What is bothering you?

[Spiderman]

So, what bothers you about religion? If nothing bothers you about religion that you want to talk about, feel free to just vent about what is bothering you in your life.

We are in this together! How about we share with one another the suffering we're going through.

I was inspired to ask, because I texted a woman today who I could tell was really suffering tremendously.

I told her this week I have been more angry than I have been in years. I have been full of blasphemies. My "friends" played me like a sucker. I discovered that even the Christians I live with who always talk about God, and have the appearance of being meek, humble, and thoughtful, will just beg and beg for money.

And when they try to sell me something, they rip me off and sell me bogus stuff like a bus card that has no money on it.

I described to her how I was feeling that week, and how I feel being played like a chump and sucker. She said "that is exactly how I feel".

She said I helped her tremendously since I was going through the same emotions that she was.

She said she was so angry, in the meeting she was about to scream at the top of her lungs.

That was precisely how I was feeling. I had outbursts of profanity and blasphemy at an AA meeting. She and I are in this together. We have heavy crosses to carry and God wants us to suffer.

The early Christians suffered tremendously. Non-christians have suffered tremendously at the hands of Christians.

God wants all of this suffering. If he didn't want it, he would speak up, and to this day Christians do not know how to interpret the Bible because they are so divided.

Muslims believe God is speaking to them through the Quran. If they are indeed confused, it is because God wants them confused, because God is not telling them the Quran is false.

If the Quran is false, countless Muslims have given their lives and died for a lie. if the Bible is false, countless Christians and Jews have sacrificed and died over a lie. not to mention, that would make the Bible not only a work of fiction but the best selling book year after year after year... 2 billion people are living by a work of fiction and a lie (possibly).

So, it's obvious that God wants there to be confusion and violence.

He will bring something good out of it and give us great reward and glory in the next life.

We are in this together!

 

[Spiderman]

It's true that I hated God recently but i love him today. Hopefully I feel that way more often.

 

[dfnj]

It's true that I hated God recently but i love him today. Hopefully I feel that way more often.

Life is full of pain and suffering. The cause of all our sufferings comes from our parents and God who made us. The point of existence is having a positive relationship to ourselves, our parents, everyone around us, and God in spite of all our sufferings. So in that we all suffer from having imperfections we are in this together.

In terms of a moral compass, actions that cause other people to suffer are bad. Actions that alleviate or help others alleviate their own sufferings are divine.

The problem today is the main purpose of our most popular religions is to promote obedience and loyalty to authority. It just seems to me the purpose of religion should not be the salvation in the afterlife whatever that means. But the purpose of religion should be about the well-being of everyone in the present.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Religion is bothering me less now that I'm in a far less Conservative place. What is bothering me is my mom constantly trying to talk me into going back to Indiana with her (it's been an ongoing problem that started as her trying to talk me out of moving to California). I've wanted to leave Indiana for so long, and I'm finally out of there, in a place that protects my rights instead of wanting to create a religious privilege to discriminate against me, and she can't be happy for me and instead has to go on with all the lame bs excuses on why I need to go back to Indiana with her. And instead of our last days together being happy it's looking like we're going to be butting heads. But I don't why that even bothers me because that sums up our relationship. It was great when she accepted me after I came out to her, but I'm back to remembering that nothing is good enough, nothing is right, and I need to do what she wants. Let's see her try to call the shots on what goes on in my house and how I decorate it and how I arrange things in it when my house is 3000 miles away.

 

[Jumi]

1. Dehumanizing and dismissing groups of people deemed as being "defiant" against the religion. Not a feature of all religions or followers of religions.
2. Anti-science disguised as "ancient wisdom" including dangerous and harmful procedures or limitations such as refusing blood transfers, FGM. Usually only part of only the fringe where I live, major problem in some other places.
3. Simplification of the ethical and moral questions to fit written or oral traditions of the religion.
4. Lack of proof for truths of the religion. Often if it's written it's seen as proof.
5. Dismissal of personal experience (ie. mysticism) as dangerous, preferring to trust tradition.
6. Restriction of rights and human value of people such sexual minorities where no demonstrable evidence exists of their behavior being harmful.
7. Use of money to build palaces, opulent temples or fund wars in name of the religion.
8. Taking demonstrably false interpretations of text as scientific proof or validity.

I could continue, but as there is already some overlapping problems I described I'll leave the rest to imagination.

 

[Woberts]

What's bothering me?
A lot of things, too many for me to list right now.
Maybe later.
I will tell you one thing, though, and that's that I stubbed my toe earlier.

 

[savagewind]

This is what happened to me this week. I got a letter asking for help to feed the starving former victims of concentration camp confinement because they should know that Christians love them. And I thought, "What does that say about their own neighbors who are also Jewish? Nothing good."

What I am saying (don't you just LOVE perception?.......I do!) is nothing against the mythical souls who are (supposedly) leaving their elderly associates to starve to death. My beef is about the many stupid words religiously inclined people do say. I guess it is about not thinking. I think for some people their religious beliefs lead to thoughtlessness. Thoughtlessness bothers me.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

So, what bothers you about religion? If nothing bothers you about religion that you want to talk about, feel free to just vent about what is bothering you in your life.

We are in this together! How about we share with one another the suffering we're going through.

I was inspired to ask, because I texted a woman today who I could tell was really suffering tremendously.

I told her this week I have been more angry than I have been in years. I have been full of blasphemies. My "friends" played me like a sucker. I discovered that even the Christians I live with who always talk about God, and have the appearance of being meek, humble, and thoughtful, will just beg and beg for money.

And when they try to sell me something, they rip me off and sell me bogus stuff like a bus card that has no money on it.

I described to her how I was feeling that week, and how I feel being played like a chump and sucker. She said "that is exactly how I feel".

She said I helped her tremendously since I was going through the same emotions that she was.

She said she was so angry, in the meeting she was about to scream at the top of her lungs.

That was precisely how I was feeling. I had outbursts of profanity and blasphemy at an AA meeting. She and I are in this together. We have heavy crosses to carry and God wants us to suffer.

The early Christians suffered tremendously. Non-christians have suffered tremendously at the hands of Christians.

God wants all of this suffering. If he didn't want it, he would speak up, and to this day Christians do not know how to interpret the Bible because they are so divided.

Muslims believe God is speaking to them through the Quran. If they are indeed confused, it is because God wants them confused, because God is not telling them the Quran is false.

If the Quran is false, countless Muslims have given their lives and died for a lie. if the Bible is false, countless Christians and Jews have sacrificed and died over a lie. not to mention, that would make the Bible not only a work of fiction but the best selling book year after year after year... 2 billion people are living by a work of fiction and a lie (possibly).

So, it's obvious that God wants there to be confusion and violence.

He will bring something good out of it and give us great reward and glory in the next life.

We are in this together!

Religion itself doesnt bother me. People bother me because religion is in our laws both federal, state, and local. Its defined in phrases we use. Its basically everywhere.

What bothers me in life is trying to find a doctor to figure out why I cant see sometimes and crawling on the floor because Im so unbalanced that I cant sit up in a chair sometimes.

But everything is cool otherwise.

 

[Earthling]

I hate it when you do this! You bring up the Bible and then dismiss it as possibly being anything other than confusion. There's nothing I can do. And you're wrong. You are a bright, intelligent, compassionate, articulate person and I really like you, but sometimes your stubborn and passionate expressions **** me off so much I can't see and I want to knock you in the head.

I have answers for all of your questions. That sounds arrogant and intolerant by extension, but . . . there's nothing I can do. Nothing I can say. I can tell you that God doesn't want us confused and I can tell you why we really are confused, and I can assure you that to some extent we will continue to be, but that in and of itself isn't an unexpected eventuality.

If God is simply a version of God in your head can you control him? If he is outside of it then can you dictate to him what he has or hasn't done, and his intentions without some reference that you may not approve of or understand fully based upon the actions of others on the same journey?

There's nothing I can say. It's up to you.

 

[Spiderman]

I hate it when you do this! You bring up the Bible and then dismiss it as possibly being anything other than confusion. There's nothing I can do. And you're wrong. You are a bright, intelligent, compassionate, articulate person and I really like you, but sometimes your stubborn and passionate expressions **** me off so much I can't see and I want to knock you in the head.

I have answers for all of your questions. That sounds arrogant and intolerant by extension, but . . . there's nothing I can do. Nothing I can say. I can tell you that God doesn't want us confused and I can tell you why we really are confused, and I can assure you that to some extent we will continue to be, but that in and of itself isn't an unexpected eventuality.

If God is simply a version of God in your head can you control him? If he is outside of it then can you dictate to him what he has or hasn't done, and his intentions without some reference that you may not approve of or understand fully based upon the actions of others on the same journey?

There's nothing I can say. It's up to you.

No, you don't know that God doesn't want us confused.
I pray for no confusion and do so almost incessantly.
I'm as confused as God wants me. Muslims are confused as God wants them. Otherwise, God would give us clarity and speak up.

I like you too. I still think you are arrogant and a bigot, but a very likeable person as well!

 

[Quintessence]

Without overgeneralizing, I can't say anything bothers me about religion. It's not a monolithic entity, and the things that bother me about "religion" are things that bother me about specific religions. There are, however, things that bother me about how others regard or talk about religion:

• Treating religion like a monolith. It's rare I hear something come out of someone's mouth that actually applies to all religions. I suppose on the whole many are just not that precise with their language, but it'd be nice to see less talk about "religion" and more talk that pinpoints the specific beliefs and practices that may or may not be present in any given religious tradition.
• Conflating religion with X, Y, Z. As an extension of the above, when folks treat religion like it's some sort of monolith, they'll often conflate it with specific ideas associated with some religions as if it applies to all of them (when it doesn't). Such as theism. Or dogmatism. Sometimes institutionalization and clergy. Elements that are components of some religions are not religion.
• Treating religion like it's evil. It's kind of like treating culture like it's evil. Or education like it's evil. Or some other similarly broad and universal phenomena of human experience like it's evil. Again, I suppose some of this comes down to folks just not being precise with their language. Either that or they're the type that believe humans are evil or fundamentally bad and have a cynical outlook just in general. Either way, it's annoying.
• "I'm not religious, I'm spiritual." Potayto, potahto. This labeling usually happens because of something of the above. I get wanting to use a different label to disassociate from that which you dislike, but come on now. Unless by "spiritual" you mean "regularly communes with spirits" I'd recommend revising your understanding of religion.
  
• Treating religion like it's flawless. Or a specific religion like it's flawless. Yeah, it's good to be proud of what you are, but don't be so prideful that you're incapable of seeing the downsides of your own inner circles. Because they are there... inevitably. All paths have strengths and weaknesses, and it's important to recognize yours. This also helps folks recognize why your path might not work for someone else.

Some of that came out a bit more ranty than intended, but... uh... that's what this thread is for, right?

 

[Spiderman]

I hate it when you do this! You bring up the Bible and then dismiss it as possibly being anything other than confusion. There's nothing I can do. And you're wrong. You are a bright, intelligent, compassionate, articulate person and I really like you, but sometimes your stubborn and passionate expressions **** me off so much I can't see and I want to knock you in the head.

I have answers for all of your questions. That sounds arrogant and intolerant by extension, but . . . there's nothing I can do. Nothing I can say. I can tell you that God doesn't want us confused and I can tell you why we really are confused, and I can assure you that to some extent we will continue to be, but that in and of itself isn't an unexpected eventuality.

If God is simply a version of God in your head can you control him? If he is outside of it then can you dictate to him what he has or hasn't done, and his intentions without some reference that you may not approve of or understand fully based upon the actions of others on the same journey?

There's nothing I can say. It's up to you.

You told me I'm living in a spiritual cesspool, you despise Catholicism with every fiber of your being, and you called Israelis "pigs."

You have arrogance and bigotry towards many of those who believe differently than you do.

 

[Spiderman]

Without overgeneralizing, I can't say anything bothers me about religion. It's not a monolithic entity, and the things that bother me about "religion" are things that bother me about specific religions. There are, however, things that bother me about how others regard or talk about religion:

• 
  
  
  • Treating religion like a monolith. It's rare I hear something come out of someone's mouth that actually applies to all religions. I suppose on the whole many are just not that precise with their language, but it'd be nice to see less talk about "religion" and more talk that pinpoints the specific beliefs and practices that may or may not be present in any given religious tradition.
  • Conflating religion with X, Y, Z. As an extension of the above, when folks treat religion like it's some sort of monolith, they'll often conflate it with specific ideas associated with some religions as if it applies to all of them (when it doesn't). Such as theism. Or dogmatism. Sometimes institutionalization and clergy. Elements that are components of some religions are not religion.
  • Treating religion like it's evil. It's kind of like treating culture like it's evil. Or education like it's evil. Or some other similarly broad and universal phenomena of human experience like it's evil. Again, I suppose some of this comes down to folks just not being precise with their language. Either that or they're the type that believe humans are evil or fundamentally bad and have a cynical outlook just in general. Either way, it's annoying.
  • "I'm not religious, I'm spiritual." Potayto, potahto. This labeling usually happens because of something of the above. I get wanting to use a different label to disassociate from that which you dislike, but come on now. Unless by "spiritual" you mean "regularly communes with spirits" I'd recommend revising your understanding of religion.
  • Treating religion like it's flawless. Or a specific religion like it's flawless. Yeah, it's good to be proud of what you are, but don't be so prideful that you're incapable of seeing the downsides of your own inner circles. Because they are there... inevitably. All paths have strengths and weaknesses, and it's important to recognize yours. This also helps folks recognize why your path might not work for someone else.

Some of that came out a bit more ranty than intended, but... uh... that's what this thread is for, right?

Right!

You are absolutely right!

 

[Unveiled Artist]

You told me I'm living in a spiritual cesspool, you despise Catholicism with every fiber of your being, and you called Israelis "pigs."

You have arrogance and bigotry towards many of those who believe differently than you do.

Dont listen to everyone. Some of us just need to vent. Shrugs.

 

[Spiderman]

Dont listen to everyone. Some of us just need to vent. Shrugs.

I was just venting.
Anyone is doing fine if they want to vent their frustrations against me.
That's what this thread is all about is venting what is bothering a person.

They can vent against me, and I can vent against them. That's the topic of the Opie afterall.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I was just venting.
Anyone is doing fine if they want to vent their frustrations against me.
That's what this thread is all about is venting what is bothering a person.

They can vent against me, and I can vent against them. That's the topic of the Opie afterall.

Eh. I have issues with it in general. It doesnt help if a person says they are a believer. Then again, Im glad I wasnt raised in that contradiction enviornment.

 

[Spiderman]

Religion is bothering me less now that I'm in a far less Conservative place. What is bothering me is my mom constantly trying to talk me into going back to Indiana with her (it's been an ongoing problem that started as her trying to talk me out of moving to California). I've wanted to leave Indiana for so long, and I'm finally out of there, in a place that protects my rights instead of wanting to create a religious privilege to discriminate against me, and she can't be happy for me and instead has to go on with all the lame bs excuses on why I need to go back to Indiana with her. And instead of our last days together being happy it's looking like we're going to be butting heads. But I don't why that even bothers me because that sums up our relationship. It was great when she accepted me after I came out to her, but I'm back to remembering that nothing is good enough, nothing is right, and I need to do what she wants. Let's see her try to call the shots on what goes on in my house and how I decorate it and how I arrange things in it when my house is 3000 miles away.

My parents want me to return to Montana. I would rather live in my predominantly black liberal neighborhood in twin cities, than go live in Montana where everybody's conservative or redneck.

 

[savagewind]

Bad grammar bothers me, but I do it often myself.

Thinking some serious things are funny bothers me.

 

[Earthling]

No, you don't know that God doesn't want us confused.
I pray for no confusion and do so almost incessantly.
I'm as confused as God wants me. Muslims are confused as God wants them. Otherwise, God would give us clarity and speak up.

I like you too. I still think you are arrogant and a bigot, but a very likeable person as well!

How do you know that God wants you confused? Because you pray? Why would he listen to your prayers if you pray to others whom he detests? So called saints and spirits? Who are your allegiances? When I prayed I got what I asked for immediately. Because I had no such allegiances. I didn't presume to dictate to God how he should answer my prayers.

If the Muslims seek Allah why should Jehovah interfere? If the Muslims seek Jehovah will they not find him, and if not why? If they don't find him and remain unrighteous, will there not also be a resurrection of the unrighteous? Will those who only sought Muslim tradition qualify?

When has Jehovah God spoke to a mere mortal without mediation? Has he not said, thus, that we have not entered into his rest?

God allows our confusion. We choose it. We can rise above it, in time.

I'm not arrogant, I'm humble before God. Lacking in pretense doesn't constitute arrogance. Knowledge doesn't necessitate arrogance. If I appear arrogant otherwise it's a weakness of mine. We all have weaknesses. And I'm certainly no bigot.

 

[Earthling]

You told me I'm living in a spiritual cesspool, you despise Catholicism with every fiber of your being, and you called Israelis "pigs."

You have arrogance and bigotry towards many of those who believe differently than you do.

Yes. I do. But not because they believe differently than I do. For the blood they've shed and for the children they've raped and murdered. I don't overlook the same for anyone else.