Is anyone else an atheist with BC besides me?
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I was on my old hometown's FB page reading a post that was recalling a horrible factory accident that happened in the 1970s in our area which killed 19 men. Some of the comments: "My grandpa's brother was killed that day." "One of my classmates lost his father on that day." "My uncle was killed in the blast."
And then this comment: "My husband was a on crew that lost several workers, but he was laid off 2 days before the explosion. God was watching out for us."
So I guess God wasn't looking out for the men and families of those killed? Sorry about your luck? God was only able to watch out for a limited amount of workers and you were one of the lucky ones?
I mean, what is the mentality there?
You don't know how badly I wanted to make that comment, but I didn't.
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Divine, I feel the same way when I hear or read comments like that.
Today a box arrived in the mail from my mom, who is pretty shady but of course considered herself a good Christian woman, who knows very well that I am staunchly against religion. Just about fell over laughing when I saw my Easter gift, lol. I think I’ll eat it upside down.
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Good plan, illamae. You're a much nicer human than I am. I would probably have sent it back. Not really, but I would have been tempted.
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I'd give a lot (well, maybe a penny) to know what the heck devout types are supposed to think about as they shove that cross in their mouth. "Jesus isn't dead, he's living on your hips!" They're missing out on my marketing ideas. 😈
I absolutely HATE the smug "Mah Lorrrd an' savyer wuz watchin' out fer me" when someone (or their grubby spawn) lived but someone else died in an accident. It's so RUDE.
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Hey Becky! A tornado just smashed up your town, killing dozens of your friends and neighbors, leaving hundreds homeless, but you survived ....
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Mae your Mom has mad skillz! She figured out a cross that won't be given to Goodwill. You have no choice but to make it one with you. Diabolical
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Mae - that's a riot. Sending a cross sounds just like my Mother ("god rest her soul") Ick. It's just not the same as biting the ears off the bunnies. I'd eat the cross pieces first.
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Hahahaha! When you think about it, a candy cross is just...mind boggling! What if Jesus lived in more contemporary times and had been given the electric chair?
But, illimae, for your mom who knows you’re anti-religion but who herself is a staunch Christian, to send you a candy cross....well, I find it pretty humorous! I’m not sure if she’s joking or serious, but either way, it’s pretty funny!
Hahahaha! Mirianda, the atheist meme is hysterical!
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Divine, she was not joking, she just can’t accept that some people don’t believe.
I did have a really good laugh though, when I turned the box around to show my husband, he was not surprised and laughed with a sigh, like do they even know me at all? Anyway, it’s still chocolate
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I'm so glad I found this page! I have a question for you.
It drives me crazy when people tell me that they pray for me or that I'm in their prayers or even when they send "positive energy/thoughts" my way. How do you handle your friends/family/coworkers when they make religious comments about your cancer? I know they are trying to be nice in their own ways but it eats me up inside when I have to thank them for their prayers!
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I don't thank them for their "prayers". I tell them I appreciate them thinking of me. And then I change the subject. If they push it, then I'll set them straight as to my beliefs.
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Back again. So many of my tribe here, that I enjoying catching up with the latest foibles related to this important topic.
You will remember that I wrote an article on atheism a while ago, using comments from some of the folk here. Well, I was editing a patient story the other day for the Male Breast Cancer Coalition and on returning the edited article to the patient for approval, I received this reply:
“I have now had a chance to look at your website, MaleBC.org. I am shocked to find this is being run by an atheist. This I completely against what I stand for, and my support for and Christian beliefs. My wife, in her 30 plus years of work has seen many people transition to death, has seen the horror on people's faces and heard them cry out in terror, at the edge of death, at what they have seen, while others have such joy and happiness at this last point of life. I do not want my name associated with this site, and rescind the release of any of my information.”
Dramatic, eh? Intolerant, too!
The irony is that I’d edited a story which was mainly about how God saved him. So, while I was being a tolerant editor to this religious beliefs, we couldn’t even find the Christian goodwill to have me an an editor of his story.
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What a jerk. When DH was going downhill fast, his best friend said he would pray for DH, and ASKED if he could pray for me. I said no. I assume he’s respected that. When I called him to tell him DH had passed, I mentioned Hospice had called in a priest for last rites. He got excited about that, but no mention of prayers for me. Good.
Another good thing about wearing a mask, people can’t see all my face when they say that to me. I change the subject as fast as I can.
One of his cousins sent a sympathy card, she is having a Mass said for DH. Am I supposed to send her a thank you note
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Funerals are for the living, not for the deceased. So it's the cousin processing their grief in a way they know how. Maybe an email with Trishyla's, "I appreciate your thinking of my husband. He was a good man, and a treasure to us all." Or some such.
Pease and ease to you, Spookiesmom. ((( hugs )))
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Spookie, it sure seems that your cousin does not have boundaries and clearly does not respect your wishes. If you were a diabetic and asked your cousin not to send candy, sugary sweets, but did so anyway, that would say the person is selfish and only wants to satisfy their needs. Funerals are to pay respect not to disrespect the living.
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Traveltext, so sorry this happened to you. I got a chance to check out your website. You're doing an amazing job!
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Traveltext, that person reinforces why religion is a nasty thing in the wrong hands. I know plenty of reasonable religious people, but the vicious nutjobs give them all a bad name.
april_bc, I sometimes tell people I'm sending them positive thoughts. It's just a non-religious statement of support to make them feel somebody cares what happens to them. I'm not crazy about people praying for me, but I see a huge difference between something like "you're in my prayers" if I'm having a major medical issue, and a judgemental "I'm praying for you" from someone who disapproves of me.
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illimae: A chocolate cross?! It could have at least be semi-sweet. Eating a holy Christian symbol just seems weird. I guess they want to jump on the chocolate egg and bunny train. Well, that one has nothing to do with Christianity. Not sure about the chocolate but one of the Pagan stories says that the Goddess found a tiny bird freezing in the snow. She turned it into a hare so it could make a burrow and survive the winter. In the Spring, the hare returned and laid coloured eggs at her feet. I like that story better, not that I believe it. I am an atheist as far as Pagan religions go as well. But at least they tend to be life affirming, nature loving and excepting of most things.
When I was first diagnosed my dentist said he would mention me to Allah, another friend I am sure wore out her rosary praying to St. Peregrine (I think that is his name), other people offered to send out positive thoughts. None of them have ever tried to stuff their beliefs down my throat. I accept that they do these things as an act of kindness or love. But if a member of the clergy ever came to my bedside to offer his/her prayers I would say "Sod off!"
AliceB: Can I say "Amen" without it sounding religious. Okay, I'll say "Right on, sister"
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To All: Dammit - I meant to type "accepting" --- I hate when I type the wrong word when I know better. Was I an English teacher in a previous life? No, 'cause I don't believe in reincarnation either!!
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I knew a recovering Catholic who was in the hospital at death's door. Against his wishes someone called a priest in to do last rites. He realized what was happening and was furious! To the point that he sat up in bed and screamed at the priest. He got well and is still around years later.
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Good for him! I also find it disgusting when Mormons baptize people after death. How can a dead person even have a chance to give consent, much less convert?
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I'm totally with you on that, Miriandra. How disrespectful can you be? I've considered suing them or getting an injunction to stop them from baptizing ANY of my ancestors in to their creepy cult.
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I seem to remember something about them baptizing Jewish people too after death.
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Truth! (From the HBO show True Detective)
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My aunt asked me if I thought god saved me from the cancer. I replied, if god had anything to do with it, he should have shown up a bit sooner and prevented it in the first place. Then I sat there enjoying the the awkward silence that over took the room.
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CFKelly
You said what so many of us have thought!
If any Mormon tries to convert/baptize me after death, I WILL haunt the crap out of them.
My grandmother was in a catholic hospital in the 1940s or early 1950s. When a nun came in and started praying in Latin, Grandma told her "Stop that gibberish!" I loved my Grandma.
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Ha! Great stories! xD
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April is National Poetry Month. Surrounded by news of constant mass killings in America, I find Danna Faulds and other poets work provide some grounding to my grief.
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Hello, fellow analytical thinkers! I haven't dropped in for awhile, so I just now caught up and read the past month or two of posts on this thread. I love the humor and the anecdotes and observations. This is my like-minded tribe, for sure!
My Very Catholic friend is being treated for gastric cancer, and she tells me about how everyone in her extended family, and all her Catholic friends are praying for her. I say, "Oh, how comforting for you," which is about the farthest I can go, and matches what she keeps saying, which is that she feels very buoyed up by that.
As I look around at the horrific gun violence in our country, the suffering and loss of lives to Covid, and innumerable other tragedies worldwide, I have less and less tolerance for those platitudes about how "God was looking out for me," or "Everything happens for a reason." It seems so completely brainless to imagine that there's a God who chooses to cure one person's cancer and make a vaccine available to some people, but who decides that my friend's healthy daughter can simply die in her sleep at age 32. (not Covid, probably heart--the ME is investigating the cause of death)
I give science and medicine the credit for good disease outcomes and treatments, and successful surgeries and vaccines. If there were actually a god, a puppeteer in the sky who's infinitely good, he/she would not, by definition, create a bunch of arbitrary suffering, and go around picking and choosing whose prayers to answer.
Thanks for all the logic and humor. A chocolate cross is one of the weirdest thing I've ever seen, but bunnies that lay chocolate eggs in honor of The Resurrection is already pretty hilarious....
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Give me a Cadbury cream egg over church any day.
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