|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2006 9:50 pm
Ever have a moment where part of you wants to be really honest and maybe a bit rude and the other half wants to be polite? A moment where you can't decide if you should argue or let it go?
Recent example- Someone shares a bit about their cousin and his being in critical condition after an accident. They ask everyone to pray, making a point of saying that it doesn't matter if you pray to the Christian god or whatever religion you are, just as long as you pray for their relative. Of course, other people promise to pray for this person to pull through.
At first, I wanted to make some point of it and then I was just kind of thinking 'oh what the ********, their cousin might die, I'll just be polite.' So I replied with something more generic like, I hope they make it.
That kind of thing bothers me though. Does the person not care about your input for their cousin if you aren't religious in a way that means you have a god to pray to? Do they assume you must pray to something? o.<
I think I could pray to scientific advances in the field of medicine if you really wanted me to.
At another sort of similar instance when a teacher said something about needing religion for morality in our country, I was just a bit tongue tied from surprise. I couldn't figure out if he was really being serious and trying to say that you had to be religious to be moral or if he was just trying to say being religious could help provide good morals. Either way, I don't think I would completely agree.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2006 11:49 pm
c a u s t i c
Ever have a moment where part of you wants to be really honest and maybe a bit rude and the other half wants to be polite? A moment where you can't decide if you should argue or let it go?I had that happen to me a few times c a u s t i c Recent example- Someone shares a bit about their cousin and his being in critical condition after an accident. They ask everyone to pray, making a point of saying that it doesn't matter if you pray to the Christian god or whatever religion you are, just as long as you pray for their relative. Of course, other people promise to pray for this person to pull through. At first, I wanted to make some point of it and then I was just kind of thinking 'oh what the ********, their cousin might die, I'll just be polite.' So I replied with something more generic like, I hope they make it. That kind of thing bothers me though. It should not bother you. You did the right thing by A)standing by your belief system by not praying and B)Giving the person your condolences by hoping that they will make a full recovery and assuring the person that you care. c a u s t i c Does the person not care about your input for their cousin if you aren't religious in a way that means you have a god to pray to? Do they assume you must pray to something? o.< I think I could pray to scientific advances in the field of medicine if you really wanted me to. To quote George Carlin about this George Carlin Trillions and trillions of prayers every day asking and begging and pleading for favors. 'Do this' 'Gimme that' 'I want a new car' 'I want a better job'. And most of this praying takes place on Sunday. And I say fine, pray for anything you want. Pray for anything. But...what about the divine plan? Remember that? The divine plan. Long time ago god made a divine plan. Gave it a lot of thought. Decided it was a good plan. Put it into practice. And for billion and billions of years the divine plan has been doing just fine. Now you come along and pray for something. Well, suppose the thing you want isn't in god's divine plan. What do you want him to do? Change his plan? Just for you? Doesn't it seem a little arrogant? It's a divine plan. What's the use of being god if every run-down schmuck with a two dollar prayer book can come along and ******** up your plan? And here's something else, another problem you might have; suppose your prayers aren't answered. What do you say? 'Well it's god's will. God's will be done.' Fine, but if it gods will and he's going to do whatever he wants to anyway; why the ******** bother praying in the first place? Seems like a big waste of time to me. Couldn't you just skip the praying part and get right to his will? I just thought this would be both funny and true to answer the part about the prayer part c a u s t i c At another sort of similar instance when a teacher said something about needing religion for morality in our country, I was just a bit tongue tied from surprise. I couldn't figure out if he was really being serious and trying to say that you had to be religious to be moral or if he was just trying to say being religious could help provide good morals. Either way, I don't think I would completely agree. I'm sorry to say this but your teacher is an idiot and I am glad you disagree with this. You do not need religion for morality and to quote Penn Jillete Penn Jillete Whatever you do don't read the bible for moral code. It advocates prejudice, cruelty, superstition, and murder. I could not agree more with this quote and people can use COMMON SENSE to judge what harms or benefits society. hope this helps
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 12:23 am
If that had happened in my classroom, I would have objected and made a big scene in which I would rant about the fact the he has no right to say something like that, especially as a government official (Assuming you go to a public school). I would explain that religion does not imply morality, bringing forth examples such as the Salem Witch Trials and the Crusades, not to mention the Inquisition.
But then again, I think I'm a jerk. sweatdrop
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 4:37 pm
c a u s t i c
Ever have a moment where part of you wants to be really honest and maybe a bit rude and the other half wants to be polite? A moment where you can't decide if you should argue or let it go?Oh yeah. Usually if there is a conflict I take the path of least effort. :p c a u s t i c
Recent example- Someone shares a bit about their cousin and his being in critical condition after an accident. They ask everyone to pray, making a point of saying that it doesn't matter if you pray to the Christian god or whatever religion you are, just as long as you pray for their relative. Of course, other people promise to pray for this person to pull through.
At first, I wanted to make some point of it and then I was just kind of thinking 'oh what the ********, their cousin might die, I'll just be polite.' So I replied with something more generic like, I hope they make it.
That kind of thing bothers me though. Does the person not care about your input for their cousin if you aren't religious in a way that means you have a god to pray to? Do they assume you must pray to something? o.<
I think I could pray to scientific advances in the field of medicine if you really wanted me to.Yeah, this bothers me a little, like the thoughts of the non-religious are worthless, but they're probably not thinking straight, they're emotional and scared... they need friends, not debates. c a u s t i c At another sort of similar instance when a teacher said something about needing religion for morality in our country, I was just a bit tongue tied from surprise. I couldn't figure out if he was really being serious and trying to say that you had to be religious to be moral or if he was just trying to say being religious could help provide good morals. Either way, I don't think I would completely agree. Your teacher is a fool, I would have torn him a new one. But then I over-react sometimes. It would probably have beena throwaway statement probably. Not a serious arguable point... Buuuut I'm not sure you can be too careful about these things.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:49 pm
Situation: In front of a table in front of a bunch of kids in their art class. The teenaged girl doing this with you tells you in a loud, nasally voice to you directly to go and pray for her winning a basketball game that night.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:52 pm
That has happened countless times to me. I simply keep them in mind and say that they will be in my thoughts. I am polite, and tell them I am going to be thinking about the person, without making a scene about what religion I am.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 2:04 am
It's happened to me because my family is all religious, and generally I just don't say anything. It's easier that way, I guess.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 2:43 am
Never happened to me before, and as none of my family are particularly religious ('cept my grandparents on my dad's side), I don't think it will. You did the right thing, I would just say that I would be thinking about them. There's no point pretending to pray to something you don't believe in to make someone else happy- especially as it's not actually going to do anything, anyway sweatdrop
I've had that moment before, though. Mainly with the one quite-strictly religous friend I have (the others are all agnostic/atheist). I'm just like "Erm... yeah" *vacaent smile/half nod*
That teacher was wrong. Completely wrong. I hate it when people assume that you need a religion to have morals, or to be a good person stressed
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 3:31 pm
Once I had a teacher who did something similar. She had an assignment that was mainly a insight into religion, but in the view that there really is a god.
I pulled her aside after class and explained to her that I thought it unfair to have only that assignment....because it puts those that are non-religious, or who are of a different religion than the majority in a unfair, and somewhat cruel position where people could end up ostracizing them.
We had a friendly discussion, and the next class period she presented an alternate assignment for those who wished to not do the religion based one. I along with about 4 others did that one. So it worked out well.
Usually in situations like that I keep my mouthed closed. I prefer to be the more polite one. However if a teacher refuses to offer an alternative, than I would refuse to do the assignment and find a way to get that resolved. It is illegal for a person to be stereotyped in school based on religion, sex, race, or condition. Giving a person a bad grade because they refuse to do a blatently religious assignment when they asked for there to be an alternative is discrimination. The teacher is discriminating against the non-religious person(or person of a different religion) by not offering an alternative assignment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 9:22 pm
I'v only had one teacher ask me of my religion, and it bugged me to no end the responses I got from most people. "Your an atheist?!" "Why don't you belive in God?" "Your going to Hell!" Oi, it was aggrivating, but that teacher is just plain out wrong. You don't need religion (i can't spell today) to be a good person, that's just the basic jist of what is mainly said. Then again, I consider myself to be a terrible person, so I probably can't help. I'v got a harsh opinion of myself.
As for the cousin.. well, I can't help you, but I do hope that he'l be alright. I see no point in praying, so I'l simply leave it to how badly his wounds are and how his body will pull itself through. I don't mean to sound heartless if I did.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:15 am
Only once has something like that happened sort of to me. Two or three girls and the teacher (who had Jesus items all around her desk, I will note) ganged up on a friend of mine who isn't atheist, but just believes there's something and that's it, who we will call A. A's kind of argumentative, so it lasted until the final bell rang. It ended with one of the girls saying "You'll never know true happiness unless you're Christian." or know God, something to that effect. Fear to think what A'd of done if the bell hadn't rung.
It was so WTF I just sat there through the whole argument blinking and staring and ended up missing the second bell. xd (Why I didn't join in: excessive shyness and the fact we weren't friends at the time. Feel kinda guilty about that now...)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 4:38 pm
The most awkward situation for me is when I'm at a funeral... and being that everyone I'm related to or close enough friends to is Christian... if at least not vaguely theistic... it means a lot of sitting through praying and songs to God.. and what have you. It kind of feels like I'm playing an imposer to be going along... but what can you do..?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
