Agnostic.com

90 9

if your mother was on her deathbed and she begged you to pray with her.
would you do it, would you accept Christ as your personal savior so that she could be comforted in her last moments of life?

m16566 7 May 18
Share

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

90 comments (76 - 90)

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

1

Interesting question. My mother isn't likely to ask such a thing -- she knows where I stand on God -- but, if she did, sure, I'd go through the motions.

1

WOW an amazing number of comments ,and the variety is interesting . Both my parents have died , neither would have asked either way , had I been bedside when they died . So it's a question I wouldn't have to deal with .

1

In two simple and succinct words, No chance.

would that be for you or for her?
I understand you want to be true to yourself, but at what price

@m16566 For me it would be NOT submitting to her DEMANDS as I was forced to as a child who suffered much under her Domineering, Cruel, Brutal and Abusive ( in ALL the ways you can imagine btw) Reign and Rule, for her, it would be the visible and undeniable statement that she no longer OWNED, Rule over and Controlled me, a massive shock to her system to say the very least.
The price/cost, very little to me but to her, well I leave that to your imagination, but to me the benefit of becoming a TRUE survivor, free at last from her.
Btw, she died alone in April 2000 whilst I was by my teenaged Daughter's side 24/7 in Adelaide, South Australia while my Daughter was undergoing Chemotherapy for Mature B Cell Lymphoma.
We had Medical Permission to return to Broken Hill, some 300+ miles away for exactly 1 week to organize the burial ( cremation actually) of my 'mother(???)' before returning for the next session of chemotherapy and not one iota of a tear was shed by myself nor my daughter since my daughter had suffered from her Abusiveness as well.

it saddens me that you've had so much tragedy in your life.
I to feel victimized by my mother, I don't hold it against her though.
she was doing the best she could with what she knew.
she was young it had a lot of bad advice, I'm lucky I've done as well as I have.

@m16566 My 'mother(???)' was 33 y.o. when I was born so youth was no excuse or alibi.
Her mother was also a very bitter and often domineering person as well so perhaps it was 'like mother, like daughter' in a way BUT she adored and idolized my 4 sibling sisters yet detested me because I was NOT one of them.
It WAS only my Father and myself who copped her brutality, etc, NEVER my sisters and I always copped the blame and the lash from an electric cord for when they did something wrong but NEVER them.

it has been said" hate is a poison that you consume to kill your enemy"
are you working on those early childhood traumas, no disrespect it sounds like it's eating you, I do understand the pain runs pretty deep.

@m16566 Nope, I shrugged off those traumas ages ago, I AM a Survivor and shall always remain one and will support to my utmost those who seek to be survivors also.
That IS the reason why I relate the story because it may inspire someone else somewhere to stand up, fight back and become a Survivor rather than spend their life as a victim.

1

My mother assumes I'm still a christain. I will leave her that impression. So, she could die in peace.

1

My mother became an atheist in nursing school.

"I realized a woman cannot turn into salt," Mom said dryly. She was hilarious!

The answer to your questions is NO WAY.

1

If I really thought it would bring her comfort, I might. However, I think she is secretly tormented by "God's judgement" after she dies. Presently, I think it would bring her more comfort if I were to insist there will be no such thing.

1

Of course. Love exists regardless of world view. I Don need god to love and take care of my aging mother.

1

No but would pray to ease her mind praying for comforting family members is not a statement of belief

bobwjr Level 10 May 19, 2019
1

there is life after death, but it has nothing go do with Jesus or any other religion. Our souls are eternal, or at least we exist as long as the UNIVERSE IS gonna exist. Praying to Jesus is like praying to Santa Claus. Or Popeye the Sailor.....or superman.....batman....Elvis.....Rin Tin Tin.....Lassie.....Toto.....the list goes on and on......and sometimes imagination works. B
ut for the most part organized religions are about taking your money. When your mother dies, you don't want them to be alone. And they are no alone. Our ancestors who have already passed on demonstrate themselves and help with the transition. Sure it is scary, but we all must cross over sooner or later. LET''S JUST HOPE GOD IS NOT A CHICKEN......GEEZ!!!

1

I often wonder this question when I think of people how have been kidnapped during times of civil unrest.. like the 70+ Nigerian schoolgirls abducted from a Christian school by Muslim rebels and "forced" to convert so the abductors can feel ok about raping and forced "marriage". When those girls were asked to renounce their god to save their lives.. how many said no?

In a scenerio like the one you mention here, I would say, 'No'. I know myself.

The inner warrior in me will fight to the death before being forced to do anything that goes against my morals.

I'd take charge and lead a fight so brutal against my enemies, they would beg me to kill them or they'll just have to kill me.

If I'm going die on any given day under those circumstances, I'm going in a blaze of glory like a true badass!

if I could say what I had to say, Aveda lay and Escape I would.

1

It would really depend on so much else, most likely my sister and other family would also be there and would later be angry at me for faking it, as they would find out I hadn't meant it.
I would more likely be willing to do a prayer along the lines of If I'm wrong and you are real please reveal yourself to me. My mom doesn't need to know that my abhorrence of religion would be even stronger if it turned out her god was real.

1

I would pray but no, I won’t lie again. I did that once.

why it sounds like you have some history with this question?
did you lie about your beliefs and somehow it came back to you?

@m16566 I was about 12 or 14 years old and at a revival service. (I come from a long line of Baptists) In my heart I didn’t believe the Christian message, but I allowed this sexy girl to talk me into going forward and saying that I had “accepted Christ”. It gave me a cheap feeling and I never got anything out of it—not even a kiss. 😟

I lived the lie throughout adolescence but in college I got up the gumption to put my foot down. I’m still not an atheist BTW. There are god-like concepts that intrigue me greatly. I don’t actually “believe” those concepts. For me it’s not about belief or disbelief, rather it’s about reverence, and awe of the overwhelming mystery of existence as a consciously aware entity.

0

I had biological parents but never a mother or father. My bio mom just passed away recently and it was just another day to me.

0
0

Doubtful. Admittedly I unable to say for sure unless I find myself in that situatiion, but I would like to believe that my mother would expect me to act out of some form of intellectual honesty. She has known for some time about my atheism and position.

Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:349016
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.