In a nutshell, my father, mother and brother all at about the same time (during Thanksgiving dinner) said that no matter what religion you are, there is ONE GOD and ALL RELIGIONS (if they do good in thier religion that is) have the same God and will go to Heaven. My dad can't get past the "what if someone from a little village never heard of Jesus........". My mother thinks the Bible has been translated so many times over and over that not everything is correct. And my brother said "yes a muslim will go to Heaven just like we will, as long as he does good". I TRY talking to them without arguing. I TRY explaining what I know, but it always ends up with "well anyway, lets not get into that right now........lets eat Turkey !" OR whatever...you get what Im sayin. THEN......I brought all this up to my husband and he started with "Well Im not too keen on the whole HELL thing, I mean why would a loving God send ANYONE to hell"? So, I just really DO NOT KNOW how to talk to any of them. I bought my dad the book The Case For Christ, but he never read it. I thought my mom was saved, but now I wonder. Same with my husband...now I don't know where he's at with Jesus. Ugh. Are there any websites? stories? emails? anything...? I can send them? I will tell you this too. It made me feel very alone. Very very alone. Like I am crazy...and who-am-I-to-think-this-is-the-only-way-to-Heaven. Help.
62 comments
How about this novel approach:
Try accepting that other members of your family have different views, respect the choices they have made just like you want yours to be respected.
And whats with this? I never heard of fundie mind-waves skipping a generation.
So you're entire family and your husband aren't as bigoted as you, and enjoy the thought of billions of people being sent to hell for no other reason than not accepting Christ.
WAAAAAAAA-mbulance, anyone?
The most important issue is the temperature of the food. It is approaching room temperature. The sooner you eat, the better.
You can find just about anything you want on the interbutts. Whether it's truth, or the fundie world you're looking for.
Yes, you're crazy.
"lets eat Turkey"
They must be awfully hungry as Turkey is a country, not a bird.
My born-again sister gave me that book. I read it. It is the easy-reader version of the same old, lame apologist crap.
Go with those feelings. I think you're on to something.
Bergie:
You're kind of obsessive and your family really doesn't get the whole religion thing. Believe it or not, that's a normal state of affairs -- Christianity does not bear up under close examination, and frankly, if Jesus truly died for all sin, why is there any contingency at all? I mean, universalism isn't the only possible conclusion of what the Bible says, but it's certainly one of them.
Or is it that religious people simply can't get past the whole in-group/out-group thing and want to feel themselves special?
Naaaah, can't be. Besides, Jesus did a parable about the whole thing, with the vineyard and the day laborers and the equal pay for different work and the glayvin. Christians wouldn't be so stupid as to ignore the central message of such an important teaching, would they?
What a sensible family you have.
Does the fact that you are in a minority of one not tell you something?
(Hint: they are thinking for themselves and using reason, insofar as it applies in religion, You are....well..a minority of one...)
It made me feel very alone. Very very alone. Like I am crazy...and who-am-I-to-think-this-is-the-only-way-to-Heaven.
Well, bergie38, that is because you really are going a little nuts. Your belief that the god you believe in and the way you believe in him is the only right way to be saved is quite delusional.are you to think that your way is the only way to heaven? Who are you to pass judgement on your fellow human beings? Who are you to say who is and isn't saved?you to do his work for him. If he really is as perfect as you believe him to be, he can do a much better job then you could ever hope to achieve, you useless little whiner.
Well BERGIE38... I would SUGGEST that you relax a bit and TRY and enjoy the company of YOUR FAMILY... Whether or not there is a hell and WHO GOES THERE is irrelevent to your THANKSGIVING DINNER...! Also, I am NOT SURE what type of education you had, but please SEND YOUR CHILDREN to public school and have them read SECULAR books so when they get around, as ADULTS, to writing letters, reports, business emails, ETC, they understand the rudiments of NORMAL PUNCUATION and CAPITALIZATION and can function in SOCIETY....!
From one of the replies in that thread:
. If all religions are different paths to the same place, then why do the paths contradict each other? Does truth contradict itself?
There goes another irony meter.
"I will tell you this too. It made me feel very alone. Very very alone. Like I am crazy...and who-am-I-to-think-this-is-the-only-way-to-Heaven. Help."
What? Isn't Jesus filling your heart with joy at knowing that all your heretic friends and relations are going to burn in hellfire for ever-and-ever-and-ever?
You must be doing something wrong. Are you sure you are trying your hardest to be your husband's doormat helpmeet? Or perhaps you've eaten shellfish recently? I know, you had your head uncovered during your last 'unclean' time, that'll be it!
Try reminding your husband that he can do anything he wants with you because that's God's will. And no more trips to the Red Lobster 'kay? Perhaps if you hit yourself on the head with a rock a few times, you'll feel better. God's merciful like that sometimes!
Are there any websites? stories? emails? anything...? I can send them?
If you can't articulately explain your own beliefs and need someone else to do it, then who the hell are you to claim intellectual superiority over everyone else? Indeed, why do you cling so tightly to them if you don't even understand them well enough to convey them to someone else?
It made me feel very alone. Very very alone. Like I am crazy...and who-am-I-to-think-this-is-the-only-way-to-Heaven.
Hold on to that thought - you're almost there. Just another couple of logical steps...
"I bought my dad the book The Case For Christ, but he never read it. "
He should read it. It made me an atheist. Thank you, Strobel.
"I TRY talking to them without arguing... I just really DO NOT KNOW how to talk to any of them."
Bergie, dear, I think you may have confused "talking" with "waving my magic fundie wand and making everyone agree exactly with what I believe." And that's not gonna happen.
Your family raised some valid points: what about people who've never had a chance to hear about Jesus? How do we know a certain version of the Bible is correct? Why would a loving God condemn anyone to an eternity of suffering? Did you really try to answer them? Maybe you did, but I have a feeling your replies were more along the lines of "the Bible says that the only way to Heaven is to accept Jesus as your personal Saviour" over and over again. And you're surprised that no-one was swayed by your "arguments"?
If you really want to get along with your family, listen to the things they say (don't just file it under "things my family says that I don't agree with"). Admit they have valid points. Answer their questions (if you can't, talk to your pastor, or something). Don't just buy them a book or send them a testimonial email. And don't take their opinions as a personal attack. They don't believe what they believe just to piss you off.
Oh God, the new Fundie convert in a liberal or atheist household. God, it's like a soap opera.
My family isn't particularly religious, but I am. I accept that they're not, and I think if God really wanted them to be the same religion as me, He'd tell them. :P
who-am-I-to-think-this-is-the-only-way-to-Heaven.
Exactly, who are you to decide who goes to Hell and who doesn't? Wait, you're a Fundie, so you think you're pratically God. Nevermind.
all at about the same time
it always ends up with "well anyway, lets not get into that right now........lets eat Turkey !"
And another rapturite distances herself from real world human contact and races for the safety of fantasy and online "friends." This seems to happen a lot. They reject joy for a life that wavers between intense smugness and fear.
I can't laugh at this. Its getting so I can't even read these anymore. Its just too depressing.
If this is any help to this troubled mind, here the deconversion story how we cured my brother from religion:
My family is basically secular humanist. My brother had a certain phase when he was around 12/13 years old. At that time, he got into contact with christian ideas. As nobody else in the family was interested in anything religious, he thought that we are "deliberately withholding" something precious from him. And he became defiant. He demanded that we read the bible. We refused. He demanded from us to say grace before dinner. We refused. He became more rebellious and started to make trouble. He started to say weird fundie things like we read here all day on FSTDT.
We solved this annoying problem by insisting that HE is the one who must be consistent in his new religiosity. We reminded him to do his evening prayer regularly. We insisted that HE reads the bible; not some cherry-picked parts but the whole thing. On early sunday mornings, we sent him to church, meanwhile we enjoyed breakfast.
After some weeks, our annoyingly religious teenage brother was quite effectively cured ;-)
Your family sound to me like Unitarian Universalists, bergie38.
UU, the diametric opposite to right-wing Fundamental ist Christianity, and it's one-dimensional dogma. And it's hyper-bigoted attitudes:
image
Welcome to your Hell, bergie.
>:D
@Papabear
'lets eat Turkey'
"They must be awfully hungry as Turkey is a country, not a bird."
Now there's a meal to i-Mersa yourself in. After such a meal - starting with Ordu -rves, followed by Rize , you'd be so Biga and Fatsa , as to be full to Bursa -ting. Why, you'd have to be transported the many Milas home in a Van. But don't let me Bor you with the details of how much you'd Payas for such a repast (which you could regale your work colleagues in the company Bodrum ; then later your secretary could Tosya off in the lavatory). But a word of warning: should the meal be improperly cooked, you'd end up in the bathroom, stuck on the Kars -i.
X3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Turkey
Here is a birdbrain, whose presence is a danger to all those around it. And also a turkey:
image
'Gobble-gobble!'
X3
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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