How do you feel when people in your own family, some of whom you deeply love and respect, seem to have no respect for you, and seem to love to preach to you about your heathen ways?
What does that make you feel in your heart? Does it make it difficult for you to respect them anymore? Does it anger you, or does it make you think? Have such encounters strengthened your atheism, Paganism, and etc. beliefs?
*Bonus question for religious people(esp.Christians): How does it make you feel when you are evangelizing to persons you know really aren't interested. Is that a logical course of action?
2007-09-07 04:54:04 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Blessings to you,
I get a little upset sometimes, but then I remember they just love me . They don't understand how at peace you are .They just think their way is the only way. I still love and respect them .My believes are just that, it just happens alot of people believe as I do.
Blessings to you
2007-09-08 05:04:58 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I absolutely hate it.
I have a mother who is quite fundamentalist. Aside from screening videos for my brother and I with "first-hand accounts" of people who had near-death experiences in hell, she plays radio stations very loudly that talk about atheists going to hell or suffering for an eternity. The most humorous one said (not satirically) "Secular film is the tool of the devil." The last one said "hunt them down."
She was always very conservative Catholic, but she became evangelical Protestant when she remarried. I'm an art student, but she cut out many of my old drawings (without permission) because she felt they were graven images.
I rarely visited her, even when I was in my teens. I first realized there was a big problem when her Chilean husband pulled out my tarot cards (I was like 14) and called them witchcraft, and my mum earlier banned me from bringing Harry Potter books to the house, stating "Jesus does not approve."
She also doesn't agree with me drawing the human figure for my art studies. We'll sometimes get into chats and she states that women's liberation and contraception are bad things, or that she does not believe in organ donations because she wants her body and others to be intact for the rapture. She doesn't "know" if the earth is billions of years old. I'm glad she divorced before I became a teenager and more harm could be done.
Here is the sad part: I've met her prayer friends, and she is practically the mold for a typical born-again Christian. It's the same evolution denying, creationist thinking, biblical literalism kind of mold. She prefers religion to her kids.There is no end to the harm that fanaticism can cause when forced onto other people. That's why I try to stay away and try not to discuss anyhing religious around her, but she always pulls something.
2007-09-07 12:09:03 · answer #2 · answered by Dalarus 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I enjoy a good argument about religion once in a while. I have so much evidence to how that we did, in fact evolve from lesser types. The holies have nothing but a book written by very superstitious people who lived to thousand years ago. Nobody knows the qualifications of the writers. It's enough that " Simon says " .
Chaplains in the service were mostly equal to me in rank , so we had many discussions in officer's clubs . The more they spoke, the more convinced I was that religion is nothing but superstition . I did put a lot of doubt in some of their heads, though .
2007-09-07 12:14:43 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I have kind of the oposite situation - religious with some family members always trying to make me into an atheist. It is a little disrespectful, but I try to remember that they love me and are only trying to "share" with me their version of the truth.
I don't evangelize. I will try to answer questions fairly and openly because I believe understanding promotes growth and knowledge.
2007-09-07 12:04:28 · answer #4 · answered by phrog 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I used to get this a lot from my family,some of my family are those really annoying Evangelical Christian nuts. The only problem was that usually in a face to face debate I would destroy them in any argument,so finally most of them stopped. The only exception being my mother,but she always did like a good fight.
AD
2007-09-07 12:14:40 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
My close family members do not evangelize to me nor to anyone else. We do have discussions about our beliefs, but that is as far as it goes. And because of that, I have great respect for my CLOSE family. I do have other family members that try this, but we aren't close and as I didn't really have too much respect for them to begin with, it doesn't affect me one way or the other. They're easily ignored.
2007-09-07 12:08:51 · answer #6 · answered by River 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I am a pagan and my best friend is a christian.
She used to always bring up her religion and try to preach to me. She has finally learned to just not bring it up. I remember the first time I went to her house, her mom looked horrified when she found out we weren't christian...
But yeah... I hate it when people do that. I don't preach to you, so don't preach to me.
I was Y camp, which is supposed to be sort-of a christian camp, but I went there because of horse camp, which rocks. Anyways...
I was explaining that I wasn't christian, and a girl who I thought was my friend was like "Well you're just gonna have to grow out of that." Immediately, all of my cabin mates started defending me (Although they we all christian/catholic...) anyways, that was the end of my "friendship" with that girl...
Anyways, it makes me mad. I feel disgusted with the person who is preaching to me. Also, just like when I was sure I would be tempted to break my vegan diet at the state fair, all of the propaganda about me and dairy strengthened my resolve to be a vegan, being preached to just strengthens my paganism.
So, yeah, my answer is kinda disorganized and stuff, but I hope it is still readable.
2007-09-07 22:07:03 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am from London, no one behaves like that.
Even very devout people are not as ridiculous. Faith is considered a personal thing and not something to be shoved down the throat of anyone within earshot.
2007-09-07 12:04:58 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Fortunately my family learned the futility of prosletizing to me many years ago. Before that lesson was learned however, I would remind myself that, although I did not agree with them, the excersize was very important to them and their spiritual well-being. Since that is the case, and I love my family in spite of their peculiarities, I would smile, nod, and thank them for their concern.
2007-09-07 18:59:56 · answer #9 · answered by Beowulf 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I beleive in Karma..... taking responsibility for your own well being is part of that..... if you are rejected constantly despite your best efforts to get along then you MUST cut your loses.... Religion is a form of abuse... always was... it's no different than if they took the book itself and beat the stuffing out of you with it.... it's natural for people who have been beaten to walk away from their parents or familly members who mentally, emotionally and physically abuse them... it should be no different when they spritually abuse them...
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2007-09-07 16:51:12 · answer #10 · answered by Gypsy 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋