Such Language!
A few folks have questioned my method of message delivery on this blog. Some of them I have a great deal of respect for. While my method is harsh, brazen and offensive, there is a reason. And, it may surprise some of you to know that I hold no ill will toward any religious individual. In fact, I care deeply about my fellow religious humans. So much so, that that is why I rave so loudly.
Stubborn people require a verbal slap across the face. Think about all the television shows and movies you’ve seen where someone is going bonkers over something and their best friend slaps them across the face, trying to bring them back to reality, trying to get them to calm down. Well, that’s what I try to do here. You see, some folks need a good, hard slap across the face. Not literally mind you. My method is verbal assault. Name calling. Childish, yes, but innocuous when compared with the condemnation, threats of violence, and usurpation of rights and freedoms by religious nutbags. But, there’s not one bone in my body, no thought in my mind, that would cause me to deny anyone their freedom to believe whatever the fuck they want. I DO care about EVERYONE’S freedom.
My passion is expressed here as a reflection of my frustration over ignorance and complacency on behalf of skydaddy believers. I refer to them frequently as godidiots and christards. Why? Well, when one considers the lengths to which these folks will go to demand everyone comply with their theological designs, is there any other way to describe their insane and delusional mentality? I kinda think of my name calling as no different than a bunch of folks sitting on opposite sides of a football field. One side roots for one team, the other side roots for the other team. Each side tries to insult the other, sometimes chanting, sometimes yelling, sometimes simply goading. But, for the most part, at least one side is still willing to be civil after the game and would gladly buy someone from the other side a beer. In the case of my insults toward the other side, I’m the one that would jump at the chance to buy my opponent a beer.
But, RJ? How can you do that? Your language is so insulting? Look, I don’t measure a person by whether or not they believe in a skydaddy. Not at all. I measure the character of the individual. My measuring stick is their humanity, not their delusion. If they’re a righteous individual by standards of civil human conduct, compassion, empathy, and they have some basic reasoning skills, all is good. If they understand that freedom is not conditional and is devoid of qualifiers, all is good. Once my respect has been earned, I’m standing tall in the saddle right alongside them. Even if we disagree on the existence of a skydaddy, my friendship is not based on trivial matters. BUT, it is only trivial if both sides understand and embrace freedom to believe or not believe. I don’t respect religion of any kind. But, a person’s character CAN earn my respect.
I take issue with self-righteousness. When someone decides FOR ME what is best FOR ME, based on their skydaddy belief, friend or foe alike, the verbal gloves come off. It’s time for me to rise to the occasion. And, I don’t rise to deny their freedom. I rise to protect it, and mine. If you’re a believer, keep in mind that somehow, somewhere, there are folks in this world who think their religion is better than yours. They think YOU AND I should live by THEIR brand of skydaddy belief. If I give you, a believer, a religious pass to walk all over me…eventually someone will stomp all over BOTH of us with their religion. And since I like you as a human being, it is up to me to slap you across the face and say “Hey, you fucked up godidiot christard! Come to your fuckin’ senses before you get both…all of us killed!”
Get the picture? I hope so. Because quite frankly, I want you to be my friend. And, I most certainly want to be yours.
Think about it. Do you believe in freedom? Are you willing to come to your senses and stand with me for everyone’s sake?
August 23, 2009 at 10:44 am
Here’s my take on it — for what’s its worth.
Individual to individual you have to play it by ear. Be respectful if they are. You’ll get further that way.
On-line, I go to freethought blogs for the most part. I had enough of going to church when I was growing up and in the synagogue I went to in my early 20′s (last step before Agnostic I came close to converting but didn’t go through with it). If I do go to a church for a funeral or wedding, I’m on their turf and I remain respectful — just as I would if I were to go into their turf for any reason, whether locally or on-line. You’re their guest; you behave as one. Given that, when they invade our turf, they deserve as good as they give and don’t really have a right to complain when we call their faith idiotic and use words like sheeple and Christard (love that!). I will try to be respectful when they disagree respectfully but it seems sooner or later they all devolve to acting like the typical Christian soldier. Gee, could that be because “faith” is all they’ve got. They sure don’t have logic on their side.
This is one reason I find the Christians that spend their free time crashing our on-line spaces to give us grief (like on AU’s blog, for instance; where they don’t seem to understand AU is diverse, one reason I value them) all the more disgusting. Do they really think they’re setting a good example for Christian ethics with their boorish behavior? For me anyway (since I can only speak for myself), they’re just convincing me I’m right to not trust Christian so-called ethics.
I have three close friends — 2 Christian and 1 nominally so. Actually, all nominally given they don’t really live by it. But 1 only know nominally from deduction and her mother’s funeral. She doesn’t really worry about it. However, she does have a couple of idiotic superstitions that she follows just as blindly so I can’t really term her freethinking.
The first one and I have an agreement — no preaching or blasphemy, formed out of mutual respect. This is occassionally breached but usually discussing stuff in the news or her children’s well, blasphemy. I let her bring it up but am also willing to discuss. That she occassionally will goes to show she’s interested and I think being respectful of her to agree not to blaspheme aids her feeling like she can ask me something. It also helps that we both hate hypocrites (no, I don’t tell her to believe is unavoidably hypocritical in itself because the buybull contradicts itself and the rigid set of its rules are impossible to 100% live by, if she asks me enough she might just figure that out, she’ll never get there by not thinking for herself and she is thinking). One conversation that sticks particularly in my head was when a grade school girl praying at lunch in the cafeteria hit the news. She knew I was a big believer in free speech and brought it up commenting they should leave her alone for that reason. I pointed out that she was not just praying quietly to herself (I told her I prayed in school all the time but no one ever knew because I prayed silently without bowing my head, figuring Jesus could hear me all the same) but was urging her classmates to join her. I also pointed out that you knew a kid that young had to be put up to it by their parents. That’s when she shook her head and said, oh, no, that’s wrong. You don’t use your kids that way and saw the situation for what it was.
The second friend is semi-lapsed Catholic. I say semi because I can’t call her Sunday mornings. She is in church. However, she is divorced and just split up with a long-time live-in boyfriend. By long-time, I mean 20 years. However, never married because well, the church considers her still married to her ex despite never having contact with him. Her oldest son is his but the ex live-in is more a father to hiim. They have three children together but never married. We just don’t go there. Only once can I remember she actually asked for my take when oldest was in high school (now out of college) and was rebelling against going to church. Was she right to make him? I was straight-forward and honest with her. I said he’s her minor child so she was well within her rights (I know but this is just like Christians telling us how to raise our children, a pet peeve of mine) but to consider carefully. Forcing him will only make him rebel all the more. Then grinned and told her, remember my mother made me. They reached some kind of compromise where he went certain days and a couple of times a month. Where he now stands religiously I don’t really ask and she doesn’t really say but I think he’s not much of a church-goer. The impression I get is that she’s grown happy that he goes even occassionally and he’ll put in an appearance every so often just to make her happy. In any case, he’s an adult now and it’s his choice.
My third friend doesn’t go to church on any kind of regular basis but accepts it socially for things like funerals and weddings. Like I said, she doesn’t really talk about religion and I respect her silence and don’t pry. I’m more open with my views than I am with the other two because she doesn’t take offense. She is, however, really good with those who voice opinions differing from hers. Never seems to be mad. So I suspect, she’d probably, if pressed for an answer, say she was whatever Christian denomination she was brought up in (I recently went to her mother’s funeral to give her moral support as they were close and it was Christian but I’m not sure of the denomination as the service was at the funeral parlor) but who doesn’t really follow anything except to figure to behave morally (and she bases that less on religion than she thinks she does). She does, however, throw money away on stupid things like pshyics and astrological readings no matter how I implore her not to. (She’s a single Mom who’s always hurting for money.) Even when I say keep it for your son, she can’t be convinced but at least she doesn’t get pissed at me for trying even though every time she wastes money on this bullshit, we go through the same thing and I pull no punches. I tell her straight out it’s a scam. We’re still friends so it’s good.
In short, groups, especially groups, it’s full out fight fire with fire. Individuals, I give the respect I get especially because that seems more effective to open conversation to those who are sincere about give and take. We all know those individuals who will rant and rave and do everything short of lynching because they know you’re Atheist. They don’t show any respect and don’t deserve any in return. And, of course, I will not hide in no freaking closet. I will openly state not only that I don’t believe in God (this silly pandering is akin to saying you don’t believe there’s a Santa Claus) but there is no god. In fact, when things go wrong I say there is no God the same way believers say there is a god when things go right.
Sorry this got so long. Take it as an omen. I tend to be long-winded. I’m trying to work on this. One reason for the name change. (I’m Donna on the AU blog.)