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How many times a day do you receive a comment from someone that starts with "I know you don't believe in God, but..." followed by their total disrespect of your feelings by sharing some self-indulgent and utterly meaningless promise to pray for you or some religious homily that has given their superstition more validity in their own eyes? How do you respond when this happens?

Deb57 8 June 30
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58 comments

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1

Almost never, I have been known to have a quick tongue and defend my position without denigrating theirs. If someone starts a conversation with a statement like that, my first response is "good".

7

Reply with "I know you believe in God but I hope one day you'll free yourself of Bronze Age superstition and magical thinking and embrace a more rational view more in line with a 21st century understanding of reality. Until then, you pray for me and I'll think for you."

6

"[Several] times a day"????? Ummm, never.....

5

"I don't want to talk about religion. I'm leaving."

5

I'm 61, been an atheist for the last 30-40yrs, and have NEVER had that said to me.

Me neither.

5

I have to admit, just about never. Am I running with the wrong crowd?

4

Quite often .
I have several patients almost every night telling me “ u helped me , I will pray for u “.
Or their families , “ will pray for u and your loved ones “.
What m I gonna say ,” how dare u “?
I normally say “ oh thank u so much , that’s great “.
Next patient , next room , end of story . Does not matter .
Out of the ER , I know absolutely nobody that will say this to me 😂.
In fact , a prior assistant of mine is graduating this summer as a PA. Part of the ceremony will be in a church estate . She wanted me to know ahead , bcz she knows , Satan and church not best friends 😂🦇. I am laughing !

4

Never!

4

Actually NEVER.I do not spend my time conversing with and associating with religious fanatics on a daily basis and blabbering to them that I am a nonbeliever ,maybe that’s why.

Nor I.

4

Never

3

I sometimes mention that I am on my way home to sacrifice a goat...

3

Very, very rarely -- if they offer to pray for me, to what ever deities, I thank them, because they are wishing me well. I think mostly those offers come from a good place in the person's mind. Besides, what if their god does exist? Maybe I could use a good word put in for me, because I certainly will not have been making any offerings/prayers on my own behalf.

3

It's been such a long time since I have had to burn some religitard to the ground for being so rude and in my face with their delusional hatred that I can hardly remember, maybe a decade or two ago? Oh wait, one horrible individual who was the scourge of the island I live on who threatened to sue me before she had even formally introduced herself, a Trump supporter, a racist and a hypocrite as well, I danced with her for a few years as she spread lies everywhere about me. She left town this spring, I'm still standing.
I hope there isn't a hell because if there is then she will be there and it will put a real damper on the party for me and my friends.

3

Never..

3

Ignore them

bobwjr Level 10 June 30, 2020
3

Mostly I think they think they are helping and it is from their concern. To them it is real and done out of love. You don't both perceive reality the same way. That can be super annoying. but if you remember that it will help you not slug them

3

I seldom hear this these days, though I heard it a lot when my first husband was sick and after he died. When he was sick, my response was to change the subject. After he died, I got more blunt: "If you want to pray, then do it. You don't need to tell me about it."

3

None since I started telling them to go fuck themselves

redhog Level 7 June 30, 2020
3

I have never had it happen but if it did I'd answer "sure" and let it go. It makes them feel better and it doesn't affect you at all.

3

"Block this User"

3

I say something like: "You're correct in saying I don't believe in gods. Therefore, none of your religious nonsense resonates with me at all." 🙂

3

Zero

2

Yes, that is annoying, isn't it? There is a video on Youtube I ran across years ago that is titled " 'Bless you' equals 'F--k you' !" A bit harsh, but fundamentally, it's true.

I've got some ultra religious relatives who, when I shared the harsh details related to my life-partner's cancer, said "We'll pray for you." The thing is, they KNOW that we're non-religious. So To answer your question, here's what I did:

I said something to the effect of "I understand that your intentions are good and genuine when you tell me 'We'll pray for you'. But here's the issue with saying that to the non-religious:

When you know the person you're addressing is non-religious and you tell them that you'll pray for them, the way it comes across is: "I know you're not a god-believer. But as you know, I AM. Therefore, for MY OWN satisfaction--not out of respect for your (universal, secular) position--I'll re-state my religiosity to you in your times of struggle."

Another (shorter) way of saying this is "I know you're not religious, but I'm NOT OK with that, so I'll remind you that you SHOULD BE."

I might have alienated my relatives a bit, but hey, if you don't tell them something, then they go along thinking it's AOK to, on the premise of being caring, re-announce their religiosity when you're hurting.

Well said. I may use that tactic. Thank you.

2

Anyone that gets comments such as you describe must love boasting frequently to religious nuts about their non belief.

As a matter of fact, I don't. But I don't make a secret of it, either, especially when someone is persistently inflicting their religion on me.

2

Very rare, and more often than not the result of me luring them in for a recreational discussion of religion/politics. Kind of a sport for me.

More often, I have to deflect accusations that I am/must be “spiritual” by people who nonetheless can’t define what they mean by that. Some even insist that I am, despite my protestations. Drives me nuts.

@Fred_Snerd Which is fine, but then why not just celebrate knowledge, or contemplation, or the wonders of creativity and the arts? I’ve heard people try to cram so many references, implications and meanings into the “s-word,” I just don’t find it very useful.

@Fred_Snerd True, truth CAN hurt, and reality CAN be boring (but that hasn’t been my experience). Innocence? Too often used as a cover for ignorance. And, this nihilist loves theater!

2

It hasn't happened to me yet but I look forward to it. Should be fun!

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