It is only when they condemn others for not believing as they do, seek to undermine our education system, or hijack our political process, that I become unable to stand idly by without responding in some way.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Could not have said it better myself.
It is only when they condemn others for not believing as they do, seek to undermine our education system, or hijack our political process, that I become unable to stand idly by without responding in some way.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree and have always felt religion was something personal-not to force others to bend to my beliefs. However, because of all of this political religion, I am disgusted to acknowledge that I once even had a belief.
ReplyDeleteAs a Christian, Episcopalian, I feel exactly the same.
ReplyDeleteOtto, I was raised in the Episcopal church and I have to say that of all the major sects and protestant groups, they are the most open I have encountered. They actually ENCOURAGE their adherents to read and study and discover, even suggesting places to go or look for information - pro and con.
DeleteStill, I could not maintain that which had been pounded into my mind. I left the church before I was sixteen.
Needless to say, my father was miffed! Many times I have thought that my GRANDFATHER'S faith was stronger than his son's because, while Grampa was unhappy with my decision, he accepted it without rancor. My father did not.
I came close to filing charges against him. (Assault and Battery) I relented only because in those days (the early '60's) I would have had no support.
I agree. There are four women I went to college with and we catch up from time to time, though we live in different states. I'm the only atheist and the other four are different denominations of "Christian".. Anyway, one girl's father is going through chemo/radiation with stage four cancer that's spread to his liver, the same diagnosis my father had, and died from. She called me to ask my advice about his care, and it's difficult because every diagnosis is different. I told her to fill me in and I'd speak to the social worker who helped us and give her contact information.
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, I asked what the other girls said, and it was all basically the same "It's God's Will, it's his time to go to heaven, His body is just a vessel, his soul belongs with God etc etc etc. All I could think of was how it felt when well meaning people said those words to me.
I told her I'm here to listen, I can't stop the rain but can hold the umbrella while we walk and I tried to reassure her that we're more like sisters than friends and she could talk anytime about anything.
There just isn't an answer for every question and just being there is all one can do.
After hanging up, I can't call it anger, but I felt such frustration at the advice the others gave. It may console them, but this woman is suffering and overlooking her sorrow with "God's will" for her dad doesn't make sense to me.