Funeral for My Religion

[SLD]

A Funeral for My Christianity

A friend told me that I seemed angry lately and at first it really pissed me off. I instantly mounted a spirited, vigorous defense laying out the reasons she had assessed me incorrectly but soon found myself trailing off, resigned to a harsh, unwelcome truth: She was right, or at least she was...

johnpavlovitz.com

An interesting article from a pastor. No he’s not deconverted. He’s just lamenting the political direction that Christianity has taken, and it’s alignment with MAGA.

I suspect they’ll kill him before us. He’s a traitor. We’re just the enemy.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Seems like both parties in the article are poor observers trying to fit reality into their imagined perfect plan. They're both banging their heads hoping doing so will change how the other head bangers behave all because they believe in ghosts. Pretty insane stuff. How did their brains get that way?

 

[Politesse]

I have found that there are three kinds of people, when it comes to disclosing that I'm a former seminarian/pastoral candidate. There are those (most) that care about the disclosure about as much as if I had commented I used to be a retail salesman or a plumber. There are those that react with interest and curiosity and questions they've always wanted to ask a man of the cloth but were too nervous to ask an actual priest (my favorite). And then, there's those who instantly get mad. These are always, always evangelical Christians. They do not tolerate dissent, nor recognize turncoats as ever having been legitimate in the first place. Anyone who was really faithful would never have left.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

An interesting article from a pastor. No he’s not deconverted. He’s just lamenting the political direction that Christianity has taken, and it’s alignment with MAGA.

If there's one Christian God, then his Holy Spirit leads his followers down different paths.

I suspect they’ll kill him before us. He’s a traitor. We’re just the enemy.

Some of the worse persecution inflicted on Christians is by Christians.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

...there's those who instantly get mad. These are always, always evangelical Christians. They do not tolerate dissent, nor recognize turncoats as ever having been legitimate in the first place. Anyone who was really faithful would never have left.

Actually, people from any religious group including liberal Christians can react with angry intolerance toward dissent. There's just no making religion good, and that includes liberalization.

 

[Politesse]

...there's those who instantly get mad. These are always, always evangelical Christians. They do not tolerate dissent, nor recognize turncoats as ever having been legitimate in the first place. Anyone who was really faithful would never have left.

Actually, people from any religious group including liberal Christians can react with angry intolerance toward dissent. There's just no making religion good, and that includes liberalization.

Thank you for correcting me. Yes, a certain, thankfully minority, species of atheists are Evangeliscal-ish in their outrage at the mere mention of certain topics as well.

(Seriously? I say what my own experiences have been and you insist I must be wrong? The sheer cheek of you... and of course you are wrong.)

 

[Unknown Soldier]

...there's those who instantly get mad. These are always, always evangelical Christians. They do not tolerate dissent, nor recognize turncoats as ever having been legitimate in the first place. Anyone who was really faithful would never have left.

Actually, people from any religious group including liberal Christians can react with angry intolerance toward dissent. There's just no making religion good, and that includes liberalization.

Thank you for correcting me.

Let's hope it takes.

Yes, a certain, thankfully minority, species of atheists are Evangeliscal-ish in their outrage at the mere mention of certain topics as well.

You appear to be contradicting what you said above, or is this your self-correction? I thought that "those who instantly get mad" are always evangelical Christians.

Anyway, I already explained to you that no matter how bad A might be, it doesn't make B any better. No matter how bad the acts of "species of atheists" are, it is irrelevant to what the religious do.

(Seriously? I say what my own experiences have been and you insist I must be wrong? The sheer cheek of you... and of course you are wrong.)

Yes. If you say something wrong, then I will correct you.

 

[Politesse]

...there's those who instantly get mad. These are always, always evangelical Christians. They do not tolerate dissent, nor recognize turncoats as ever having been legitimate in the first place. Anyone who was really faithful would never have left.

Actually, people from any religious group including liberal Christians can react with angry intolerance toward dissent. There's just no making religion good, and that includes liberalization.

Thank you for correcting me.

Let's hope it takes.

Yes, a certain, thankfully minority, species of atheists are Evangeliscal-ish in their outrage at the mere mention of certain topics as well.

You appear to be contradicting what you said above, or is this your self-correction? I thought that "those who instantly get mad" are always evangelical Christians.

Anyway, I already explained to you that no matter how bad A might be, it doesn't make B any better. No matter how bad the acts of "species of atheists" are, it is irrelevant to what the religious do.

(Seriously? I say what my own experiences have been and you insist I must be wrong? The sheer cheek of you... and of course you are wrong.)

Yes. If you say something wrong, then I will correct you.

Really? You're sticking to your guns on this? No, I wasn't wrong. About my own memories. I've never encountered any liberal Christians who got angry at the mere thought of my leaving the seminary, and you have the distinct honor of being the first atheist I've ever met to take part in this irritating Evangelical habit. You're scraping the bottom of a already very short barrel, there.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Yes. If you say something wrong, then I will correct you.

Really?

Really.

You're sticking to your guns on this?

This what? I don't take anything back unless you prove it is wrong.

No, I wasn't wrong. About my own memories.

Maybe you aren't wrong about your recollections, but nobody else will ever know.

I've never encountered any liberal Christians who got angry at the mere thought of my leaving the seminary...

Leaving the seminary? That's not a very inclusive way to judge what liberal Christians are intolerant about. You mentioned dissent. Did you ever encounter a liberal Christian who did not tolerate dissent? I recall one liberal Christian here who became upset with the way I characterized prayer. She smeared me as a "fundamentalist atheist" and took off not bothering to defend prayer as a sensible effort.

...and you have the distinct honor of being the first atheist I've ever met to take part in this irritating Evangelical habit.

I am really bad. Now, can we get back to the topic?

You're scraping the bottom of a already very short barrel, there.

I don't know what you're referring to.

 

[Politesse]

Leaving the seminary? That's not a very inclusive way to judge what liberal Christians are intolerant about. You mentioned dissent. Did you ever encounter a liberal Christian who did not tolerate dissent? I recall one liberal Christian here who became upset with the way I characterized prayer. She smeared me as a "fundamentalist atheist" and took off not bothering to defend prayer as a sensible effort.

If what I said has no bearing on your point, then why are you pretending to respond to my post? Actually, what does your point have to do with the topic of the thread? Did you just pop in to complain about liberals, with no intention to actually engage with anything the OP wrote, or myself? This is irritating as hell, and a waste of everyone's time.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Leaving the seminary? That's not a very inclusive way to judge what liberal Christians are intolerant about. You mentioned dissent. Did you ever encounter a liberal Christian who did not tolerate dissent? I recall one liberal Christian here who became upset with the way I characterized prayer. She smeared me as a "fundamentalist atheist" and took off not bothering to defend prayer as a sensible effort.

If what I said has no bearing on your point, then why are you pretending to respond to my post? Actually, what does your point have to do with the topic of the thread?

What point are you referring to? And I did respond to your post #8.

Did you just pop in to complain about liberals, with no intention to actually engage with anything the OP wrote, or myself?

I did engage the content of the OP in post #7..

This is irritating as hell, and a waste of everyone's time.

What is "this"? I'd strongly recommend that you clarify your posts. Please specify what you're referring to and avoid using vague terms like "your point."