Rage against the machine

Psychos were out yesterday preaching and spewing their poison. Beautiful, gorgeous, sunshiny day.

People were out trying to enjoy the weather and live their lives, and these jerks had set up camp

literally, with a large free -standing canopy and some loud- speakers, telling everyone how they need

to kneel and ask for forgiveness as sinners from their savior who died on the cross for their sins, lest

they go straight to hell…blah, blah, blah. Of course, they choose a gorgeous Sat. and a focal point

for people having fun, to explain to everyone how bad things really are, and preach their fear-

mongering crap. Always, this is their M.O: People are having too much fun, and being too happy,

living their lives without needing a bit of Jesus or anyone’s god, and the mind virus infected, do-it-

yourself lobotomy cases need desperately to sell them on the idea of how badly they really need their

religion. It’s sick beyond description. Oh yes, and the old standby: people are evil and wrong for

wanting to have sex and enjoy it; the godbot of course being terrified of anything so powerful that it can

make people completely forget how much they need him and his god, or anything so natural and

human for that matter. The point is, I’m feeling quite uncomfortable and a bit in danger. The Jesus

zombies seem to be growing in strength and number around here exponentially, and like the Borg their

singular goal is total and utter assimilation. I can almost hear them chanting, 'resistance

is futile’ in unison as they shuffle slowly but inexorably down the street with their blank and mindless

stares, coming to burn and destroy everything and everyone in their path, except of course those who

fall in line and pick up the chant.

What is this sick obsession? It’s terrifying how this widespread, socially accepted OCD has been

codified into the ‘unassailable virtues’ of belief and morality. It has no rhyme or reason other than to

infect and completely consume, any more than my OCD of 35 years has. I know the stuff when I see

it, and religion screams advanced, psychosis- inducing OCD. Rather clumsily I admit, I’m trying to get

at how outraged I am at seeing humanity enslaved by the same sort of dark,( everything opposite to

life and being human) garbage, that I’ve fought most of my life trying to escape.

We don’t need your god you nutjob, any more than I needed to be struck down at the age of thirteen

before I had even had a chance to get going, by mind- melting, debilitating, dehumanizing, and

soul-destroying OCD. People need to be left alone, and aloud to be naturally human, as they were

meant to be, not by someone’s god; but by billions of years of evolution! Mind your own dammed

business Jeebus, and leave people alone! Quit spewing your poison and give people a chance to live

and be human!

Welcome to AR!

Un/fortunately, you live in a country with free speech. They have a right to do this. As do you. You could always set up right next to them and “preach” about how nonsensical their religion is. If they are being really loud, you can check to see what the noise ordinances are in the community. Heck, there may be ordinances that make what they’re doing a violation. Might be worth looking into to prevent spoilage of another day.

An aside…is your post meant as a debate or as a frustration purge? If it’s the latter, the a more appropriate place for it is in the Atheist Hub (where theists are not allowed to post). If so, I can move it there.

@Cartan123

Howdy, and welcome! I understand. Sometimes you just have to rant and get that shit out of your system. :joy: But, like Cyber said, here in the U.S. of A. people have a right to exercise their freedom of speech. And I have fought, and will continue to fight, to help preserve that right. Because their freedom of speech is also OUR freedom of speech. Many people seem to forget that sometimes. Anyway, all that being said…

If I may, please allow me to maybe change your perspective on the whole thing. Most of my life before I finally “escaped” my indoctrination, that type of public “preaching” as you described annoyed me and made me very uncomfortable. That was primarily because I was always “on the fence” about religion and I did not know how to feel about it. Therefore, I preferred to avoid such situations as much as possible. The amusing irony, though, is that I now ENJOY encountering such groups/individuals. I WELCOME the opportunity to interact with such folks. It’s like cheap entertainment for me whenever I get the chance to have “discussions” with those types of “Holy Rollers.”

Keep in mind, I am under no delusions that anything I say will ever deter them from their faith. That is never my goal. However, there are often other people listening nearby, in which case there is always a possibility something I say will make them start thinking a bit harder and questioning their own beliefs. And, at the very least, maybe it will stop their loudspeaker diatribe for a few moments and give everybody else a brief break from the unsolicited sermon. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: And there even a couple of benefits for you. One, it gives you a chance to sharpen your debate skills. And, two, you will likely go away from the area happy and in a good mood, rather than being annoyed by letting them ruin your day.

Basically, maybe you could start viewing such things as an opportunity rather than an inconvenience. VERY IMPORTANT thing to remember, though. If/when you ever do decide to approach and engage such people, ALWAYS do so in a friendly and polite manner. NEVER be offensive or confrontational. To do so will totally defeat the purpose, and it could potentially cause unnecessary problems. Look at it like this: Rather than let THEM ruin YOUR day, turn the tables. YOU leave them with some information that might make THEM uncomfortable. But (and I cannot stress this enough), you have to do so in a friendly and “helpful” manner.

@CyberLN Just a suggestion, but maybe keep this in the Debate Room. Who knows? Might just draw in a theist or two who might try to “defend” why they are compelled to preach in public. Oh, that reminds me. Here is something I saw on TicToc, and I told the poster I was stealing it. :grin:

“If [the Christians] truly believed what they claim they believe, then they would not concern themselves with what the rest of us believe, because they would trust their god would handle it himself.”

(Edited for clumsy fingers and slow thinking.)

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Easter around the corner, I had a nice smiling couple at my door, I politely said oh it’s not for me thanks, they smiled and left. I guess religion is not peddled in the same way here.

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I made a new leap today. I’m no longer concerned with who believes in what as long as they don’t beg me to go to their church. I sat down with a Christian and we talked about the Gospel of Judas for a short minute and on the subject of Judas being Jesus’ best friend (mythologically) and talked about the Presbyterians. I didn’t get upset or pissed off. I believe I’ve reached a point in my life where I’m becoming accepting and tolerant of people and that their beliefs…their beliefs are just their own incoherent thoughts that exist in their own mind and we all exist separately. They no longer effect me like they used to. Honestly, my anger and rage towards the Christians has burned out. I’ve been obsessive compulsive about it and it’s taken a toll on me. It’s left me mentally exhausted. I finally think I’ve gotten all of this out of my system. :laughing:

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That is fantastic to hear! :smiley: Sincerely. If what you say is true, then you have finally reached the point where you can be TRULY FREE of religious control over your psyche. It is a wonderful feeling to be completely relaxed and comfortable when around any given religious situation. About the biggest “reaction” I ever have now is a sense of amusement. Sometimes maybe a bit of bewildered fascination, depending on the situation. But never the discomfort and uncertainty I felt for so many (too many) years of my life. So congratulations on hitting that turning point. Once you get more accustomed to it, you will eventually look back and wonder why you ever allowed it to control you for so long.

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For the longest time, it’s been a trigger. Someone starts quoting scripture at or around me and I would get really aggravated. I’ve realized that no one can make me do anything I don’t want to do. That these people are not a threat to me. I can just get up and walk away. Fighting them only causes conflict. Stopping Christianity in my lifetime is an imaginary cause that just isn’t going to happen no matter how bad I wanted it. All I can really do is ignore them. I’ve just been burned out on arguing with apologists lately. I’m at the point now where I just want to do other things.

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Good for you man. It is liberating when you finally let go of it. I have been battling similar anger with my job. It finally clicked that getting mad at people who obviously don’t care about how they treat people, won’t change them. I’m just one man yelling at a sea of chaos and inhumanity.

I’ve been reading and watching some videos on the philosophy of stoicism. Really been helping me change my attitude and stop being so angry with everything from my employer to every religious nutter. It has helped me enjoy life more, and refocus on more important things. If you’re into philosophy there is a decent channel on YouTube called Pursuit of Wonder.

Also I realized much like you, I’m not trapped at my job. I can leave any time I want to. It is just a thing I have to deal with, I go in, I do my job to the letter, and leave. I just disengage from the toxic management aspect and basically ignore it. I focus on my task at hand or pleasant conversations with my fellow coworkers who aren’t toxic.

Glad you are finding some peace. Now use your new found powers for good!

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Pity them and their inability so see what is in front of their noses. Their God Glasses actually interfere with their ability to function in the real world outside their circle of believing friends. They believe in magic! There are evil forces threatening them at every turn! The world can be, divided up into good and bad, right and wrong, evil and piety. They struggle to please a mythical being. They are constantly engaged in an existence of cherry-picking facts and data that positively or negatively support their initial assertion. How does a human mind function in such a mess of contradiction and still think itself to be holding onto some ultimate truth? Theists are strange and interesting animals indeed.

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Indeed. I made another leap today. This guy that works for Fidelity came out to transfer our Internet because we moved. He knew me in high school. We were talking about our long dead science teacher whom according to him was an atheist. I didn’t tell him I was an atheist. He said he was a Christian and that he didn’t get along with our old science teacher because he was an atheist. He even talked about church quite a bit. I did not announce my atheism to him because I know, like some Christians, that he would probably discriminate so I left it alone.

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Avoiding confrontation at a one-one level can be very beneficial to one’s emotional health. I do think, however, that’s it’s critically important to become involved when it comes to the insertion of theism into government. This can be done by voting, by supporting the FFRA, by sending communications to lawmakers, etc.

And you got your TV. Imagine how things could have gone. LOL Now your next step in education is to learn to ask questions. 'The science teacher was an atheist? Really? How do you know? Do you think he is burning in hell? I always wondered why a loving god woud create such a place? I know God loves me unconditionally but isn’t that like saying, 'Love me or burn? I mean god is all knowing right? He created you and me right? Do you think he just created the science teacher to be an example for us? God sure is mysterious. (The right questions in the right tone are amazing.)

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Very good, young Padawan… No anger did you show… Growing stronger in you is the non-Force.

If I’m being honest, though, I would have personally had a load of fun with the guy. (AFTER he finished the installation, of course.) It certainly would have taken a great deal of effort to control my laughter. And, at the very least, he would have left there perplexed, scratching his head, and wondering what happened. :grin:

(Edit to add: “Oops. Sorry. The Devil made me do it.” :innocent:)

lol I did ask him that question because I never actually knew Mr.Owens was an atheist. I never discussed his atheism with him.

It all makes sense now just with how he said things in class aside from us watching videos on evolution and telling kids to shut up about the bible because they said they didn’t believe in that and he argued that evolution was a fact.

I think looking back now, one day he even had us watch a documentary on the evolution vs religious debate that happened in Florida in the 60’s that happened in court that went right into “prove your god exists” debate towards the end of it.

He was always defending the gay community and having us watch science videos on what makes people gay. I guess he was jus trying to make the religious idiots less idiotic and hateful.

The Internet guy made it obvious he didn’t like him at all and said he was very open about being an atheist. Stated over and over how he went to church and was a Christian, like that made him so moral. Mr. Owens not once or ever said anything about being an atheist when I took his class twice (he flunked me both times).

While the internet Christian didn’t say he hated atheists. He still came off prejudiced about it. Now, the Fidelity guy that fixed us up lived down the street where I live and seemed disappointed that we moved. I’m not disappointed lol. Claimed we knew each other in high school and knew of the people I was associated with 17 years ago. I don’t remember him. He looks unrecognizable to me. Anyways, I’m always asking what his name is every time he’s been over and I always forget. I don’t think I’ll ask again next time. Some people are best left forgotten and he’s one of them.

I go to school board meetings to speak in opposition whenever some bullshit proposal comes up to teach creationism/ID or allow prayer in the public schools.

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Excellent!

I remember a story from someone I used to work with…his first grader was sitting at a table in class (public school in the south U.S.) with some other kids. One of those kids said something about their god (Xtian god). The co-worker’s child said, “I don’t believe in god.” He was not mean or rude in tone, just matter-of-fact. The teacher removed my co-workers child from the classroom, called the parents and told them their child was being disruptive and disrespectful merely for saying he had no gods.
I found it a terribly sad story.

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I got smacked on the back of my hand with a ruler by a teacher in primary school for reciting the Pledge of Allegiance as “…and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” and leaving out the “under god” bullshit.

When my father heard about this, he went to the school and told that teacher if he ever hit me with a ruler again he’d come back and use the ruler on him. I never got any more flak for leaving out under god again.

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How wonderful! Sounds like you had a great dad!

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