Izzy
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Posts posted by Izzy
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Why is it ok to raise children while pushing a faith, but it's not ok to raise them while making your non belief very well known?
I dont force my beliefs on my kids, but if i were religious, it would ok to do so!
I do teach religion to them right along with other mythology stories. I'm also trying to make sure we study it as it shaped history.
If you're an "angry atheist," is there a certain religion that bugs you more than others?
I haven't talked about my beliefs with my kids too much but would be happy to discuss it with them if it came up. Religion is such a non issue around here so it doesn't comes up. I would never start a conversation with "this is what WE believe", more of a "this is what I believe - what do you believe" type of approach.
The only religions that really bug me are the Abrahamic religions. There's too many absolutes which lead to intolerance, fear, self-hatred, and proselytizing. I can deal with the more liberal denominations even though I don't really get it. If you can dissect the bible enough to take out all of the ugly parts then it's not really biblically based anymore. I'm fine with that, though, since you end up with a more humanistic religion which doesn't seem too harmful.
If one of my kids were to be interested in one of these religions I'd be sure to cover the good and the bad with them. I wouldn't let them attend church because I wouldn't want them getting sucked into god, Allah, or Jesus loves you before they knew all of the gotchas.
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My Mom is a gentle-ish bi-polar who occassionally goes off her rocker. She was insane for the this past election. Because everyone will go to hell now that Obama won. And it's not because he's black! You just have to watch out for the black people more. :glare: And a lot of them don't go the right churches either. Double :glare: .
So as long as we avoid politics, which is really HARD to do - we are good. And she did have a hard time with this past election with the RR's obsession with rape babies. You want to vote Repug for financial reasons? Go for it. But that's kind of hard to do when all your party talks about is rape babies.
If she would turn off Fox "News," she would be ok. We don't have cable at my house so when she comes up here for a week or so, she starts to settle down. Funny how much easier that is to do when no one is endlessly screaming at you that the black people and/or Mexicans are ruining our country. When we visit, she swears they don't watch a lot of Fox but it will always be on all 4 TVs in their house. All day long. And then she wonders why she feels under attack. :laugh:
When Mom is nuts, we just don't answer the phone. She unfriended me on FB two Xmases ago because we were fighting. I just ignored it and went on with my life. My Dad gets hysterical when he doesn't get the attention he thinks he deserves too so when they are both cranked, it's a wild ride. My father has colon cancer - stage 3. It will eventually kill him. I wish he would live forever - in good health - but he's not going to. (I suspect I may not be immortal either. Rats. ) He's got 5-7 good years left probably. And he's 79. So when he cranks up AND gets Mom cranked up, we just ignore them. I've hung up many times saying, "I love you but we're not going to keep talking now. Call me when you calm down." That annoys the wits out of them but then a few weeks go by and they settle down. I did finally tell them that I love them but I don't "need" them. I'm 41. I've been parented. I'm ok without them. Now that they know that, they are more careful.
And the handful of times they have tried to pull my kids into the crazy has not gone well for them.
My mom had a "premonition" the first time she saw Obama. She said he was evil. She also suffers from depression but listens to christian radio all. day. long which gets her all worked up. She's always calling me about some latest development and how we are all going to suffer.
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How do I handle my mom when she self weans? I don't put up with her outbursts. I tell her to take her meds cause I'm not putting up with her meltdowns. I also tell her that I will do everything necessary to protect my children from her outbursts and that includes not allowing her to see them. Then I call my dad and tell him he needs to grind up her pills and put them in her food.
Then I don't answer the phone for a few days until I get the clear from my dad. If I'm with her I leave. At once.
Exactly this with my mom. My poor dad.
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My mother is off her meds, or so it seems. :(
I'm getting YELLED at again for ds's problems. His MRI comes back normal. I think its awesome. My mother, however, knows the "truth." The truth is that god is giving me signs to quit dealing in the natural world and get involved in the right church.
I thought the MRI just showed that everything grew perfectly and his cerebellar tonsils are no longer being squished. Obviously I'm wrong. I'm not sure I'll ever see this "truth" she insists to know.
When she's on her meds, she preaches a lot. When she stops her meds, she's not all there, doesn't listen, and yells at everyone.
Wonderful news about DS's MRI. I'm sorry about having to deal with your mom. What she's doing is just plain mean. Can you take a break from her?
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When you see a prayer request.....what do you do? I feel like a hypocrite even opening those threads because I think prayer is a total waste of time since no one is listening. Do you send positive thoughts or just scroll on?
I used to do a :grouphug: but I honestly don't open up a lot of prayer threads and don't open any cc threads. I have a few FB groups with friends I have known a long time and I will always respond with well wishes, thoughts, fingers crossed, etc. Kwim? They usually aren't asking for prayers for their FB friend's cousin's best friend whose daughter is having a crisis. lol.
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Where does everyone stand on Karma....bad vibes coming back at you type of thing?
I don't actually believe in karma in the superstitious sense but I do use the term. I'd like to think good is returned to those who do good and bad is returned to those who do bad. I know that's not how it always works though.
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Izzy, this is for you. Enjoy. (no, u can't marry him. he's dead)
Check out this video on YouTube:
That was freaking hilarious!! I so needed that. :D
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My brother might be going since he's in Dallas. If I would've known sooner we would too. We're due for a visit. :)
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You're the only other person that I've ever met who defines themselves as Ignostic! My DS12 did for years. He's now atheist, he says. But for years he would tell people he was ignostic. And then would have to argue with people that there was indeed such a word. I think my DS8 is sort of struggling with this atm. He's been having some questions. I think he wants to identify as "atheist" because DH and I do, DS12 does, and DS5 decided a couple of years ago that he is (and has never given another thought to it). My DS8, though. He's a thinker. And he listens to everyone quietly and then takes his time in dissecting things and mulling them over and figuring out what it means *to him*. Lately he's been asking about how big the universe is and how we're so very small. And we've been looking at star maps and watching some really neat videos and talking about how enormous the universe is. And now his big question is "What if the universe is what is meant by a "god"? People started out thinking that a god or goddess ruled over the sun and moon and seasons. What if really, the idea of a god is bigger than that and it means the whole universe? But the universe doesn't care what we do or how we do it. It's bigger than that. But that's just it. It IS bigger than us. Kind of like the different gods that people worship. They need something bigger than them...." And then he walks off to think some more.
Some days that kid just blows my mind.
That's one smart kiddo you have!! I have read that this is how some scientists view god. There was another PP on this thread that said her version of god was the universe too. There are so many pages to this thread that I don't want to search for the quote but maybe she's reading and will chime in. :D She said something like the universe created us all. It was pretty neat. :)
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I am probably WAY late to this question, but if you click on the links to Ignosticism and Apatheism from that Dawkins page, you'll find what you just described. I am definitely an Ignostic first. Whether or not I am an Atheist or an Agnostic depends on how you answer the Ignostic question.
Can you link to this page? I tried googling and looked on the Dawkins site but didn't find the links. Maybe it's because I'm on my phone. :)
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It's really more like a "conditioned" answer. They are just defending themselves with conditioned responses they hear from their pastors, parents, other followers. It rarely has anything to do with a thoughtful defense of their faith. That is why you hear the same trite and pat answers from so many of them. It does get old, but then it's also quite ineffective in making any case for their cause, as you know.
It is actually interesting to converse with someone who is thoughtful in their defense of their god and faith. You don't hear the usual platitudes, hand-wringing and blind praise from them. Instead, you will get thoughtful discussions on how they interpret their personal faith in relation to what their holy books tell them. I am not just speaking of Christians here. I think that, as a group, they are sorely lacking in numbers of followers who have any introspection about their faith and religion. I have know a few rare exceptions though (2 on this board, in particular). On the other hand, I've had amazing discussions with Jews and Muslims that, while not enough to convert me ;), are still thought-provoking and intruiging.
Very true.
I loved the Progressive Christianity group. After growing up with the conditioned responses, it was nice to talk to others that were really pondering their faith and coming to different conclusions on what they believe. I ended up coming to the conclusion that I just. didn't. believe but I came to that decision all on my own using my very own reason. I own my belief (or lack of) now. :)
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I've had this same conversation with my mother, sister, and BIL, so many times before I gave up and decided to just stop visiting them. You get what you pray for = God answered my prayer! You don't get what you pray for = God has other plans / works in mysterious ways / has even better things planned for you! Everything good that happens is proof of God's love; everything bad that happens is caused by people not believing or trusting in God and is proof of our evil, sinful nature and need for God. There's no way out of that loop and no way to argue against it.
Jackie
It really is a never ending loop. It makes zero sense that god just answered your prayer and gave you the extra money you needed on a tax return but some other praying mom just lost her child to cancer. But god works in mysterious ways and who are we to question god's will?
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Congrats! I'm at UT now . . . Actually RIGHT NOW I'm procrastinating as I have a paper due on Friday and haven't even put pen to paper.
SHHHH . . . Don't tell anyone. ;-)
Awesome! And your secret is safe with me. :D
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The following is a joke:
I can only decide if you are pro-PP once I know if you are a Girl Scout or not.
lol! I don't have any girls and I was never interested in Girl Scouts as a kid. Now if I had girls they would have to be Girl Scouts just for the yummy cookies!
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ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!
Mission for discussion failed!
ABORT!
ROFL!! What just happened? I'm so confuzzled right now. lol
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Those small town rural folk who grow all the organic veggies, have foodshed alliance dinners and run the farmer's market... :leaving:
Huh? I live in a big city where tons of people grow organic veggies and we have plenty of farmer's markets.
I'm so confused right now.
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I'm really not understanding all of the attacks. So she's in a small conservative town and these people are making remarks. My parents live in Mississippi so I get it. That really happens. What I don't get is the jump between reading KK's comment to I'm conservative so KK called me this type of person?
I live in a large liberal city. I'm pretty liberal but don't particularly care for Planned Parenthood. Do most liberals? Yes. Does most of my city? Yes. I'm 100% okay with someone being in a large liberal city and hearing pro-PP comments and attributing it to being in a large liberal city. No big deal. I don't take offense and think that person is calling me pro-PP just because I'm a liberal or live in a big city.
This is just bizarre to me.
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That's not what I said, though. And I did clarify in post #20. I didn't bother editing the original comment since it was quoted anyway. I wasn't trying to insult anyone. No one here is from my town anyway, that I'm aware of. And, good grief, I didn't even mean "conservative" in a political way. I meant it in an "eye for an eye" sort of way. Sort of weird that some people's back got put up over taking it in a political tone. I didn't anticipate that. Hence the clarification. Not exasperated, either. Just a little surprised that people are reading the first mention of it and hitting reply without seeing what else was said.
I wouldn't worry about it. The same people making a stink about one sentence would have found something else to pick apart even if you reworded it. It's sort of humorous if you think about it. It's such a minor detail and has nothing to do with the thread itself.
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obviously your not-grandmother is seriously insane and has no idea of reality. the problem is there seems to be a lot of seriously insane people walking around pretending to be functioning human beings. hmm, in fact my daughter accuses me of that . .
A good question is at what point do religious beliefs cross over from just delusional to mentally ill. I feel like we have too much religious freedom. For example, I think the FLDS should all be dismantled and the leaders arrested but they get to hide behind religious freedom.
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This is probably a little OT but I thought I'd post here anyway. I registered for school and submitted my FAFSA form yesterday! I'll probably get an associates from the community college and transfer to UT but I'm still trying to decide between computer science and computer information systems. :) :) :)
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No flames here. The rot in hell remarks make me flinch. Don't get me wrong, I think they should have done whatever necessary to save this boy and if that meant killing the man then so be it. It just makes me sad that this man didn't get the mental help he needed. It's much more effective to treat the mentally ill then to deal with the aftermath of untreated mental illness.
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Can I rant here, please? Pretty please? Because I can't talk honestly and freely anywhere else in my life but with my like-minded husband.
This poor little 5 year old boy has been held hostage in a tiny, one-roomed, underground bunker since Tuesday or Wednesday last week. We have no idea what he additionally experienced today as FBI stormed the bunker, killed the guy and rescued the boy.
Anyway, my local Facebook is jam packed with "thank God" and "God answered prayer" and I'm biting a hole right through my tongue! Where was God when this guy stormed this bus and shot the innocent bus driver who was protecting his kids? Where was God all these days this little guy has been stuck down there? Where was he when this guy decided to do this? It's things like this that continue to push me further and further from any chance of a god.
P.S. Please, this is a JAWM. I hope I don't upset you guys. I'm just busting at the seams with frustration.
I totally understand. I deleted people that were saying the school shooting happened because we took god out of school. These weren't even crazy fundies either. They were regular Christians who really think this. That was the point where I denounced my Christianity and said I was agnostic. It had been a long time coming but that was my AHA moment when I knew I couldn't be in the same category as these people.
Anyways, I don't mind the thank god posts but find it odd that these same people will thank god for finding their car keys or getting their child a doctors appt. I find it very self centered.
I'm SO happy the little boy was found! I hope he's able to get past the trauma of it. :(
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You mean our children? :rolleyes:
I can't count the number of times I said, "But we're not religious homeschoolers." after having told someone we homeschool. Even if they don't ask I say it, because I want people to know secular homeschoolers exist. A friend from college was leery of friending me on facebook when she heard we were homeschooling.
My son's first grade teacher started praying with me during a school conference. I couldn't figure out why but then I remembered I had 4 kids and homeschool so I MUST be a Christian. lol.
I also try to let people know I''m not one of those homeschoolers. It helps when I tell them my oldest has LD's and they understand that. We need to get the word out that there are plenty of normal secular homeschoolers out there!
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You might even be lucky and not have to pay. In Texas, we can get a card at any public library for free because they all have reciprocal agreements. We are lucky to have a truly awesome library system in our county. I didn't expect that when we moved here since Texas is so vocal about small government and self reliance, but the secret is that municipal services are very good. It was a pleasant surprise!
We live in a MUD district so I have to pay $25 a year for our local library. But I can get a free one anywhere else in Austin. I just don't want to drive that far so I pay the $25. :D
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I've never heard of these classes. I have heard of meditation classes which I would be interested in if I ever have the extra time. :)