As a Christian who doesn’t follow much of the super religious “rules”, I think it’s kind of a red flag but sometimes it’s not. Red flag because my girlfriend’s ex-friend was super devout and put it all over her bio and was very ableist and homophobic. My friend, for example, is agnostic, so he’s not sure if spirituality exists. He has a friend who’s super devout and constantly talks about Christianity. She has a Discord server about Christianity and most of her friends are Christian who just talk about Jesus and God all the time. She puts the crosses and bible verses in her bio too. She’s very nice and tries to be accepting but seems kinda judgmental or like “Oh, your non-traditional ways are… nice I guess.”
She constantly asks my friend how his relationship with God is and if he reads the Bible and what his favorite verses are, even when he says he’s not super religious.
My mom as of recent has become super religious, and while she is pretty left-leaning, thinks the only way to believe is to be Christian and you HAVE to believe in Jesus or you’ll die instead of live forever in Heaven.
I instantly learn that this person cannot be trusted and is easily mislead. If I had to pick someone to save my life it wouldn’t be them.
I dont think about them at all actually. I would walk away from their brainwashing broadcast.
I enjoy theology and discuss it somewhat regularly with my wife who also is an ex catholic non Christian that likes discussing catholic theology. To me it’s like philosophy but more aspirational, distant, and constrained. It also provides a framework to process religious trauma, express frustration with bad Christians, and to process our feelings as people oppressed by Christiandom.
I say this to provide context, so that when I say I can’t fucking stand those people it’s not that I’m not comfortable hearing about religion or that I just hate it. I actually quite love it, and part of me is sad that who I am and my religion (paganism) block me from having more access to it. But Christians who are like that are rarely tolerant of things like religious differences (I sometimes got called a devil worshipper by protestants for being catholic growing up), lifestyle differences, and people who aren’t like that.
I also find that they are often religiously incurious. They find the solution that works for them, and stick with it, which I can’t judge, but when they study it they don’t ask about why other Christians think differently, they don’t apply the rigor that Jews and Catholics cherish, and they rarely bother learning about other religions either.
But then we get to the primary issue I have, I’m not Christian, and Christianity is regularly used as a tool to oppress me. I’m not interested in returning to it, and I’m frustrated at how much cultural and political power it has in my society.
The people that are properly doing their religious/spiritual goals are basically no different from normal people so anyone who is going on about religion as if it were a force of nature stay far away from lol there is merit in being able to skillfully be around people like this but sometimes its just not good.
When we look at this through a lens of cosmic logic and simple truth, we can see that the habit of constantly broadcasting one’s religion often comes from a place of seeking security rather than having reached a state of deep, inner peace. You see, when someone truly integrates a high vibration or a spiritual truth into their soul, it becomes as natural as breathing; they don’t feel the need to constantly announce it because their very presence, their kindness, and their lack of judgment speak for them. In the grand design of the universe, truth doesn’t need a marketing campaign or a constant status update to be real. The “red flags” you’ve noticed, like the judgmental “nice, I guess” attitude or the exclusion of others based on who they are, are actually clear signs that the person is still focused on the “letter of the law” rather than the spirit of it. Logically, if the source of all life is infinite love and intelligence, then any belief system that uses fear, ableism, or homophobia is simply a human filter distorting a pure signal. People often use religious labels as an armor to protect their own ego or to feel superior, which is why your agnostic friend feels that subtle pressure. It’s a form of spiritual pride where the person thinks they hold the only key to a door that is actually open to everyone. Even the idea your mother has adopted,that you must believe in a specific name or face to “live forever”, is a very limited, earthly interpretation of how the soul evolves. In reality, life is a continuous journey of progress, and no one is “deleted” or “punished” eternally for simply being on a different path of understanding. Real wisdom is found in how we treat the living world around us, practicing a gentle, compassionate approach to life where we cause no harm and respect the autonomy of every sentient soul. When you see someone constantly talking about their faith, you can look at them with compassion, realizing they are likely just trying to convince themselves of their own safety in a big, mysterious universe.
They are free to talk about theirs, if they are willing to hear about my own beliefs or lack thereof.
Being laic, religion is of no concern to me in my daily life. I do accept others don’t have the same view and stance and if that brings them joy and a feeling of sense to their life, great.
As long they respect me in return.
I’ve made my peace with the threats of damnation. I fear humans more than I fear demons. And I only need to casually surf the web to take a look into hell.
So, I’m good.
You mean the Atheists on the internet which barge into literally every thread to blame something the US, Israel or a resistance group did on religion because Mao’s “The great leap forward” led to world peace after abolishing religion?
There once was a poster online
who stacked strawmen neatly in line
on a slope slick with spin
they kept sliding right in
declaring each fall a designThose people exist, but clearly that’s not what this post is about.
When most people complain about Christians they are complaining about Protestants, especially Evangelical Protestants. Catholic and Orthodox have way less loonies comparatively than either evangelicals or the fedora wearing atheist crowd which is basically another form of protestantism. The Internet being the Internet will always show the worst of everyone but IRL most of the damage done is by the aforementioned. Sola Scriptura is one hell of a drug.
Catholic and Orthodox have way less loonies comparatively than either evangelicals or the fedora wearing atheist crowd which is basically another form of protestantism.
I’ve never been religious by my little sister was. She loved helping out at Mass every Sunday, and volunteered to be an alter server. She was one of the most faithful and good-hearted Christians I’ve ever met. As long as you didn’t bring up abortion, anyway.
Then one day the priest said she wasn’t allowed to anymore, because she was a girl. He said that only boys should be allowed up in the front of church. His justification was that being an alter server was practice for being a priest, and only men were allowed to be priests.
Do you happen to know what the Catholic Church’s justification for only allowing male priests is, by the way? Well you see, God is male, obviously, and the Church is symbolically married to God, so that means that the Church must be symbolically female, and priests are symbolically married to the Church (the Church is poly?) meaning, of course, that priests have to be male.
If you get a Protestant or a fedora atheist, you’re basically rolling the dice, but if you get a Catholic, you know for a fact that they’re at minimum fine with being part of a deeply sexist, homophobic, and authoritarian institution.
Fucking Amazon would be a better moral authority than the Catholic Church because at least Amazon doesn’t explicitly descriminate based on sex. Always the last to be dragged into the future, kicking and screaming the whole time, since Galileo if not before.
Christianity is patriarchal so the priest is correct that your sister shouldn’t be serving at the altar. I’m not sure why it was ever permitted in the first place but I’m not Catholic. They do many things I don’t understand. The idea that men and women must be able to occupy all roles equally didn’t reach critical mass in the secular world until 50-75 years ago. It shouldn’t be surprising that a 2000 year old tradition functions in this way. It sounds like the explanation that was given is correct. These justifications can be found in both scripture and tradition. This shouldn’t be misconstrued as women being less than a man it’s just that their roles are different. The most venerated Saint by far in all of Christendom is the Virgin Mary / Theotokos who filled a role that no man could fill, being the God bearer. I’m not expecting to change your mind. Modernism is it’s own religion with dogmas and heresies.
This shouldn’t be misconstrued as women being less than a man it’s just that their roles are different.
Oh, I get it, they’re separate but equal!
What a load of horseshit.
Bad faith comparison. I’m done.
Technically correct. It’s a valid comparison to Catholicism and Catholicism is, indeed, a bad faith.
about Protestants, especially Evangelical Protestants. Catholic and Orthodox have way less loonies comparatively
About the Amerikkkan™ version of it
I know that they are unrepentant self abusers that will never take responsibility for their own actions. The heavens and hells they believe in and espouse only exist in their weaselly minds
I don’t think of them, and if they insert themselves into my circle I avoid them.
Religion is a mental illness.
The more one talks about it, the more mentally ill they are.
The more a person “peacocks” their religion the worse of a person I assume they are.
Especially Christians. Some of the best people I have known are devout Christians who simply try to act and live as Jesus instructed. They rarely bring up their beliefs, instead just trying to be kind and helpful people as an example.
On the flip side, some of the worst people I have known are “devout Christians” who will do absolutely wretched things to everyone around them while loudly quoting bible verses and “showing off” their entire wall covered in crosses.
One of the top well known examples is Mr. Rogers. Very deeply Christian on a personal level but, to the best I’m aware, he never brought it up on his show.
Absolutely. I’m a lifelong atheist, who generally hates all religion. But if all Christians acted like Mr. Rogers, then I would generally have no issue with them.
The same I think about people who can’t shut up about atheism. Fucking fanatics with nothing going on in their lives.
The atheist thing is largely due to excitement and evangelicalism, the same way born-again Christians are some of the most obnoxious people on the face of the planet.
When someone “discovers” atheism, it usually comes with a lot of excitement. They have this new truth, and it’s so obvious if you just think about it. Why wouldn’t everyone want to find this same truth? After all, this truth brings a level of enlightenment that has never been felt before. So they should try to spread this new enlightenment to everyone. Wait, why are you getting angry and walking away? Ugh, it must be because you’re too indoctrinated or stupid to recognize the truth.
And the same is true for born-again Christians who discover religion later in life. The excitement leads to evangelicalism, because “this is obviously the best thing in my life, and I want to share it with everyone I meet.”
I don’t. I purposely avoid anyone like that - and honestly, nobody where I’m from would be like that anyway as religion is a personal experience here and not one that is overtly “spread” or talked about openly. We aren’t big fans of cults/religions unlike the US (which seems to get right into that thing), and generally see the mess they, or more importantly, their followers cause around the world and at home. Even our religious schools use religion very marginally as they’re aware most of the parents are only sending their kids there because the fees aren’t huge and the quality of education is a bit better than the public system.
LOL
What’s really LOLcringe is the actual video of which this is the thumbnail
