Is anyone else an atheist with BC besides me?
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love these!!!!
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ananda8 EXCELLENT, thanks so much for posting this list! Hilarious. As I'm reading it silently, a good Yiddish accent is enunciating it all in my brain...very cute!
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ananda - just what I needed to read today. Thanks for the laugh!
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Some of those are quite amusing, I’ll be quoting several for sure. Thanks for sharing!
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totally hilarious!!! I love me some good JewBuhumor!!!! 😂😂😂😂
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Hi Santabarbarian and jo6359
Social Workers usually take care of thisif you go to a SNF,
POLST form can be downloaded online,you can check your preferences (similar to ADVANCED DIRECTIVE) and have it signed by your Doctor or PCP when you see her/him.
Have a safe EASTER everybody.
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SoCalLisa
Sorry,they did not do what they are supposed to do,we'd been doing it in the last 7 years.
You can download a form online(it's similar to ADVANCE DIRECTIVE) BUT more simple, you can check your preferences and have it signed by your doctor/PCP.
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SoCalLisa
Sorry,they did not do what they are supposed to do,we'd been doing it in the last 7 years.
You can download a form online(it's similar to ADVANCE DIRECTIVE) BUT more simple, you can check your preferences and have it signed by your doctor/PCP.
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Sam Harris on the emergency of life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITTxTCz4Ums&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR33zW4rUXnKNa0um_1ooGnk8pDv5e_gwBLw8quph4qFZLuTMhoPcZ8Nt1E
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Thanks for sharing, I started it but will have to wait till after Toronto Maple Leafs beat Boston and raptors beat Orlando lol.
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I've been noticing a substantial increase in TV programming that either includes god (God Friended Me) in the title or slips reference to god in the programs. I started to watch a comedy program on cable and within the first episode god was mentioned several times. Faith based audiences must love this stuff. Not surprisingly, I do not. Luckily, I control the remote and after I gave some of them a try, I find the material saccharin. Any other thoughts on faith based programming. Maybe there needs to be some rating about religious content like there is about TV-MA for mature audiences. The sugary loaded content might be listed in terms of the sugar load related to diabetes. Healthy, prediabetic, diabetic, comatose.
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My sister was wondering out loud why there are so many fantasy-themed movies out there. She concluded that it's escapism for people who just can't handle the current state of affairs in the world today. Perhaps God is making a comeback for the same reason, although if you ask me it's religion that's led to the current state of affairs in the world!
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ananda8, thank you for sharing those sayings. I just wandered into this thread and saw them... and I read them to my mom and we hooted with laughter. Ahhh, that really felt great.
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I find nothing more annoying than to start a book that looks interesting and find out several chapters in - or even worse half way through - that the entire book turns on god's help or god's grace or characters only become valid when they pledge their faith or are "saved". Mystery or romance or travel or whatever are masquerading as religious dissemination. I have always been the kind of person who finishes any book I start. Not anymore.
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I love this conversation, especially your suggestion for "Warning! Saccharine ridiculousness ahead!" magiclight!
My husband is fond of those stories where "everyone else died in the crash or the catastrophe, except one person, because God saved ME/HER/WHOMEVER." He likes to point out that God actually must have very bad aim, since the goal was obviously to kill the whole group. A credibility gap for the whole omnipotence claim. Anyway, there's obviously no logic in these religious assertions.
And, in the example MinusTwo mentions, why does a good outcome have to be ascribed to a god swooping in and blind faith in something unknown, rather than a values-led, morality-inspired and fully actualized life, good choices, ethics, etc, which are widely available to everyone, not just people with religion. Or, just random luck. This illogical faith viewpoint reinforces the notion that we're all little children, at the mercy of the puppet master. And, what a mean one he can be! Weirdly sparing some and inflicting damage on others.
This reminds me of another pet peeve of mine. We go to a particular antique store at the coast once or twice a year. I love the stuff in the store. However, the signs are super Christian. Be saved, Believe in Him, etc. And, the background music in that store! Oh, my. It's one of those radio stations that plays Just Jesus tunes. Kind of wannabe folk-ish and Kind of Country, with insipid chords and repetitive soul-saving lyrics. On a 1-10 scale of good music I give it a -4. I really like the store's antiques, so I usually do go in, but the whole experience is kind of nauseating for me. I think my biggest objection is the pretentious righteousness, and the idea that they have to spread their beliefs into my eyes and ear space. I probably should vote with my feet on this one, but I guess I'm practicing tolerance, walking around that store....
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Hiking lady...tolerance is one of those words that, to me, that can represent an act of courage or virtue on one hand and and an attitude more akin to tolerate on the other. More often than not, I'm not sure if I am at one end of that spectrum or the other. Am I being tolerant because I respect the other person's right to their opinion or do I tolerate or just put up with the other person's opinion. In your example of walking into a store displaying lots of religious platitudes, I can see myself voting with my feet and walking out as I do not like the feeling of being nauseated
In today's world, I think that those folks whose lives are driven by religious platitudes cannot even tolerate differences and want to legislatively fight to have only their religious beliefs codified in the laws of the U.S. 0 -
I don't know if this is relevant. I recently participated in a wedding for my niece. I signed on to Facebook to look at wedding photos. I don't know how it happened but a post came up from my niece's husbands sister. It stated " If you support Trump, God and Country post like. I did not post like. I posted Disagree. I do love my country, warts and all. I was inundated with private messages calling me a ni***r lover, a woman who probably likes OTHER women, and a communist and atheist. It was so tempting to respond but I chose to deactivate my Facebook account. I only wanted to look at wedding pictures. I did not want to engage in tit-for-tat with these individuals. The ironic thing is, the only thing they got right, I am an atheist. When I read these type of personal attacks, I do worry about the future of this country. I apologize for my rambling but I'm not sure if this fits or not.
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jo6359 Your FB wedding photo story does sound relevant. I probably wouldn't choose to boycott FB, but I'd do the photo business and then be sure to block certain people's posts, once I saw offensive-to-me language and values.
Atheists are out of the norm--it's kind of assumed in our country that Religious = Good and Not Religious = Probably Bad/Damned to Hell, etc. Identifying As Atheist doesn't feel necessarily safe. There's a lot of religious evangelism, and political fervor which is also kind of evangelistic right now in our country. When we have differing beliefs, do we "engage," or do we stay silent? What's our goal, if we engage? It's not realistic to imagine that we can persuade others to join our beliefs, any more than we'll sit down and listen to theirs. We live in a diverse society with varying viewpoints. Doing that peacefully can be a challenge, for sure....
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Jo: I have no idea how you could deal with that. I am reluctant to say much as I am Canadian, but I am shocked and terrified about the new normal. Wish I could do something as a neighbor who cares deeply for those forced to cope with such craziness. Just need to reinforce that most get it. But our voices are so inferior. What can we do
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I see posts like that and just ignore them. Sounds like that's a lot safer than disagree. People who can't stand other people having different ideas are scary. It might be wise to be on facebook under a different name after that experience. I'm on it mainly for photos of family and ignore a lot of it. My daughters MIL is a devout Buddhist and posts a lot of photos of temples and celebration meals. It's all in another language so I don't have any idea what the writing means. We are friends on FB and she's a sweetheart in person, so I just cruise on by.
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the crazy thing about the postings. I met these people at my niece's wedding. A one-time occurrence. No time did we bring up religion or lack of. They made the assumption when I disagreed with their Trump post it meant I wasn't a God-fearing Christian but an atheist communist lesbian. I never cared about Facebook. I only went on Facebook to look at wedding pictures. It felt good to deactivate my account. When any person starts out with name calling they truly aren't interested in a dialogue.
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Some atheists that I know through social media say it's important to 'come out' because when people know that some of their friends and co-workers are atheists, there will be less prejudice. I understand their POV but I live in one of the most religious states in the country and I don't think I would be able to get workers like plumbers to come to my house if it was known I was atheist. I am fairly certain that at least two of my nieces would stop me from contact with their children if they knew. Rural America is still in the 1930's.
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Ananda...your experience shows that being silenced is never a positive experience. When you mentioned that you would be prevented from contacting children I wondered if the adults think atheism is catching? Clearly religiosity is not, as you have been inundated with it in your life and did not catch it.
Let me add that there is a difference between owning one's own beliefs and forcing them on others. In our current national phase, religions are trying to force their beliefs, through legislation, on non-believers.
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i just say I am a non-theist. That confuses them.
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The people I am speaking about would be concerned that I would try to recruit their children to atheism because they would try to convert atheist children into religion. Of course, I never would try to undermine the faith of any child. Frankly, I don't think faith can be undermined since it is an emotion and logic would not have much affect.
SoCalLisa, I'm not asked about religion. In my area everyone assumes that everyone they meet is Christian and religious. In 17 years here I was only asked once what denomination I belonged to. I merely said I wasn't religious. The one who asked assumed that I still believed in a Christian god.
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I am Jewish. More culturally than religiously. I'm unsure of my belief in God. I rarely pray and only when something is dire. When people offer me prayers, I appreciate it, but pretty much ignore it. I don't offer prayers because it would bemeaningless.
I am in limbo medically at this time. Was diagnosed almost a month ago. I have my MRI next week and then meet with the radation oncologist two days later and then the medical oncologist the week after that. Finally I meet with the surgeon at the end of the month. Have no idea what treatment they will recommend. Or even when my surgery will be.
I guess if I prayed it would be easier for my mind, but I have to be truthful to myself.
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I found that when my anxiety started to rise, a deep slow breath helped.
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Yes Ananda - deep breathing and several of the Yoga breathing exercises are very useful.
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Kjchico We all empathize. The most helpful support I got was when people who know me well told me that I'd find the inner strength to get through everything. I did, by focusing on just one thing at a time, one day at a time. You are stronger than you realize, was basically what people said to me. They were not minimizing how horrendous and traumatizing this is, but saying it to help me believe in myself, in my inner wisdom and tools to manage it all. You will find your external support and your inner strength. This whole forum is rich with shared experiences and perspectives, and it has helped me figure out my way through the labyrinth.
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kjc...You are not alone. I see that you are new to BC.org and there are many other threads on this BC site that you might find useful as you wait and wonder and that avoid the platitudes so prevalent in the non BC community. Glad you found us.
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