunate to live in a part of the country where religion is seldom mentioned in public.  If I was in your situation, I imagined I would give truthful, but vague answers to any questions asked of me.  Like I would only address the question that was asked, not the hidden message behind it.

 

Examples:

Religious Person (Christian):  What church to you go to?

Me:  Oh, I don't attend church.

 

Religious Person (Christian):  The Blessings of the Lord have made my life so wonderful.

Me:  That's great, I'm glad everything is working out so well for you!

 

Religious Person (Christian):  Those Muslims, we know they are all terrorists.

Me:  That isn't fair, they have their own beliefs, just as you have yours.  You can't categorize all of them for what a few have done.

 

If the religious person can summon up the courage to ask me straightforward what I believe in:

Religious Person (Christian):  Are you a Christian? 

Me: No, I am not.

 

Religious Person (Christian):  Well then what are you, you aren't one of them atheists are you?

Me:  Yes, I am an atheist.

 

I think for the most part it isn't any of their business.  But if they ask, I won't lie.

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  • Super Moderator

"Have you ever read Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard?"

 

Works wonders.

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LOL

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  So, my wife and I moved into this new neighborhood on the East side as we finally got a piece of the pie.  It's a great place to take the dog on a walk as there are trails and ponds scattered about.  Here's the deal.  I'm in the buckle of the bible-belt and once thought this was great.  Now.... Not so much.  One of our neighbors was excited to tell me that God called him to this new church he's been attending for a little bit now and that it's been a real blessing to him and his wife - and even a blessing to others there!  I replied with, "That's great!"  But wanted to reply with, "Listen old man, I know the only reason you're telling me this bullshit is because you want to hear how I'll respond so you can determine if I'm a believer or not... And yes, that's where he was going with it all.  I do believe that there are those who are so naive they think everyone believes as they do - especially here... but I was onto him.  Regardless, he was a sweet old guy and it was nice to meet him (See, I'm capable of looking at the person and not their fucked up belief structure).  But it caused me to ponder this whole personal belief thing and who really needs to know, or not.  And also who feels they have a right to know.

 

  As a Christian, the importance placed on finding out what others believe is so great it's really embarrassing.  This really is a personal issue and it's not open for discussion among strangers.  I find it offensive honestly.  And that a person would steer a conversation just to find out.  What about what I do for a living, or what I like to do for fun or the list goes on and on...

 

  My mother... She's the worst... Whenever I tell her of a new person I met the very first thing she asks is if they're Christian or not!?  The fuck!?  I don't give a fuck and I tell her that it's not important.

 

  For you Christians reading this... You need to learn to look past, through or around what a person believes and appreciate that person for that person.  Discussing religious affiliations is not an ice-breaker!  That's really only up for close friends to discuss. 

 

/rant

 

"Am I a Christian? Before I answer that please tell me your social security number. What do you mean that's personal?" :-)

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Haven't had a chance to say it yet, but looking forward to looking a Christian in the eye and saying "I am Buddhist."  Should be interesting.

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When I lived in South Korea, where the Christians are especially fanatical about evangelism, I would have two 50-something grandmas knock on my apartment door EVERY Sunday morning at 7:30am to invite me to church with them.  They actually spoke not one word of English, but would hand me a paper that said, "Would you like to come to church with us.  God bless you today!" while smiling and pointing at their bibles.

 

After two weeks of this, i learned how to say in Korean, "No, thank you.  I don't want to go.  Please don't come back again." But they didn't get the message and were pounding on my door at 7:30 the next Sunday.  Anticipating their inevitable return the next Sunday, I answered the door completely naked and erect (thanks to some well-timed porn!).  Needless to say, they NEVER came back again!

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To be fair to Christians, I'm of a similar opinion to Penn Gillette on this topic.  If a Christian is REALLY a sincere believer he/she should be pestering you ALL THE TIME as you are at any moment one breath away from ETERNAL DAMNATION.  As annoying as these people are, i really feel they are genuine about their faith.  I can actually respect that in a twisted way.

 

The only thing more ridiculous than believing in Jesus, IMO, is people who SAY they believe in Jesus, go to church twice a week, go through all the motions, try to be "good" but DON'T REALLY BELIEVE.  They are too frightened and timid to ever confront a "lost" friend or relative, which just shows to me that they don't really buy into the theology of hell, despite what their pastor preaches from the pulpit.  They believe just enough of Christianity to live a watered-down, miserable life without the benefits of being a fanatic or a pagan (in the non-believing sense, not the literal belief in paganism espoused by some here). Sad.

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To be fair to Christians, I'm of a similar opinion to Penn Gillette on this topic.  If a Christian is REALLY a sincere believer he/she should be pestering you ALL THE TIME as you are at any moment one breath away from ETERNAL DAMNATION.  As annoying as these people are, i really feel they are genuine about their faith.  I can actually respect that in a twisted way.

 

The only thing more ridiculous than believing in Jesus, IMO, is people who SAY they believe in Jesus, go to church twice a week, go through all the motions, try to be "good" but DON'T REALLY BELIEVE.  They are too frightened and timid to ever confront a "lost" friend or relative, which just shows to me that they don't really buy into the theology of hell, despite what their pastor preaches from the pulpit.  They believe just enough of Christianity to live a watered-down, miserable life without the benefits of being a fanatic or a pagan (in the non-believing sense, not the literal belief in paganism espoused by some here). Sad.

 

I respect the people in your bottom paragraph much more.  As those are most of the people in my life.  People WANT there to be a god, so they believe.  Plus the idea was implanted in their brain as a child most likely, so it stuck.  I try not to hold it against them.  But I respect it when they say, "Yeah I believe in god, but the bible has alot of BS that you have to weed through."  To me is shows that they are thinking rationally about it all on SOME level.  And that is good.

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I think Gamecock has a point. But it's a bitter pill to swallow. bill

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