As I mentioned before, I was brought up in church by Christian parents. A lot of my childhood memories are of my father coming into my room at night, tucking me in, telling me the most amazing bible stories. Most of my summers were spent with kids at church, and most functions that 'normal' kids would have spent at their school (i.e., prom) were instead traded-off for a less secularized version at our very own church banquet, with no dancing of any kind. I didn't see one boob. So yes - I understand that a lot of people are raised in this kind of environment and may have an insular view of things that take place in our little world.
So yes, I try to respect people's views on religion, and really - I do. I mean, if I disliked people simply because of their beliefs, I'd then become more of the kind of person that I dislike to begin with. But it's getting to the point where I'm finding it hard to sympathize. Eventually there comes a point where even the most open-minded "I-fuckin'-love-everything-about-EVERYONE" type of person may find that there comes a point where you wonder "what the FUCK is wrong with you SHEEPLE?" Holy fuck already!
You see, I understand that there are many people that find their own 'center' with religion. It keeps them grounded. Fine. Who am I to deny you of that. But when it gets to the point a child dies of neglect even after a 15 month old niece of the boy's also died because of the extreme fundamental views of the family and their insistence on praying in lieu of seeking medical help for a treatable urinary tract disorder; something is wrong. Thankfully there is a case pending against them regarding the 15 month old, but as for the 14 year old, he apparently has the legal right to refuse treatment. (Which, I gaurantee had he not been brainwashed, he would have opted for the short ride to the hospital.)
I completely understand why a fundamentalist would be so against advanced breakthroughs in medicine, and the science behind it. There has been a war waged by the church against science ever since science has flourished, and that's not going to change anytime soon. With all the advances of science, and all that can be proven about our world, many people refuse to acknowledge any of its benefits. There is a story here about scientists finding a way to alter genes of an embryo of parents that have a genetic predisposition toward passing on terrible disabilities.
But back to the topic of prayer. If you survive a wreck, then it was undoubtedly God's grace. If something horrible happens to a relatively decent person, "God works in mysterious ways", is always the reply. I was watching some pretty fucked up clips of Rodeo accidents, and this guys leg got caught in the rope (I'm sure there's another term for it) and the bull kept kicking, jumping, twisting around, bending his leg like a pretzel, etc. Later they interviewed him and he says, "It's by the grace of God that I'm here today." WTF? It'd be the grace of God if you didn't get your ass handed to you in the first place!" It's like a win/win situation for the believer. If they die; it's God's will. If they survive - forget chance, it was 'grace.'
When New Orleans was ravaged by Katrina, you had a lot of hatespeech going around saying that God was passing judgment on the city for it's secular ways. After 9/11, evangelist Jerry Falwell placed the blame on...well, fuck it. Just read:
This is exactly what is unsettling to me about religious fundamentalists.
Problem: I pay too much for gas. Solution: Pray to God to lower the prices.
There is no deeper thought than this. There is no desire to look deeper into the problem and realize that this is a symptom, not the cause of the problem. But of course, it's the only thing that immediately affects the end user, so it's all they care about.
These people are burying their heads in the sand. Nevermind that global warming is destroying our world. Nevermind that Americans get fatter and fatter every day, and nevermind that America is growing more and more dependent on foreign oil. Nevermind that this lifestyle of driving yourself everywhere is completely unsustainable.
NO, the only problem is that each time you fill u
p your gas tank, it's too expensive. That's the problem. So do they solve this problem by lobbying the government to crack down on price gauging? Do they campaign for alternative energy and promote research in hybrid and electric cars?
No. They Pray.
Connecting the dots on the reasons behind high gas prices might cause some unhealthy cognitive dissonance regarding the war, economy, etc. Best to leave it alone.
HOWEVER, if gas prices do not drastically go down by the end of this year, that's okay - God has a plan. Oh, and maybe--just maybe--it would have been a good idea of God like totally didn't give all the oil to the Muslims. Sheesh. Who's side is he on anyways?
(story)
So yes, I try to respect people's views on religion, and really - I do. I mean, if I disliked people simply because of their beliefs, I'd then become more of the kind of person that I dislike to begin with. But it's getting to the point where I'm finding it hard to sympathize. Eventually there comes a point where even the most open-minded "I-fuckin'-love-everything-about-EVERYONE" type of person may find that there comes a point where you wonder "what the FUCK is wrong with you SHEEPLE?" Holy fuck already!
You see, I understand that there are many people that find their own 'center' with religion. It keeps them grounded. Fine. Who am I to deny you of that. But when it gets to the point a child dies of neglect even after a 15 month old niece of the boy's also died because of the extreme fundamental views of the family and their insistence on praying in lieu of seeking medical help for a treatable urinary tract disorder; something is wrong. Thankfully there is a case pending against them regarding the 15 month old, but as for the 14 year old, he apparently has the legal right to refuse treatment. (Which, I gaurantee had he not been brainwashed, he would have opted for the short ride to the hospital.)
I completely understand why a fundamentalist would be so against advanced breakthroughs in medicine, and the science behind it. There has been a war waged by the church against science ever since science has flourished, and that's not going to change anytime soon. With all the advances of science, and all that can be proven about our world, many people refuse to acknowledge any of its benefits. There is a story here about scientists finding a way to alter genes of an embryo of parents that have a genetic predisposition toward passing on terrible disabilities.
About 200 heritable conditions can be detected by pre-implantation diagnosis in IVF treatment so that only healthy embryos are implanted in the mother or frozen; the new technique — pre-implantation genetic haplotyping — will be able to detect nearly 6,000 diseases and conditions. As one of the British pioneers said, this changes everything. One could almost call it godlike. [via]The fundamentalist wonders, "if a child is altered and is born a way other than what God intended him to be created, we are meddling in Christ's affairs!" However, many of these very same people would still choose to extend their own lives by way of surgeries, chemo, modern medicine, transplants -- and they don't think they are 'playing God' by altering the 'natural' rhythm of things; i.e., their death? (Not to mention, if they're that excited about going to see Jesus and walk on streets of gold for all eternity (which, actually - sounds kind of tacky to me; sorry God) then why even bother? On the flip-side of this, I had a friend in 9th grade that actually commit suicide because he was anxious to get to heaven.
But back to the topic of prayer. If you survive a wreck, then it was undoubtedly God's grace. If something horrible happens to a relatively decent person, "God works in mysterious ways", is always the reply. I was watching some pretty fucked up clips of Rodeo accidents, and this guys leg got caught in the rope (I'm sure there's another term for it) and the bull kept kicking, jumping, twisting around, bending his leg like a pretzel, etc. Later they interviewed him and he says, "It's by the grace of God that I'm here today." WTF? It'd be the grace of God if you didn't get your ass handed to you in the first place!" It's like a win/win situation for the believer. If they die; it's God's will. If they survive - forget chance, it was 'grace.'
When New Orleans was ravaged by Katrina, you had a lot of hatespeech going around saying that God was passing judgment on the city for it's secular ways. After 9/11, evangelist Jerry Falwell placed the blame on...well, fuck it. Just read:
"The ACLU has got to take a lot of blame for this. And I know I'll hear from them for this, but throwing God...successfully with the help of the federal court system...throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools, the abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked and when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad...I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who try to secularize America...I point the thing in their face and say you helped this happen." - Jerry FalwellWTF? When those Boy Scouts died the other week with the aid of a Tornado from heaven, where was Jerry Falwell with his opportunistic words of wisdom then? It was reported they were settling down to watch a movie before the tornado hit - is it perhaps possible this movie had questionable content? Well, there aren't too many other explanations. A tornado, afterall, would never drift off and strike a cabin full of kids without a very good reason.
This is exactly what is unsettling to me about religious fundamentalists.
Problem: I pay too much for gas. Solution: Pray to God to lower the prices.
There is no deeper thought than this. There is no desire to look deeper into the problem and realize that this is a symptom, not the cause of the problem. But of course, it's the only thing that immediately affects the end user, so it's all they care about.
These people are burying their heads in the sand. Nevermind that global warming is destroying our world. Nevermind that Americans get fatter and fatter every day, and nevermind that America is growing more and more dependent on foreign oil. Nevermind that this lifestyle of driving yourself everywhere is completely unsustainable.
NO, the only problem is that each time you fill u
p your gas tank, it's too expensive. That's the problem. So do they solve this problem by lobbying the government to crack down on price gauging? Do they campaign for alternative energy and promote research in hybrid and electric cars?
No. They Pray.
Connecting the dots on the reasons behind high gas prices might cause some unhealthy cognitive dissonance regarding the war, economy, etc. Best to leave it alone.
HOWEVER, if gas prices do not drastically go down by the end of this year, that's okay - God has a plan. Oh, and maybe--just maybe--it would have been a good idea of God like totally didn't give all the oil to the Muslims. Sheesh. Who's side is he on anyways?
(story)
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