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Post by Gone on Dec 31, 2015 8:17:09 GMT -5
What's up with people who have been heathen asses all their lives UNTIL.........THEY GET SERIOUSLY ILL? If they want to embrace religion to comfort and help them get through a rough time I'm OK with that. However, it's the ones who are suddenly beating everyone over the head with their new found "faith". I known a couple of people with cancer who have done this. One of them had been particularly obnoxious but is now in remission which is great because I want her to be well and STFU!
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Post by bobathon on Dec 31, 2015 9:16:50 GMT -5
Is it like when people quit smoking?
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Post by pastafari on Dec 31, 2015 9:24:40 GMT -5
"It will happen to all of us that at some point you'll be tapped on the shoulder and told, not just that the party is over, but slightly worse: the party's going on but you have to leave." -Christopher Hitchens
Well, us self-centered beings have a really tough time imagining that the party might go on without us. So we've invented a way to think that we're just going to a BETTER party somewhere else. It's a pretty good selling point, and one that no one can ever really refute. Some people find comfort that idea, no matter how irrational it is.
The thing is, NO ONE really believes it, otherwise funerals would be some of the happiest parties ever thrown. If people REALLY believed in heaven, they'd be happy that their friends and families are headed there and excited to see them soon enough (soon enough relative to eternity, anyway). When the doctor told you you've got cancer, you'd be like, "Sweet, I'm in the fast lane now, boy!" Nobody really believes in hell, either, except for people they don't like. When was the last time you went to a funeral and the priest/preacher/pastor/whatever said that the deceased was going to hell? It doesn't happen. Sure, you might think Hitler is in hell, but I assure you that nobody said that at his funeral, either.
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Dec 31, 2015 10:17:55 GMT -5
QR:
I got real sick and thought it was the end of the line. Two little kids, stay at home wife, big mortgage, yada yada. Doctors weren't finding ANYTHING, kept saying anxiety. To this day, they still call it that. But at the time, I had trouble making it from the chair to the bathroom from the weakness and dizziness. Lost about 50 pounds in 2 months +/-, and lots of other symptoms associate with the undetermined illness.
Bad scene.
Longs story short: At some point I decided that I needed help and asked you-know-who for it, and to give it all away to Him. It didn't come right away but my strength and appetite started to come back to me, and a couple of months later I was back on my feet to the point where I could at least work enough to provide for my family again, and be a father and husband, instead of an open sore in a chair.
Just to give you an idea, this is probably the first time I've shared any of this about my faith. I didn't go around and I still don't go around preaching or judging, and I'm still struggling with how I feel about it. But I don't need other opinions or explanations for what is what, why things are what they are, or anything else, any more than I've ever needed to yell about it from a mountain top. I don't seek God for the answer, because to me, he simply IS the answer.
Catch you jerkoffs later, gotta go to work.
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Post by minx on Dec 31, 2015 10:18:46 GMT -5
I dunno Pasta - my sister went to an in-laws funeral and the priest started the eulogy with "We'd all like to *think* Aunt Susie is in heaven" and then went on to give a really bizarre speech filled with references to hell. Sister said that she and her husband spent the entire funeral with their heads in the program trying to cover their laughter.
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Post by MF on Dec 31, 2015 11:50:22 GMT -5
I don't know if any of you native Frederivksburgians,knew Bob Dodd, but he found out he had terminal cancer and died a few months later. Before he got incapacitated, he and his family and many friends had a bon voyage party for him.  Now, because of man's ignorance, there comes a time when, because you can't prove there is no God, most every good atheist has that thought, what if I'm wrong and there is a God.? I am soooooo screwed if there is, I better do something quick.......ta daaah. |
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Post by Gone on Dec 31, 2015 12:31:57 GMT -5
I done know if any of you native Frederivksburgians,knew Bob Dodd, but he found out he had terminal cancer and died a few months later. Before he got incapacitated, he and his family and many friends had a bon vayage party for him. Now, because of man's ignorance, there comes a time when, because you can't prove there is no God, most every good atheist has that thought, what if I'm wrong and there is a God.? I am soooooo screwed if there is, I better do something quick.......ta daaah. |
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Post by Gone on Dec 31, 2015 12:37:20 GMT -5
MF, John, I have no problem with any of that. If it gives them comfort, hope, etc that's great. Why do they find it necessary to beat others over the head with it? Maybe I'm just weird.
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Post by bobathon on Dec 31, 2015 12:51:13 GMT -5
Maybe he'll pray for you.
MF, some of us have come to terms with our impermanence and don't need some comforting vague happy tale.
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Post by Gone on Dec 31, 2015 13:07:03 GMT -5
QR: I got real sick and thought it was the end of the line. Two little kids, stay at home wife, big mortgage, yada yada. Doctors weren't finding ANYTHING, kept saying anxiety. To this day, they still call it that. But at the time, I had trouble making it from the chair to the bathroom from the weakness and dizziness. Lost about 50 pounds in 2 months +/-, and lots of other symptoms associate with the undetermined illness. Bad scene. Longs story short: At some point I decided that I needed help and asked you-know-who for it, and to give it all away to Him. It didn't come right away but my strength and appetite started to come back to me, and a couple of months later I was back on my feet to the point where I could at least work enough to provide for my family again, and be a father and husband, instead of an open sore in a chair. Just to give you an idea, this is probably the first time I've shared any of this about my faith. I didn't go around and I still don't go around preaching or judging, and I'm still struggling with how I feel about it. But I don't need other opinions or explanations for what is what, why things are what they are, or anything else, any more than I've ever needed to yell about it from a mountain top. I don't seek God for the answer, because to me, he simply IS the answer. Catch you jerkoffs later, gotta go to work. |
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Post by Gone on Dec 31, 2015 13:13:23 GMT -5
Glad you got well. If it was the work of a benevolent higher power I wonder why you didn't get well right away? It just seems odd. If I had decided I was going to help someone why would I choose to prolong their suffering? If I had that kind of power, the deed would be done.....but I'm not God or even queen.....yet!
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Post by bobathon on Dec 31, 2015 13:22:56 GMT -5
That's the god I know - wrecks a train killing all but one person, so that ine survivor can proclaim god's miraculous glory.
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Post by minx on Dec 31, 2015 14:57:32 GMT -5
I don't think it's all that terrible to believe in a higher power - it's when you say your higher power is better than mine, and start restricting my right to worship the great pasta strainer in the sky that I start having problems.
I personally don't possess the knowledge to know if God, Allah, Buddah or the FSM are real - it's up to each person to decide their beliefs IMO.
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Post by bobathon on Dec 31, 2015 15:13:56 GMT -5
Well, I would say nobody KNOWS. I think it is all personal and internal, and as many gods exist as there are believers. I hate any sales crap, so I appreciate how John behaves. It's nice it works for him, and nobody else has to buy in to it. Some people like to sell a product, though.
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Post by k9krap on Jan 1, 2016 18:14:33 GMT -5
Glad you got well. If it was the work of a benevolent higher power I wonder why you didn't get well right away? It just seems odd. If I had decided I was going to help someone why would I choose to prolong their suffering? If I had that kind of power, the deed would be done.....but I'm not God or even queen.....yet! I agree! I had a similar experience to Pete's, but never asked for divine assistance. When I was diagnosed with SLE nearly 35 years ago, the primary damage was to my kidneys. High doses of prednisone calmed everything down. About 12 years later I was having surgery at MCV. I always make sure every doctor involved in my care is aware of that at one time my kidneys were barely functioning. I came through the surgery fine, but 36 hours later, I only recall a nurse asking why I wasn't urinating and then all was black. Next, my surgeon was asking me for more details about my lupus nephritis as they were wheeling me to ICU. I was there for 5 days while they did everything they could to get my kidneys working. Finally, they kicked in. As they were wheeling me out of the unit, I thanked the doctor that primarily worked on me. He told me that he never figured out what was wrong, didn't do anything and took no responsibility for my improvement. Pooh, this is for you.  |
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Post by Gone on Jan 1, 2016 18:20:55 GMT -5
Thank you, K9! I admit it.....I snorted.  |
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Post by MF on Jan 1, 2016 19:21:53 GMT -5
MrsMF and I did too.....  |
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Post by pastafari on Jan 2, 2016 10:13:20 GMT -5
Now, because of man's ignorance, there comes a time when, because you can't prove there is no God, most every good atheist has that thought, what if I'm wrong and there is a God.? I am soooooo screwed if there is, I better do something quick.......ta daaah. How many times do we have to go over Pascal's wager around here? Do you ever substitute another god/religion for yours in that argument? What if Mohammed was right? What if the Greeks were dead on balls accurate? Better start believing in all of them, just to be safe. Also, nothing I've ever read about any god says "Believe in me, just in case. Hedge your bets, kids." Which brings me to another point in response to Minx earlier, about choosing one's beliefs. You can't choose a belief. Beliefs come from the totality of your experience, which can be chosen (I can choose NOT to read that book, take that class, etc. which affects the totality of my experience), but the end result beliefs can't be chosen. You can pretend to believe in a thing or not believe in a thing, but you can't just change your belief on a whim. I can pretend that the red ball is blue all day long, but I know it's red, based on my experience of having seen the ball. And the last thing, which is sure to go over MF's head, but "not believing a thing is" and "believing a thing is not" are not the same thing. |
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