Okay, I’ve been triggered again and yes, it’s the Christian’s fault. Two of them. There’s a shit load of hateful things I’d like to say about how I feel towards Christians in the South but out of respect for a few of my friends here, I will refrain.
It’d be nice if I could go to the store and not walk out and not be harassed by two assholes selling stupid religious shirts wanting me to donate to their ministry.
It’d be real damn nice. I can’t even go to the store without some religious moron asking me to join his church. No friggin wonder why all of my friends moved out of this town.
Oh, gee. How do I tell you this?.. … Well, I suppose the best way is to just come right out and say it… ("clearing throat*)… Ahem… No, it is NOT the fault of the Christian. It is YOUR fault that you got triggered. I know you don’t want to hear this, but - in effect - you are basically saying your are still allowing religion to “control” you in some form or fashion. Why do that? Especially since it is just a couple of folks trying to sell t-shirts of some sort. Why let something like that ruin your day, when the guys/gals are simply doing something they believe will help others? Personally, I would actually feel a bit sorry for them, combined with a healthy dose of amusement. But it would not in any way shape or form “trigger” me or piss me off. Matter of fact, if I had encountered such, it’s likely I would have stopped and “admired” the shirts they were selling. Maybe even give them some compliments and/or constructive criticism regarding the designs. Hell, may have even lingered and chatted with them for a bit. (Depending, of course, on my mood and if I was pressed for time.) At the very least, I would just politely decline their offer, wish them a nice day, and go on about my business with a smile on my face. No harm, no foul. Honestly, that kind of stuff really amuses me in one way or another. Bottom line, though, is that YOU made YOURSELF mad. Going back to a discussion I do believe you and I had in the past, YOU have escaped the indoctrination. YOU are no longer entranced by the delusion that controls those two “faithful sheep.” Therefore, why let it continue to “control” you by making you angry like that? (Pretty sure you have already read a few of posts on anger that @Cognostic wrote.) Anyway, living down here in the middle of The Bible Belt, if I got upset and angry every time I encountered somebody involving a religious matter, I would be perpetually pissed off every single day. As it is, I simply reserve my anger for all the STUPID DRIVERS we have down here. I swear, most folks on these country back roads are almost completely brain-dead sometimes.
I don’t know. Maybe you can help explain something to me. I do try to distance myself so much from these people. When he said it, I got an adrenaline rush. I felt both hot and cold course through me. Then I felt emotions of anger begin to bellow up from underneath. I did tell him “no thank you” and we left the store. Just later on I felt even more anger. I don’t understand why these emotions ignite like wild fire any time a Christian says something to me about their religion. I try not to give a shit these days, but evidently I’m failing at that at times.
@MrDawn, you could be experiencing ptsd, or something similar. If so, it’s not something folks can easily work their way through alone. It takes getting some new tools for your tool box. There are lots of great secular counselors / therapists who can help you gather those tools. There are plenty available on line…and you can “interview” them until you find a good fit. Might be worth it…it sounds like your quality of life is suffering. I think you’re worth more than that.
Yeah I hear that it is a real bitch driving while glancing in the rear view mirror, which by necessity is tilted down, to be able to see the writing on their T shirt.
I agree with @CyberLN. If you are being triggered that fiercely you might want to reach out for some help - maybe a support group or a few sessions with a counsellor specializing in religious related trauma. You are worth the effort to free yourself. Hope I haven’t overstepped since I really don’t know anything about your lived experience.
I don’t know who you’re trying to bullshit but most churches blow that money on renovations, gospel concerts, festivals, youth field trips, youth bible camps, and sending missionary’s off to another country that doesn’t want them there or sending them to pray for the sick so they can get sick, and then they come back and spread whatever virus they picked up in another country. During the Covid pandemic, many churches were sending Missionaries over to China to pray the sick away. All those idiots did was bring it back into the US and make more people sick. It’s a complete waste of money and it’s not beneficial at all. I think your religion just causes people more unneeded problems.
Except that it isn’t beneficial for society and, unless you are a consenting adult, its not beneficial personally. How can a program of propaganda that aims to make people all think alike be beneficial?
Hey, buddy. Just wanted to let you know I saw this, but will have to respond with more detail later. Got a napping grandson who will be waking up shortly. Will try to get back on this evening once I get settled in for the night. Until then, chin up. Could be worse. Could have sat on an ant hill with honey all over your underwear. Just sayin’… Later.
That is your personal opinion. Its not based on facts. You are explaining exactly why people should give to churches. By mentioning what churches do for the community. I did not say every christian is “good” but most churches are sincere in their approach. We can both agree by your message that churches do alot for the community.
Read a few of the threads where people relate the trauma of their religious indoctrination, and their journey out of it. In a country as radically religious as many parts of the US are, this is not an easy transition, maybe you could learn something about how religions conduct themselves, and why people find it distasteful to say the least.
I’m pretty lucky, as here in the UK religion is not so all pervasive, and secularism has been increasing steadily for decades.
No, I read his response, and he was aplining the exact opposite, it’s not cool to straw man people like that.
You mean like raping kids and evading taxes? I know a cheap shot, but if you’re going to offer generic platitudes like that then expect some reciprocity
Though you did try the very overused no true Scotsman fallacy to deny that any Nazis were christians, in a country where 0ver 96% of the people were christians, and other religious demographics like Judaism for example, did not fare very well.
As I said atheists were not allowed in the SS, so who exactly do you think were in a country that was overwhelmingly christian? I’ll give you a clue, they weren’t Jewish.
Okay, I’m back. Finally caught up on a few things around the house, and now have a bit of time to properly respond to this. Mr. D, I could be wrong, but I think maybe you should give yourself a bit of credit sometimes. If my memory is correct, I seem to remember that when you first arrived on this site, you were a hot seething mess. I’m amazed you were even able to TYPE the word “Christian” in your posts. Dang-near every post you made was filled with vicious animosity toward anything/anybody remotely related to religion. (It was actually rather impressive sometimes, too.) Since then, however, you have improved greatly. You may not realize it, but you have. So, maybe you are “backsliding” a bit over the past few weeks or months? Hey, man, it happens. It’s very probable something “triggered” that ebbing anger without you even realizing what it was. Just a possibility, mind you. With everything going on in the world over the past 2-3 years and with the news spewing all the religious whacko stuff being mixed in with the politics and such, I can certainly understand how that might put a person on edge. Can’t really blame you for that. (I know I’m not very fond of it myself.) Be that as it may, why make yourself so terribly stressed and miserable about it? (IF that is indeed part of the problem.) As I have said many times to many different people here and elsewhere, as long as you allow little religious things like the two t-shirt salesmen to cause your temper to flare, then you are still allowing religion to control you. One of the biggest things you need to keep in mind is that a vast number of “the faithful” mean absolutely no harm to anybody. Simply average folks trying to make a living and survive and find comfort in whatever faith helps them to cope with the increasing difficulties of life. More importantly, though, is that MOST OF THEM - through no fault of their own - genuinely do not know any better. And any attempt to explain it to them would simply push them further TOWARD their chosen faith. In my opinion, getting mad at people like that is about the same as getting angry with a two year old child who cannot understand basic algebra. What would it accomplish? You raise your blood pressure and almost give yourself an aneurism. Meanwhile, the child is wondering why you are angry, is now frightened of you, STILL does not know how to do algebra, and goes back to playing with its blocks and shitting in its diaper. See what I mean?
Basically, dude, take a step back and try to find the root of what is causing such caustic reactions. You cannot fix the problem until you know what the true problem is. Meanwhile, you know we are here if you need us.
You didn’t even read my post. Now you’re making up shit and putting words in my mouth to validate your own opinions. That’s manipulative and deceptive behavior.
Is your use of “the word” code for something? The phrasing seems weird otherwise. Unlike many of the others in the Republic I never had an interest in religion and what religious dogma I was exposed to never took root in my brain - just lucky I guess. So if it is code, why don’t christians, like yourself, just say what they mean, or is that potentially too confusing. Just asking. Although I doubt you will give a straight forward answer since I have read your posts in a number of threads and haven’t seen an answer any questions put to you. But one can hope, right?
I don’t know. It’s been getting worse lately. I find myself thinking about how much I hate the church system. How much I loathe Christianity. I keep telling myself that I’ve escaped that life. My mother isn’t forcing it on me anymore. My ex wife is gone. It’s over. But no. For whatever reason, my mind keeps dragging me back into those memories. Worse, when people talk about Christianity. Talk about their god. Make religious comments. It stirs it all up in my head.
My old therapist once told me that my first marriage and my relationship with my mother suppressed my true beliefs so much that when I became divorced, my Atheism became extremely heightened. He mentioned that it was probably because of my OCD and a mixture of RTS.
He thought maybe I should use those feelings in a productive way to protest against Christianity if I found myself unable to escape my trauma. He tried to prescribe me a medication for my obsessive compulsive disorder and to calm my nerves, but it didn’t work. The medication ended up causing me to have a slight melt down to where I flushed it and I cancelled further visits with him because I felt like he wasn’t helping me.
A good technique for finding out why is to sit down one night when you are relaxed and just start writing reasons. Every time you write a reason, tell yourself “No, that’s not why.” Keep writing. Don’t stop. Just keep writing. Trust yourself, when the real reason hits you, you are going to know it. It will not be some rational thought about something that happened in childhood. It will not be rational at all. You will not be able to intellectualize it. When the real reason hits you, it will smack you upside your head like a brick. Give yourself permission to just sit and explore. Write anything you think about and try not to repeat yourself. If you are repeating something, tell yourself, "I’ve already written about that.
Do this around the time you are ready to go to sleep. Usually, if you can not think of an answer in an hour or so, the first thought you have in the morning may be a winner. If you do not arrive at a conclusion, do it again. If it is important to you, then the search for the answer is also important. Just keep telling yourself ‘No’ until you ‘know.’ You will know, when you know.
… Well, I suppose the best way is to just come right out and say it… ("clearing throat*)… Ahem… No, it is NOT the fault of the Christian. It is YOUR fault that you got triggered. I know you don’t want to hear this, but - in effect - you are basically saying your are still allowing religion to “control” you in some form or fashion. Why do that? Especially since it is just a couple of folks trying to sell t-shirts of some sort. Why let something like that ruin your day, when the guys/gals are simply doing something they believe will help others? Personally, I would actually feel a bit sorry for them, combined with a healthy dose of amusement. But it would not in any way shape or form “trigger” me or piss me off. Matter of fact, if I had encountered such, it’s likely I would have stopped and “admired” the shirts they were selling. Maybe even give them some compliments and/or constructive criticism regarding the designs. Hell, may have even lingered and chatted with them for a bit. (Depending, of course, on my mood and if I was pressed for time.) At the very least, I would just politely decline their offer, wish them a nice day, and go on about my business with a smile on my face. No harm, no foul. Honestly, that kind of stuff really amuses me in one way or another. Bottom line, though, is that YOU made YOURSELF mad. Going back to a discussion I do believe you and I had in the past, YOU have escaped the indoctrination. YOU are no longer entranced by the delusion that controls those two “faithful sheep.” Therefore, why let it continue to “control” you by making you angry like that? (Pretty sure you have already read a few of posts on anger that 
Later.