Is anyone else an atheist with BC besides me?
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Welcome to the land of sanity, Ilikedogs!
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In general, I don't mind when people say they're praying for me. I take it as sort of a shorthand expression to mean, “I care about you, it sucks what you're going through and I hope things get better."
What rankles me are the ones who believe that prayer has had the most influence on keeping me well, negating everything else that is working towards keeping me healthy. If the disease is eradicated or in remission, it is due to prayer! These people do not acknowledge the 8 years of medical school, internship and residency, plus 20 years experience your oncologist has before you've ever stepped into his/her office. They don't/won’t acknowledge the years and billions of dollars spent researching and developing medicines and techniques for cancer treatment, or the clinical trials or the people who participate in those clinical trials so effective treatment is available to all. They disregard the college degrees of nurses and pharmacists and nuclear medicine techs who all work in conjunction to see that you are getting the right care. And what about my own involvement? I have to take medicine daily, make it to doctors appts, report new symptoms, research complimentary treatment to enhance the traditional treatment I receive and do my best to always advocate for myself.
But no. THEIR prayers is the reason I am doing so well! Why, they did not even have to get off the sofa or out of their bed to help me! They just prayed and believed and it was so! My, my. They is so proud o theirselves.
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Amen, Divine. So to speak.
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Ilikedogs - I like dogs too and find much comfort in the comments on this thread. With only about 3% of Americans and 18 % of Swedes admit to being atheists, it is good to have this thread. Looking at much of society today, I am thinking that way too many religiously affiliated folks do not practice what they preach, yet want to impose laws mandating that which they do not do.
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I agree Magiclight
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Wow MagicLight - only 3% in the US?
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There are probably a lot of people who just say they are unchurched without going into why.
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That’s what I say, while wearing my pentacle necklace, if someone is rude enough to ask
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magiclight: the Peanuts meme cracked me up.
tinkerbell: good luck tomorrow.
I love this thread and should come back more often. Many moons ago my DH and I tried to be vegetarians. We still ate fish. A co-worker when I told her I was vegetarian she asked "Don't you believe in God?" To this day, and we are talking some 45+ years ago, I wonder why she would ask such a question. Huh? Does the Bible say "Thou shalt eat those that walk upon four legs, those that hast wings to fly and thou shalt not eat but only the fruits and vegetable of this thy world" Even typing this make me shake my head.
ilikedogs: I accept that those who say they will pray for me as a gesture of friendship or love. Depends on how they say it "You are in my prayers" feels different then "I'll pray for you" Don't know why one is better than the other. "I'll pray for you" seems like they are doing an intervention to save me from myself and my lack of "faith" .
If I were to be religious I'd go full-on Pagan and pick a Goddess like Brigit, the Goddess of women, music, silversmithing, wells and fire and a host of other things. She is an All Purpose diety. Or maybe Bast, Cat Goddess and Goddess again of women, cats, intoxication. But I would never shove it down anyone's throat, kill over it. I might say "Hey - it's Beltane. Let us honour Brigit and light bonfires, drink too much, dance around a Maypole, eat things doused in honey and (whispered) have sex. THAT is a diety of whom I could approve.
I was never baptized - thanks Mom and Dad - so if there is a Christian God, I'll be in Limbo. Maybe Purgatory for the things I think and say but I don't think I deserve Hell for my lack of faith.
There is/was a major religion that thought Heaven was on the moon. I guess June 1969 put an end to that one.
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Hehehehe you forgot skyclad Hehehehe
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Spookiesmom: No point being skyclad if you are going to wear a house. Go out in your sacred robe to worship. You just can't be naked out in the open these days. Besides, I think skyclad was invented by men like Gardner. But you did make me laugh. There was a politician in Abbotsford BC. He was running for the NDP, Canada's left wing, labour party and admitted to being a Wiccan and being skyclad. What was he thinking, confessing that?!! Abbotsford is one of the buckles in the Lower Mainland's Bible Belt. Surprise! He had to step down.
As someone once wrote about the Pope "If you don't play the game, you can't make the rules"
See you all in whatever place we will all be sent to. I'd rather be with you then some judgemental religious person -- and I include all of them.....Fundamentalist Christians. the Taliban...all the same.
edited: I should have said Gardner invented the term "skyclad" -- nakedness has been with us since we were born. Ha ha
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Does anyone else read Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels? He's dead now, unfortunately (I HATE the term "late" like someone is going to slither into the room and sit in the back). He was an atheist, but wrote very interestingly (and hilariously) about gods on the Discworld (a more or less medieval setting with modern inventions that are somewhere between Flintstone and Steampunk, with a good pinch of magic thrown in). The major gods are explained as kind of inflatable, with their actual prominence depending on the number of believers. But there are a lot of little gods and similar beings, my favorite being Bilious, the Oh God of Hangovers: he gets sick when people drink, so they don't. I could much more easily believe in little personal household type gods who hide socks and eat the last cookie, but also remind me to put on underwear (and outerwear!) if I'm going out in public. To me, the big gods are just CEO types who everyone knows don't give a rat's ass about anyone except themselves, but want a lot of publicity and as much money as they can get. I ignore those types on earth, as I do in heaven. 😅
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I'm an agnostic. And secular humanist. And evidently, a secular confectionist as well, lol. I am also glad for this thread. Never heard of being "skyclad" before. Looked it up. TIL. Thanks!
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I love the Discworld books! Sir Terry was a true blessing to us all. I adored the witches - Granny, Nanny, Magrat, and all the others. And of course Death (and Death of Rats) was brilliant.
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Allice: I must go look for those books.
wrenn: I so agree. Why should anyone in the USA care about a candidates "faith"? I can remember the howls when JFK ran. Heaven forbid, he's Catholic!! And doesn't the Constitution say that state and religion should be separate?" I was spared
Ah yes - the sock that goes into the dryer but never comes out. Then you see a lone sock in the middle of a busy road and think "okay, that is someone's sock that disappeared from the dryer, got lost in the Time Space Continuum and popped out here."
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I heard that lost socks return as tupperware lids that don't match anything you own.
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Good one Wrenn 🤣🤣🤣🤣I think you’re right.
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I think I may have originally seen this here. Apologies if I did, but it's worth reposting.
"Spirituality is about an individual's relationship with the universe. Religion is simply crowd control."
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Trish, I have not seen that one before - thanks for posting
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I swiped this from someone who used to post on BCO.
Religion is for people who are afraid of hell. Spirituality is for people who have already been there.
She attributed it to the Lakota Nation.
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Ooh, I like both of those!
I'm stuck at being nothing. I thought Pantheism would be right, since I love nature, but too much of it seems to have been taken over by Ayn Rand loving libertarian nuts (really, don't most people outgrow her by the time they're out of high school?). And Secular Humanism is hard because there are days when I really don't like people at all, and, more importantly, the logo looks like a traffic warning or bathroom sign of some sort. If I'm going to be an adherent of something, I want a stylish symbol. Maybe a human form wrapped in artistic flames would do, since the religious types think I'm going to burn anyway. Flaunt it!
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To those latest posts: Ha ha ha. I will have to look up Secular Humanism because I thought it was just a practice and didn't actually have a logo. Ayn Rand ---- nope. Didn't like her in High School either.
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For so many of the people I see, religion seems to be mostly about fear of the dark. The rituals so remind me of those I did when I was little, and afraid of the monster under the bed. Close my eyes, keep my toes under the covers, and tell myself over and over again that there was nothing under my bed that could hurt me.
I eventually outgrew all that, when my rational mind conquered the magical thinking of a frightened child. I sometimes feel their frightened child never grew up, and religion is their way of keeping their toes tucked under the covers.
Kinda sad, when you think about it.
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To those religious and political folks who refuse vaccinations:
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Magiclight, yep. Didn't any of those people ever see a 1950s science fiction movie? Those things that mutate will bite you in the ass every time!
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In the past year, in casual conversations I find that some people who "believe" in the Christian God automatically assume it is a belief shared by all people. They don't seem to even consider that others may see things differently. I've had a Walmart worker putting groceries in my car talk about angels and how "you know, all that stuff is real!" The young mail lady also talks in a similar way, as tho we are both on the same wavelength. I don't bother to correct them as I am usually just marveling at how gullible these people are. Well, I was once one of them. I don't have a problem smiling and saying in a calm way, "I don't share your beliefs." But I only do it if it seems appropriate. Otherwise, I just let people blather. I have to decide if it's worth my time and energy to get in to any further discussion.
Dh and I love our neighbor, but he derives his self-worth from being a church elder. At least once a year he suggests dh and I attend his church. Oh, that parrish would love the chance to try to bend my assertive, feminist will into submission and compliance with the patriarchal church and its deity. The last time neighbor suggested we attend, I said, "We probably never will, but thanks for the invite." I mean, never once does he directly ask me what my belief system is. There isn't any discussion about spiritual matters. I think it's just a social scene and an attempt at "getting more members to join" so they have some kind of bragging rights. I'm happy if he finds church-going so satisfying, but why wouldn't he? A white male in power calling the shots and just wants more minions to do his bidding. Naw, I'll pass. The thought of being in their clutches makes me want to hyperventilate. And the thrill of knowing I never have to is liberating!
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DivineMrs.M, 2 years ago or so I had the J witnesses show up at my door. At least once a year. Anyway he said to me can u believe was is going on in this world? I said I know! He said they are allowing same sex marriage. ( Let's forget about world wide hunger, wars etc. ) I said my daughter is married to a women and SLAMMED the door in his face. Haven't seen him since. FU . Did it come as surprise my daughter was gay? Yes it did as she always dated guys. We could give a rats ass who she fell in love with and married. We love our DIL. That shit doesn't matter. Now these people are suppose to be "christians" and they are worried about who is with who? I would say we have bigger problems than that. My mother ??" it's an experiment." My MIL " I will come to the wedding to support the family" I don't need your help was my reply. Really I don't care what u think)
We dragged her ass and my mothers to the wedding (both in wheel chairs)
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I just quit a FB group because somebody posted a bizarre Hallelujah Brother type christian rant. I could have ignored it because I liked the group otherwise, but a sane member asked if it was appropriate since it was way off topic for that group. Those kind, loving christians verbally beat the crap out of him. Fuck 'em. This was I think the fourth FB group I've left for that reason. The one that really pissed me off was a kidney cancer group, because it's hard to find active groups or forums for that beyond endless congratulations for clean scans. Sigh.
In other news, this was the year I found an ancestor who was tried (twice!) for witchcraft in late seventeenth century Connecticut and acquitted. Her mother had been charged, and acquitted, earlier in Massachusetts. Her husband and father were also frequently in trouble. I have other ancestors from the same period who got in trouble in Maryland and Virginia, one for living with a man who was not her husband, and one who led her grown children on a midnight rampage through the town, stealing all the melons. Does that make her a melon felon? I've found mention of other family scofflaws. Maybe I'm just hereditarily ornery. Whatever works. 😜
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WOW Alice that's some interesting history in your family. When I retire I want to get back into genealogy. We know a lot about my father's side but not much on my mother's.
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KIDI919, I really enjoy it. I worked in historical research libraries which introduced me to a lot of sources pre-internet, and gave me the skills to weed out other people's bad genealogy. If there's no citations or source lists, it's not research.
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