The Insanity of It All
By Mriana
I need to rant, because I am currently sick of religion and apologize for not responding to many blogs lately due to being sick of religion. Sadly, living where I am, I see and hear it all around me almost every day, but it is worse when it is in my face.
Let us start first with Separation of Church and State, which appears to be nonexistent where I live. I tried for years to shelter my sons from Evangelicalism, even here in Pentecostal Land, but that ended for my younger son when he first went into treatment four years ago.
None of the programs were ran by churches, but two of the treatment programs were specifically State ran and you would think those horrid Fundamngelicals would not be involved, but they were and even though I signed a statement concerning religious teaching, those bastards had to get their hands on my younger son.
When I visited him one day, he said, “Mama, what’s the Rapture?” I thought, “Oh my god! They did it anyway!” and tried to explain it to him and he laughed, but still the institution exposed him to it and, in my opinion that did not help him. I was lead around Robin Hood’s barn just to talk to someone about going against my wishes concerning not exposing him to Evangelicalism. In the end, they told him I got mad about church so he could not go to church with the other boys.
That is not exactly what happened and I explained that to my son. I told him he can go to church, if he wants, as long as it is not an Evangelical one, but the problem was the State ran program did not offer anything other than Evangelicalism. Such is what happens when Evangelicals get to enforce their “Faith based” crap on people who need psychological help.
Now, four years later, he is still ill with various problems, including drug and alcohol abuse. A week ago, my mother wanted to give him an anointing via proxy. Now she is calling him a demon, spouting the story of God throwing out demons when He threw Satan out of heaven, stating it was Biblical. Then she apologized for not giving me “a proper Biblical education” when I was a child.
I have heard the story of God throwing out Satan and demons, but my son is not a demon and I find it very delusional and superstitious of her to call her grandson a demon. He is not a demon, but rather a human being who is sick and has some mental health issues to deal with.
Along with all of that, she talked about backsliding, which is a term used in Wesleyan theology. Why? I do not know, but I must ask how one can backslide if they never believed what the adults forced upon them as a child? I do not believe it is possible to backslide when one never believed what the adults tried to teach them as a child nor did I teach my sons such doctrines either. So how can my younger son backslide if he did not learn such dogmas until the Pentecostals found a way to get their hands on him?
Then we go into the topic of the Pentecostals, which I guess relates to her grandson’s exposure in treatment over these last four years. I am not sure how it fit other than that and she stated, “Calvinists are not Christians.” Really? That was when I told her, “Well, you know, they say the same of those who are not Pentecostals, thus you and everyone else who does not believe as they do are going to hell.” She knew they taught that, but she believes Calvinists are going to hell, because they are not Christian. Nice one, Mother. I have to roll my eyes at how she turns the tables concerning others. Let us not get started on Episcopalians, which she believes I am still involved in, but if she would read the writings of Spong, Cupitt, and others like them, she would get an idea of what I once believed. The thing is I am now more in the neighbourhood of Robert Price’s beliefs than I am of Spong and Cupitt’s.
What exactly is “a proper Biblical education” when there are so many different Christian doctrines and ideologies out there, not to mention dogmas? Be that as it may, given that I once tried to tell her what Spong teaches, only to hear her shouting, “THAT’S NOT CHRISTIAN!” and giving me an Inquisition until I gave her lip-service, I would suspect that reading Spong alone would send her into a conniption, not to mention Robert Price would send her into religious convulsions. Thus, I do not dare tell her where I am right now, or she, her sister, and all their crazed church people would pester me to death, much as they did my step-cousin who committed suicide. They would not let me go without a “Crusade”, so to speak. However, I will not go out like that, but probably make matters worse before it was finished. Worse yet, I would hate to see them go after my younger son in the manner they went after my step-cousin. My mother has not spoken to her younger grandson in a while, in part because he is never here and in part because I will not let her preach her dogma to him.
How delusional of her to believe her younger grandson is a demon and to apologize for not giving me “a proper Biblical education” when I was a child. What exactly is “a proper Biblical education” when there are so many different Christian doctrines and ideologies out there, not to mention dogmas? AND if my younger son is a demon, what does that make me, his mother? Satan’s mate, who gave birth to his spawn? How delusional can one be? It is ALL INSANE! It is also very insulting and I would hate to think how her dogma would affect me if I believed it.
Of course, let us not forget that the Rapture believing A of Ger’s who cross the line concerning Separation of Church and State. They did not “cure” my younger son of his problems, but I suspect they contributed to them with their guilt-ridden dogma. So who says Wesleyan teaching is better than Calvinism? Both are dreadful, in my opinion.
Oh, yes, genetics played a big part in this too, for not only was my father an alcoholic, but my sons’ father is both a drug abuser and alcoholic. I will also grant that even though I was there during his IEPs for his PDD-NOS in school and his treatment for substance abuse over the last few years, as well as other things, I probably play some part in this mess too, especially since I was the one who raised him. I would not dismiss that I might not have been the perfect parent either, but I did not impose religion upon him. Rather, I gave him a choice of any religious service he wanted, other than Evangelicalism. The problem is those bloody bastards had to cross the line of Separation of Church and State, not to mention his delusionally insane grandmother, who now calls her grandson a demon.
How damaging is that? I am glad he was not around to hear the latest his grandmother said about him. It would not have helped him and now that he is 18, I am having a hard enough time trying to convince him that he needs to seriously seek treatment before he does himself serious harm. Unfortunately, he is in denial.
The problem is my mother and every other Fundamngelical needs to realize that he does not need religion to get better. What he needs is to make a choice to help himself, before he finds it is too late. Drug and alcohol abuse is only the part of his story. It is far worse than that, but the crazy dogmas that surround him are not the answer to his problems nor is calling him a demon healthy for anyone either. None of that is going to help him decide that he needs to live a healthier lifestyle, if that street tattooist did not give him hepatitis already. Again, what I have said is only the tip of the iceberg concerning my younger son, but such ideologies are not helping.
If only we could rid the world of such ugly and dehumanizing dogmas, then maybe we could concentrate on the real issues that cause people problems. The issue is not religion nor is it more religion, but rather the human being who is suffering with a problem. Religion is not the answer nor is using religion to dehumanize the person the answer either. Rather it is time we talked about the real problems and find ways to help the people who have problems, be they physical, mental, genetic, or something else, without religion. We need to face the reality of all these issues head on in order deal with these issues, not run away from them via superstition or place the remedy for such things on something outside ourselves. The individual also needs to stand squarely on their own two feet and make rational decisions, but they cannot be rational with religion, mental illness, or substance abuse.
Personally, I think my mother and all the other Fundamgelicals need help too, but under the current environment, that is not possible. I am waiting for the day when religious delusions and extremism are in the DSM, which at the rate things are going, could be in the tenth version of the DSM, if not later.
Like I said, it is ALL INSANE!
I need to rant, because I am currently sick of religion and apologize for not responding to many blogs lately due to being sick of religion. Sadly, living where I am, I see and hear it all around me almost every day, but it is worse when it is in my face.Let us start first with Separation of Church and State, which appears to be nonexistent where I live. I tried for years to shelter my sons from Evangelicalism, even here in Pentecostal Land, but that ended for my younger son when he first went into treatment four years ago.
None of the programs were ran by churches, but two of the treatment programs were specifically State ran and you would think those horrid Fundamngelicals would not be involved, but they were and even though I signed a statement concerning religious teaching, those bastards had to get their hands on my younger son.
When I visited him one day, he said, “Mama, what’s the Rapture?” I thought, “Oh my god! They did it anyway!” and tried to explain it to him and he laughed, but still the institution exposed him to it and, in my opinion that did not help him. I was lead around Robin Hood’s barn just to talk to someone about going against my wishes concerning not exposing him to Evangelicalism. In the end, they told him I got mad about church so he could not go to church with the other boys.
That is not exactly what happened and I explained that to my son. I told him he can go to church, if he wants, as long as it is not an Evangelical one, but the problem was the State ran program did not offer anything other than Evangelicalism. Such is what happens when Evangelicals get to enforce their “Faith based” crap on people who need psychological help.
Now, four years later, he is still ill with various problems, including drug and alcohol abuse. A week ago, my mother wanted to give him an anointing via proxy. Now she is calling him a demon, spouting the story of God throwing out demons when He threw Satan out of heaven, stating it was Biblical. Then she apologized for not giving me “a proper Biblical education” when I was a child.
I have heard the story of God throwing out Satan and demons, but my son is not a demon and I find it very delusional and superstitious of her to call her grandson a demon. He is not a demon, but rather a human being who is sick and has some mental health issues to deal with.
Along with all of that, she talked about backsliding, which is a term used in Wesleyan theology. Why? I do not know, but I must ask how one can backslide if they never believed what the adults forced upon them as a child? I do not believe it is possible to backslide when one never believed what the adults tried to teach them as a child nor did I teach my sons such doctrines either. So how can my younger son backslide if he did not learn such dogmas until the Pentecostals found a way to get their hands on him?
Then we go into the topic of the Pentecostals, which I guess relates to her grandson’s exposure in treatment over these last four years. I am not sure how it fit other than that and she stated, “Calvinists are not Christians.” Really? That was when I told her, “Well, you know, they say the same of those who are not Pentecostals, thus you and everyone else who does not believe as they do are going to hell.” She knew they taught that, but she believes Calvinists are going to hell, because they are not Christian. Nice one, Mother. I have to roll my eyes at how she turns the tables concerning others. Let us not get started on Episcopalians, which she believes I am still involved in, but if she would read the writings of Spong, Cupitt, and others like them, she would get an idea of what I once believed. The thing is I am now more in the neighbourhood of Robert Price’s beliefs than I am of Spong and Cupitt’s.
What exactly is “a proper Biblical education” when there are so many different Christian doctrines and ideologies out there, not to mention dogmas? Be that as it may, given that I once tried to tell her what Spong teaches, only to hear her shouting, “THAT’S NOT CHRISTIAN!” and giving me an Inquisition until I gave her lip-service, I would suspect that reading Spong alone would send her into a conniption, not to mention Robert Price would send her into religious convulsions. Thus, I do not dare tell her where I am right now, or she, her sister, and all their crazed church people would pester me to death, much as they did my step-cousin who committed suicide. They would not let me go without a “Crusade”, so to speak. However, I will not go out like that, but probably make matters worse before it was finished. Worse yet, I would hate to see them go after my younger son in the manner they went after my step-cousin. My mother has not spoken to her younger grandson in a while, in part because he is never here and in part because I will not let her preach her dogma to him.
How delusional of her to believe her younger grandson is a demon and to apologize for not giving me “a proper Biblical education” when I was a child. What exactly is “a proper Biblical education” when there are so many different Christian doctrines and ideologies out there, not to mention dogmas? AND if my younger son is a demon, what does that make me, his mother? Satan’s mate, who gave birth to his spawn? How delusional can one be? It is ALL INSANE! It is also very insulting and I would hate to think how her dogma would affect me if I believed it.
Of course, let us not forget that the Rapture believing A of Ger’s who cross the line concerning Separation of Church and State. They did not “cure” my younger son of his problems, but I suspect they contributed to them with their guilt-ridden dogma. So who says Wesleyan teaching is better than Calvinism? Both are dreadful, in my opinion.
Oh, yes, genetics played a big part in this too, for not only was my father an alcoholic, but my sons’ father is both a drug abuser and alcoholic. I will also grant that even though I was there during his IEPs for his PDD-NOS in school and his treatment for substance abuse over the last few years, as well as other things, I probably play some part in this mess too, especially since I was the one who raised him. I would not dismiss that I might not have been the perfect parent either, but I did not impose religion upon him. Rather, I gave him a choice of any religious service he wanted, other than Evangelicalism. The problem is those bloody bastards had to cross the line of Separation of Church and State, not to mention his delusionally insane grandmother, who now calls her grandson a demon.
How damaging is that? I am glad he was not around to hear the latest his grandmother said about him. It would not have helped him and now that he is 18, I am having a hard enough time trying to convince him that he needs to seriously seek treatment before he does himself serious harm. Unfortunately, he is in denial.
The problem is my mother and every other Fundamngelical needs to realize that he does not need religion to get better. What he needs is to make a choice to help himself, before he finds it is too late. Drug and alcohol abuse is only the part of his story. It is far worse than that, but the crazy dogmas that surround him are not the answer to his problems nor is calling him a demon healthy for anyone either. None of that is going to help him decide that he needs to live a healthier lifestyle, if that street tattooist did not give him hepatitis already. Again, what I have said is only the tip of the iceberg concerning my younger son, but such ideologies are not helping.
If only we could rid the world of such ugly and dehumanizing dogmas, then maybe we could concentrate on the real issues that cause people problems. The issue is not religion nor is it more religion, but rather the human being who is suffering with a problem. Religion is not the answer nor is using religion to dehumanize the person the answer either. Rather it is time we talked about the real problems and find ways to help the people who have problems, be they physical, mental, genetic, or something else, without religion. We need to face the reality of all these issues head on in order deal with these issues, not run away from them via superstition or place the remedy for such things on something outside ourselves. The individual also needs to stand squarely on their own two feet and make rational decisions, but they cannot be rational with religion, mental illness, or substance abuse.
Personally, I think my mother and all the other Fundamgelicals need help too, but under the current environment, that is not possible. I am waiting for the day when religious delusions and extremism are in the DSM, which at the rate things are going, could be in the tenth version of the DSM, if not later.
Like I said, it is ALL INSANE!
Comments
Post a Comment