If this were a grown-ass woman I could feel justified in saying, "Fuck her. Let her see for herself that her God is just a fantasy," since she chose to keep living as a Jehovah's Witless as an...
If this were a grown-ass woman I could feel justified in saying, "Fuck her. Let her see for herself that her God is just a fantasy," since she chose to keep living as a Jehovah's Witless as an adult.
But she isn't a grown-ass woman. Not quite, anyway. She was raised to believe this bullshit, and never really had a choice in the matter. Her parents victimized her, but were victimized themselves by the parents who indoctrinated them.
It isn't right to just let her die, but saving her might only traumatize her further. Good thing it's not my call.
Even in adulthood, can we really say that religion is a choice? If you're raised in a religion from infancy, it becomes part of who you are. Most people are simply unable to choose to stop...
since she chose to keep living as a Jehovah's Witless as an adult.
Even in adulthood, can we really say that religion is a choice? If you're raised in a religion from infancy, it becomes part of who you are. Most people are simply unable to choose to stop believing when they're adults. Even those people who do change religions or fall away from religion entirely often describe it as a long painful process.
Is it really a choice if it's so deeply ingrained as to be practically part of your identity?
Maybe it isn't fair to blame adults for remaining adherents of the religion in which they were raised, but we usually hold adults responsible for doing or believing dumb shit.
Even in adulthood, can we really say that religion is a choice?
Maybe it isn't fair to blame adults for remaining adherents of the religion in which they were raised, but we usually hold adults responsible for doing or believing dumb shit.
Religion isn't inherently dumb and it comes across as very ignorant to say so... I think you might just be speaking about Jehovah's Witness' beliefs about medicine but maybe let's try to have some...
Religion isn't inherently dumb and it comes across as very ignorant to say so... I think you might just be speaking about Jehovah's Witness' beliefs about medicine but maybe let's try to have some empathy for people... I dunno, just a thought.
Whoa there, it's not like you can't have empathy for someone just because they believe in something stupid. Try not to build a strawman to knock down there from one statement. I care about my...
Whoa there, it's not like you can't have empathy for someone just because they believe in something stupid. Try not to build a strawman to knock down there from one statement.
I care about my family, but they believe in some really ignorant shit (racist, for starters). Hell, I even care and empathize with coworkers that have ridiculous belief systems they want to impose on others.
Although, yeah, frankly religion is pretty silly. Belief in something without evidence just doesn't make any sense. I don't think it's the greatest problem in the world though, and choose to spend my energy fighting things that matter.
And if you choose to make this a discussion on "but religion does good things!", despite all the obvious stuff that can come to mind against; I'm not arguing groups of religious people can't do good things (or secular, for that matter). I'm saying the belief itself is silly.
I mean, that's an opinion, and that's fine. I was just referring to the fact that he implied believing in any religion is "dumb shit". Making the conversation about how silly you find religion or...
I mean, that's an opinion, and that's fine. I was just referring to the fact that he implied believing in any religion is "dumb shit". Making the conversation about how silly you find religion or the negative ways it has impacted your life is just as off topic as making the conversation about the good things religion does for people.
The entire topic is about a religious belief threatening someone's life. That's very much on topic. A little broad, but still within the subject itself. Whether you think it's incorrect or not is...
The entire topic is about a religious belief threatening someone's life. That's very much on topic. A little broad, but still within the subject itself. Whether you think it's incorrect or not is beside the point.
For myself and most of my peers it was very easy to drop religion entirely. Our parents are all religious, but not oppressively so. I was raised a Quaker, but the religion is very fluid and can...
For myself and most of my peers it was very easy to drop religion entirely. Our parents are all religious, but not oppressively so. I was raised a Quaker, but the religion is very fluid and can accept someone who is an atheist. Were I more active it wouldn't be bizarre to refer to myself as an "atheist Quaker". My friends who were raised in catholic families don't have this option, but don't seem to have had any issue leaving their religion behind.
Obviously there are different situations and there are religions that are much more focused around brain-washing your children from a young age. I'm not trying to argue that a brain-washed adult can't be thought of as still under the control of their parents. I just want to offer up my own experiences.
I've heard a bit about the religion before. It seems so transparent what they're trying to do - control your life and make it hard to leave. But I suppose it might look different from the inside.
I've heard a bit about the religion before. It seems so transparent what they're trying to do - control your life and make it hard to leave. But I suppose it might look different from the inside.
As an atheist myself, I can't really say for sure, but is it really that easy for everyone to drop religion? I've known people for whom religion is like an anchor in their life. It provides them...
As an atheist myself, I can't really say for sure, but is it really that easy for everyone to drop religion? I've known people for whom religion is like an anchor in their life. It provides them something constant, reassuring, and affirming, and taking that away from them would be difficult and potentially traumatizing. Is that necessarily brain-washing, or security-blanket-like?
There must be some combinations of birth year, location, and other demographic qualities that lend to people becoming atheists. Thinking back to my high school (in a Philadelphia suburb), a large...
There must be some combinations of birth year, location, and other demographic qualities that lend to people becoming atheists. Thinking back to my high school (in a Philadelphia suburb), a large proportion of the student body was non-religious. We were certainly not representative of the general population of America.
So I don't think that it's so easy for everyone. But I can't really say why it was so easy for the people I knew growing up.
If this were a grown-ass woman I could feel justified in saying, "Fuck her. Let her see for herself that her God is just a fantasy," since she chose to keep living as a Jehovah's Witless as an adult.
But she isn't a grown-ass woman. Not quite, anyway. She was raised to believe this bullshit, and never really had a choice in the matter. Her parents victimized her, but were victimized themselves by the parents who indoctrinated them.
It isn't right to just let her die, but saving her might only traumatize her further. Good thing it's not my call.
Even in adulthood, can we really say that religion is a choice? If you're raised in a religion from infancy, it becomes part of who you are. Most people are simply unable to choose to stop believing when they're adults. Even those people who do change religions or fall away from religion entirely often describe it as a long painful process.
Is it really a choice if it's so deeply ingrained as to be practically part of your identity?
Maybe it isn't fair to blame adults for remaining adherents of the religion in which they were raised, but we usually hold adults responsible for doing or believing dumb shit.
Religion isn't inherently dumb and it comes across as very ignorant to say so... I think you might just be speaking about Jehovah's Witness' beliefs about medicine but maybe let's try to have some empathy for people... I dunno, just a thought.
Whoa there, it's not like you can't have empathy for someone just because they believe in something stupid. Try not to build a strawman to knock down there from one statement.
I care about my family, but they believe in some really ignorant shit (racist, for starters). Hell, I even care and empathize with coworkers that have ridiculous belief systems they want to impose on others.
Although, yeah, frankly religion is pretty silly. Belief in something without evidence just doesn't make any sense. I don't think it's the greatest problem in the world though, and choose to spend my energy fighting things that matter.
And if you choose to make this a discussion on "but religion does good things!", despite all the obvious stuff that can come to mind against; I'm not arguing groups of religious people can't do good things (or secular, for that matter). I'm saying the belief itself is silly.
I mean, that's an opinion, and that's fine. I was just referring to the fact that he implied believing in any religion is "dumb shit". Making the conversation about how silly you find religion or the negative ways it has impacted your life is just as off topic as making the conversation about the good things religion does for people.
The entire topic is about a religious belief threatening someone's life. That's very much on topic. A little broad, but still within the subject itself. Whether you think it's incorrect or not is beside the point.
For myself and most of my peers it was very easy to drop religion entirely. Our parents are all religious, but not oppressively so. I was raised a Quaker, but the religion is very fluid and can accept someone who is an atheist. Were I more active it wouldn't be bizarre to refer to myself as an "atheist Quaker". My friends who were raised in catholic families don't have this option, but don't seem to have had any issue leaving their religion behind.
Obviously there are different situations and there are religions that are much more focused around brain-washing your children from a young age. I'm not trying to argue that a brain-washed adult can't be thought of as still under the control of their parents. I just want to offer up my own experiences.
I've heard a bit about the religion before. It seems so transparent what they're trying to do - control your life and make it hard to leave. But I suppose it might look different from the inside.
As an atheist myself, I can't really say for sure, but is it really that easy for everyone to drop religion? I've known people for whom religion is like an anchor in their life. It provides them something constant, reassuring, and affirming, and taking that away from them would be difficult and potentially traumatizing. Is that necessarily brain-washing, or security-blanket-like?
There must be some combinations of birth year, location, and other demographic qualities that lend to people becoming atheists. Thinking back to my high school (in a Philadelphia suburb), a large proportion of the student body was non-religious. We were certainly not representative of the general population of America.
So I don't think that it's so easy for everyone. But I can't really say why it was so easy for the people I knew growing up.