Antlerman Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Is it just me, or does this premise for any relationship sound just a tad bit unhealthy? Can people who commit to a relationship with someone like this, ever truly be able to love others, since they betrayed their own souls to submit to another's violent exercise of control over them? How can anyone acting within a relationship like this every truly feel free to love other human beings without conditions? When I listen to a fundamentalist talk about being "filled with the spirit", those words ring as completely hollow. I hear, but I do not see. There is far more genuine compassion, love, and understanding in the world outside this sort of controlling relationship, where people are free to love from their own hearts without any expectations from the Great Controller at home. This is the "gospel" message that the fundamentalists teach about God. No way around it. It is an unhealthy, sick idea of a relationship that spells the death of a genuinely free spiritual life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderbolt Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Good post Antlerman No, not just you, I feel the same. It’s like saying, my husband is basically good, he only beats me some times. And, the thing that fundies cannot wrap their minds around is this: If their God requires you to love or be destroyed, then their God has a need that must be met, or he would be indifferent about the choice. And if he has a need that needs to be met in such a way, then he cannot be God which is by their own definition “all sufficient” and according to Paul in need of nothing that any man can provide him. Any god should be free from need, wants or desires that results in consequences. Either way you dissect it, it’s an abusive relationship, and why Christians are such poor moral subjects. They pretend to be good while they know they are full of crap, but they cover it up with piety and holy slang. They talk the talk, but I have YET to meet a xian who walks the talk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotBlinded Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 It is an unhealthy, sick idea of a relationship that spells the death of a genuinely free spiritual life. And that is the most profound irony that I have yet to run across. They seek to be spiritual by being what their religion wants them to be and they end up being lost to it. Sad...so very sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Antlerman, I like the title of the topic: "Accept My Love... Or Be Destroyed By My Anger!" Absolutely perfect. It encapsulates the Gospel 100%! That's what should be written on the frontpage on all Bibles. And I agree, that is not a sign of a healthy person/entity. And it's not "unconditional" as some people claim. Unconditional does in my mind translate to "without any conditions". But that's just me. So by threatening someone with pain, and forcing them to love or accept something, is a condition, it's a demand. Only terrorists and hostage takers behave like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taphophilia Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 "accept my love...or be destroyed by my anger." Yes, it's sounds unhealthy. Wouldn't that qualify as domestic abuse and don't people everyday get restraining orders because of someone like this? So, why is it that people seem to think it's okay for god to be an asshole but if a person does it they are a no good son of a bitch. Taph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderbolt Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 That's what should be written on the frontpage on all Bibles. In addition, this God-terrorist menatliy breeds terrorists for God. Mmmm, that's religion for you after all ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vigile Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Yeah, I guess only a sick compromise can be offered by a being with an insatiable appetite for blood. What's up with all that blood stuff anyway? The more just the basics of xtian beliefs are considered I just can't figure out how anyone can swallow this stuff. It's just so silly and twisted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathuria Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Wow, Antler-Hobbit... Thanks! I had always known that the Christian way of teaching ethics ("Be good or else.") was no way to nurture moral character in a child... but I had never appreciated how much that famed "relationship with God" was so very like an abusive family. "You'll thank me for this when you're older," he said, as the rubber hose whistled through the air. Any Christian social worker would take a child away from such a father and feel smugly righteous about doing so... and yet that is the same abusive father they worship every Sunday. That actually explains quite a lot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 "You'll thank me for this when you're older," he said, as the rubber hose whistled through the air. And how many abused kids thanked their father when they grew up? I haven't heard anyone being joyful for the whopping and spanking they got as kids... (Lucky me, my parents never lifted a finger against me. They were very good parents.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_raven23 Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Yeah, I got open handed swats to the backside, but never with an object. The intent was not pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fweethawt Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 "You'll thank me for this when you're older," he said, as the rubber hose whistled through the air. And how many abused kids thanked their father when they grew up? I haven't heard anyone being joyful for the whopping and spanking they got as kids... (Lucky me, my parents never lifted a finger against me. They were very good parents.) Yeah, but look what happened. You grew up without having the fear of God instilled in you, and now your a hellbound unbeliever. Actually, you're more fucked now than you would have been if your parents had beaten you. You need Jesus. He's comin' back soon, you know. The intent was not pain. That's funny. I can actually remember this "fiendish" look on my mother's face as she was beating me with one of those metal french-fry spoons. The intent was not pain. It was for the enjoyment of some messed up part of her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBeeland Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I had some counselors I was going to recommend to Jehovah but he never returned my calls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All Gods Fail Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 "I'll take you to Disneyworld if you obey me, but I'll throw you in the furnace if you don't." Ok, we get it - carrot and stick! Sheesh... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godlessgrrl Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 And I dunno about the rest of you guys, but this Yahweh asshole just won't quit stalking me. He seems to have a whole network of people working for him, everywhere. I just can't get away from the guy. I live out in the sticks and somehow some of his people find my house and leave pamphlets on my doorstep. I get letters and flyers in the mail telling me to go to one or the other of his churches so I can "find fellowship with god" again and "be reconciled to the lord" - as if I were the one who was so offensive in the first place. Pardon me, but it wasn't me that got off on dashing infants' brains against rocks and laying waste to goddess religion, thankyouverymuch. And you know what's scary? Somehow Yahweh must know what hotels and motels I'm going to be going to, because every time I arrive at one, lo and behold - there's a Bible there. In the bedside table, no less! Ewwww!! Creepy! Who is this fucker, sneaking into my hotel room and leaving his book beside my *bed*?? Jeez! What's even scarier is that Yahweh seems to be doing everything he possibly can on a grand scale to control my life as much as possible, even though I won't submit to him. He even has certain local politicians eating out of his hand, doing all they can to make sure that abortion is restricted and access to birth control is limited. I mean, this guy wants to control my body, for smeg's sake - how fucked up is that? His agents even claim that he made my body, so he has every right to control it however he pleases. Y'know what though? I think this Yahweh guy is pissed off because he's scared. I think he knows deep down that he can't control me. He can't control anybody, really. He knows that I saw through his controlling bullshit and I'm not going to take it anymore. He knows that I'm going to keep telling the world what an abusive control freak he is, and after awhile he's either going to have to fuck off entirely or clean up his act and start being a decent deity for once. In the meantime I wish his followers wouldn't park their cars in front of my driveway on Sundays. And I wish he'd stop following me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Neil Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 In the meantime I wish his followers wouldn't park their cars in front of my driveway on Sundays.What is it about putting a Jesus fish on one's car that makes one so totally incapable of operating a moving vehicle? Not only do they not know where to properly park, but they can't drive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antlerman Posted February 17, 2006 Author Share Posted February 17, 2006 In the meantime I wish his followers wouldn't park their cars in front of my driveway on Sundays.What is it about putting a Jesus fish on one's car that makes one so totally incapable of operating a moving vehicle? Not only do they not know where to properly park, but they can't drive! They never leave their homes all week, except to get into a car they never drive so they can go to church on Sunday. Behold the power of the insidious fish god! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antlerman Posted February 17, 2006 Author Share Posted February 17, 2006 I'd like to know: Is there a bumper sticker around that says "F*ck your god" in a nice way? I don't want my windows getting smashed in or something. umm... how's this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lycorth Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 Is it just me, or does this premise for any relationship sound just a tad bit unhealthy? Can people who commit to a relationship with someone like this, ever truly be able to love others, since they betrayed their own souls to submit to another's violent exercise of control over them? How can anyone acting within a relationship like this every truly feel free to love other human beings without conditions? When I listen to a fundamentalist talk about being "filled with the spirit", those words ring as completely hollow. I hear, but I do not see. There is far more genuine compassion, love, and understanding in the world outside this sort of controlling relationship, where people are free to love from their own hearts without any expectations from the Great Controller at home. This is the "gospel" message that the fundamentalists teach about God. No way around it. It is an unhealthy, sick idea of a relationship that spells the death of a genuinely free spiritual life. This is one of the biggest things that keeps me away from Xianity. When I realized this, in opposition to the Xianity I was raised with, it just further cemented my deconversion. The type of relationship Xianity posits is one of abuse and fear; you are nothing without Jesus and you need him to even be thought of as a human being. If you behave yourself and do everything Jesus tells you, he'll be nice to you when you die (though this isn't a guarentee) but if you don't listen you are assured a world of hurt. That's an abusive relationship, something Xians tell each other to get out of if they are in one with a real person - but they encourage the same thing with their god! And they wonder why people are leaving their cult in droves... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_raven23 Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 I'd like to know: Is there a bumper sticker around that says "F*ck your god" in a nice way? I don't want my windows getting smashed in or something. umm... how's this? Uh, no. Keep in mind, I have two young children! How about a fishook in the xtian fish's mouth, and a little "X" for an eye (dead fish on the line)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antlerman Posted February 17, 2006 Author Share Posted February 17, 2006 How about a fishook in the xtian fish's mouth, and a little "X" for an eye (dead fish on the line)? But I think this expresses my sentiments better to them: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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