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Permalink Reply by trish Norman on June 15, 2010 at 7:59am

This may help you feel a little better. My cousin got murdered and the bloke who did it got off this week. The problem is I thought my cousin should have been murdered long ago. I felt it was the case of the biggest arsehole winning on the day. I have to go through the motions and give advice. The only one who knows how I feel is my mother. We have some fights because I just will not get with the family vibe.
I could care less.
I have a sister I have not spoken with for 12 years. She is a nut job and my encounters with her always have ended badly. I decided that for a peaceful life I needed her not to be in it. Life is short if your siblings are part of the problem stop contact with them, it does not get any better over time.

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Permalink Reply by Sandra Stott on June 15, 2010 at 9:28am

I should respond, and give an update after all the comment and advice. Thanks to all of you for your responses, it helps me see I'm not the only fool with idiots for family. I moved 1000 miles away from them all in 2004, so the only way they'd know anything was if I wrote, buth then writing never did me any good anyway. The incident that provoked this rant was really harsh. Shortly after I wrote this, I pretty much tuned out the whole lot of them, and focused on people who actually would respond when I communicate with them. I have local friends who will hear me, they are the ones I now turn to. Thanks all.

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Permalink Reply by Lim Li yin on June 20, 2010 at 10:04am

On a different note, I have always wondered about those Facebook God-wants-you-to-know generators. The syllogism is as such:

P: God does not work in random ways but has planned everything.
P: The generator of those messages is obviously random (unless there is an algorithm in the IT logic, in which case is not God's plan, but the programmer's.)
P: Some believers constantly use that and believe that that is true
C: God is random, no?

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Permalink Reply by Grace Fitzpatrick on July 26, 2010 at 5:57am

I'm sorry your family is treating you this way. I have family members I have had to disconnect from because my relationships with them are toxic. I always respond to bad situations others have by saying "you are in my thoughts." I sincerely mean it when I say it whereas saying all that praying for you nonsense seems hollow and contrived. Besides, many people say they will pray for you, but don't actually mean it. On the other hand, when someone says "I'm thinking of you", generally they are. Better an honest thought than a dishonest prayer.

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Permalink Reply by SecularCortex13.x on August 26, 2010 at 9:55pm

Music? Sitting and praying is not as pleasurable as listening to a nice stack of CD's...
painting.

Life in Americahhhh, inhale, exhale...
Some folks dig themselves a hole. The beauty of the Constitution (as exploited as it's become) is that folks, groups, owners, CEO's... etc.. better yet, the whole freedom in America lets people dig their own holes. Some dig such a crater it sucks family members in.

It's all about occupation, forum jumpin' and data gathering being a key trait of well rounded modern american atheists... ps, Saint's Revenge has been out of church for only a couple years or so... that's atheist activist amoré!

Prayer is just an occupation? Maybe find a real one? Bike, skate, chess?

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Permalink Reply by john wright on April 27, 2011 at 9:53pm

I loved my Grandfather very much and can say he taught me most of what i know about the world. When i was a child, he asked a man to sit down to eat with us in a restaurant and introduced him to me as a 'colored gentleman'. Now, if you knew Grampa, you'd realize he really meant well. Even as a child, it felt wrong to me and when I grew some more, I realized just how wrong. To him, he was acting in a positive way and helping me to accept another race as equals and I did learn that from him, though indirectly. It actually took college to (hopefully) wash all of my hidden prejudices out.

Please excuse the tangent as i come to the point... People say they will pray for me at times. I smile and try my best to assess them as a whole person and include their intention. I realize that they truly believe they are helping me. I don't necessarily believe they are not. In fact, I do have a certain belief in what may be explained as 'karma' or 'comes around goes around', though I don't feel there is anything spiritual about the positive psycholigical affects of general positivity. It is simply someone feeling positive toward me and who knows what small effect may come of it. They may pray for me in a group that includes someone who doesn't like me and suddenly that person begins to give me a chance (under the pretense of putting a positive spin on the possible effect of their magical spell casting) Wouldn't it just prove that their god was listening if they were to find a way to make my life a little better? Maybe it's ok to let a little slide. Maybe it's not. If I were older when Grampa invited the man to sit down, I couldn't sit quietly, I would feel the need to correct him. So, I'm just not sure which is right at times when it comes to religion. I guess as long as someone is not assuming that I believe in what I consider nonsense, then I am not actually being insulted,.. only pitied. ........ oh crap-I guess i don't like that either hehe

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Permalink Reply by paul babcock on April 28, 2011 at 12:48am

I have long thought of prayer as being equivalent to all hope being lost, nothing left to do, and such. So I find it depressing when told I am being prayed for - not that it happens much.

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Permalink Reply by john wright on April 28, 2011 at 5:51am

hmm-after that huge post I just added, you kinda hit the nail right on the head with just a few words. Fact is... I feel the same exact way when someone says they'll pray for me. It is depressing even though it seems like it ought not to be.

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