Damn. Busted. I suppose I should have said “control” (with quotations), because I will be the first to admit my shit did not always work according to plan. (As if I ever really had a “plan” out there, other than just getting home in one piece every day/night.)
I was on a drug task force for awhile, and we called our mental manipulations “Jedi Mind Tricks.” And there were a few of my fellow officers out there who were true masters of the art. Hell, a couple of them even made me look like a Padawan. Still, just like with “The Force”, there are those out there who are more resistant to it than others. Dealing with a whole different animal at that point, and tactics sometimes had to be changed in an instant. There is/was no “One Way” to deal with everybody out there. The trick was to be able to quickly determine the type of individual(s) you were facing and adjust tactics accordingly. The other trick was to survive the encounters with all the different types until you learned to recognize them.
Challenging reality to be sure. My survival instinct mechanism is so very alive and well that in your situation I would probably have not been as tolerant and coercive as I have been able to be in more “civilized” situations. I have had to deal with addicts personally, to a limited extent, and that presents quite different challenges. Although I would describe myself as empathetic, tolerant, etc., I recognize the need to acknowledge and deal with serious potential threats to general order and the possible harm to innocents. Recognizing the potential threat to one’s own life or well being is a clear prerequisite to being able to help anyone else. I have stepped into situations in my younger life, where later upon reflection, I realized how close to the edge I had stepped in an attempt to provide assistance or mitigation.
Ha ha ha…uh, I don’t think so, but it is possible that during one of my hospital stays the TV might have jumped into my head and planted some MORE bullshit in addition to what was already residing there…
Yep. One can not control another person. I gave lectures to teachers on "How to control difficult children.')
Power comes from controlling ourselves first and then physical objects that we can manipulate. We can not control students and they will be happy to let us know that should we try to exert control over them. (Most students do follow directions and most teachers think they are in control. It is an illusion.)
Gain control by giving control. The illusion of choice. Would you like to stop talking now or would you like to go to the principal’s office? Asking the right question can be a powerful tool. But never be surprised if a student exerts their own control over themselves. (Cops and teachers? A lot in common?)
Oh-dear-god! I wish I had a dollar for every time I did some stupid shit like that. Especially during the years prior to my joining the PD. Yeah, I always thought I “knew some shit.”… (chest puffed out… cocky smirk on face)… It was only years later after joining the PD that I looked back and realized how ridiculously stupid and naive I had been. As I’ve said before, it is a miracle I survived my first couple of years on the streets after the academy… (chuckle)…
Aw, helllllll naw! Are you friggin’ kiddin’ me? Sheeeee-iiiit!.. Dude, as far as I’m concerned, teachers in a classroom dealing with a bunch of self-entitled, spoiled, arrogant-little-shits children have it WAAAAAY worse than I ever had it on the streets dealing with hardened criminals. With a few exceptions here and there, I could at least REASON with the criminals most of the time. And then the teachers also have to deal with the ignorant parents of the ignorant children who prove the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Personally, I wouldn’t have the patience for that. I’ll stick with the street criminals, thank you very much.
Who says it’s okay for Xtians to say those things? Who says it’s not ok for someone to oppose them?
Or is it simply that the former is more common? So…make the oppositions more common.
The key, IMO, is to do so in a way that it can and will actually be heard. In my experience, far too many shut down and refuse to listen when someone is hollering at them.
LOL. I recall NA meetings with bikers. I really enjoyed their straight forward, no bullshit honesty. If they thought you were fucking with them, they were likely to take you into the back of the building for a little … um… talk.
These were the old timers who had done a lot to straighten themselves out. The young one were full of shit, and the old timers let them know it.
I’ve not yet tried but I’ll bet I can come up with the right intonation for “Praise the Lord” that would make a Christian’s irony detector explode.
Hey? Do Christians even have irony detectors? Perhaps I should search for another emotion? How does one read a Bible and miss the irony? Perhaps I could make their, ‘self obsessed sense of righteousness’ meter’ pop its top.
I just feel like they’re too many and they’re infringing (harassment) on the rights (First Amendment) of those who don’t partake in their religious bullshit. It’s bad in Missouri. You walk into a room full of them and say “I don’t believe in the existence of your god” it’s on! They’re gonna call you ignorant, they’re going to say that you have the devil in you, they’re going to say that you’re wrong. They will shame you. I’ve known several of them, including my parents, that got downright pissed off when I came out and said “hey, I’m not a Christian. I’m an Atheist, a non believer of all religions. I don’t believe in those fairy tales.”
I’ve been harassed at Wal-Mart by my former youth pastor and I’ve been called the devil. Just really stupid superstitious bullshit.
And why, exactly, would you or anybody ever want to do that? What would be the point? And how would that make you any different than those who might walk into a room yelling, “Praise the Lord!”? As I have said before many times, religion is like a penis. It’s fine if you have one. But if you pull it out and start waving it in my face univited, then you may regret the consequences of your actions. Same applies to atheism. Personally, I believe it’s none of my business if a person is religious or not. And, outside of family and close friends, it is certainly nobody’s business whether I do or don’t believe in god(s).
You are aware, of course, 1st Amend rights apply only to our government not being allowed to interfere with free speech? However, other than threats, a private citizen can say anything he/she wants in response to something you might say/believe. And THEIR freedom of speech equals YOUR freedom of speech. Might want to keep that in mind before you start saying the religious folks should not be allowed to say/write/express certain things in public.
So, why does that bother you if you do not believe in their superstitions? To me, that would be about the same as somebody walking up to me and saying, “Oh, my god! You are The Boogeyman!” In which case, my initial reflex response would be to start laughing uncontrollably. And once I regained composure, my next response would likely be, “Well, thank you. Because, yes, I certainly can be exactly that at certain times.” At which point I would give them my best cold stare with a half grin. Basically, if somebody were to call me Satan, I would actually take it as a compliment. Turn it around and make the one throwing insults feel uncomfortable. This shit ain’t rocket science.
This 1000%, I do this with jokes all the time. Someone calls me ugly, stupid, whatever, I lean into it and start taking the joke from them. It’s now my joke, I wear it and throw it back with layers of sarcasm. Even with my atheism, you just have to be a Tony Montana sometimes.
I gotta say I … I… I… disagree. Aaaaaggghhhh. I have long asserted that, as much as I hate their bullshit, ‘Their first amendment is my first amendment.’
Now, with that said, I really have a problem with streat preachers who ‘Target Specific Individuals’ "You are a sinner. You dress like a whore. You are going to burn in hell. Your girlfriend is dressed like a slut. Etc.’
I have heard some vile shit from the mouths of street preachers and I do not believe a personal attack is protected by the first amendment.
" Fighting words are words meant to incite violence such that they may not be protected free speech under the First Amendment . The U.S. Supreme Court first defined them in Chaplinsky v New Hampshire (1942) as words which "by their very utterance, inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace.**’
Now, while there is no direct threat; ‘I’m going to kill you.’ I assert that it is a personal attack on character and therefore qualifies as fighting words. I don’t believe a personal attack should be protected. General comments from Christians, I expect, "You are all going to burn in hell. You are all wallowing in your sins. The world is going down the toilet and Jesus is the only way out.’ I fully expect this shit from the mouths of the loving. I also fully support their right to be as fucking stupid as they want to be. Their freedom of speech is my freedom of speech and the freedom of speech is extremely important to me. (If you haven’t noticed.)
For what it’s worth, I am in complete agreement that nobody has any right to bust up into a church and start yelling about how your god is a joke and you all are stupid for worshipping it. Matter of fact, even beyond that, I would gladly help to “unceremoniously escort” that individual (or those individuals) from the premises if I happened to be around when that happened. As far as I’m concerned, everybody has a right to worship (or NOT worship) as they please. (Provided, of course, they are not harming others, nor promoting the harming of others.)
However, when you step out on a street corner with a megaphone, preaching to everybody who passes, you have opened yourself up for public criticism. And as long as the “critics” are not making threats or trying to provoke a fight, I’m just gonna sit back and watch the show.
All that being said, you said “… because WE are peacefully and happily worshipping…” as if you are speaking for all Christians and/or other religious groups everywhere. In which case, I would like to remind you that not all Christians (or otherwise) worship in the same manner. NOR do they all share your personal view on worshipping in a “peaceful manner”. You might want to ammend your statement there. Just a suggestion.
Oh, by the way, why do you have “Agnostic” on your profile? Based on your post, you are clearly a Theist. Do you even really know the meaning of “Agnostic”? Just curious.
