To be annoyed with all the people on FB thanking God for 'miracle' recoveries

[bumbleymummy]

Another one tonight where a boy's church are thanking God for him being found cancer free and thanking everyone for their prayers to make this possible. Lots of comments thanking God and Jesus and praise for how wonderful and gracious He is. Not a single mention of the doctors, surgeons, nurses etc who played a much more obvious role in his recovery!

I respect people too. And if they share a different belief to me I still respect them, unlike some of the posters on here.

Respecting people and respecting beliefs are two completely different things.

Of course they are bertrand, but I don't disrespect someone just because they share different beliefs to me. My closest colleague is an atheist. I don't respect her views on this, nor she mine, but as a person and a colleague I have the utmost respect for her.

Leelu, if you read my OP you'll see that I'm not judging the family - it was the church posting this. They weren't simply posting thanks for prayers/support, they were posting thanks to God for 'curing' this child i.e directly attributing his recovery to God with no acknowledgement for the people who treated him. My point wasn't that they hadn't done anything to thank the doctors but that they had made a point of publicly thanking God above medical staff.

Dione, I'm not sure how you think you can 'challenge' a 'like' to a FB post. As I said before, the original post didn't come from a friend and I'm not going to crash onto someone's church's thread and start 'challenging' all these people I don't know. Not really the time and place for that don't you think?

Religious people consider their beliefs as part of their identity, which explain why coming out and saying that "believing in God is shite, stooopid, and akin to being a naïve toddler" (and I am giving a quite restrained example of what can be said on MN) is pretty disrespectful to a person.

There is nothing stopping you from saying you do not believe in God, or why you do not believe, but this kind of rant are also no likely to change any believer's mind.
Let's keep in mind that most of the people on this forum (most, I do not know about you) argue that Science is the reason why they do not believe in God, but are not able to explain or understand the scientific reasoning and facts behind the basic laws of physics, astronomy and biology that govern the universe. Therefore they believe but they do not know (if that's not faith....)

It's like saying:
"God does not exist, because.... because.... Science! Na! you idiot!"

"
"God does not exist, because.... because.... Science! Na! you idiot!"

Oh, my word! What forums have you been on?

I believe in the pursuit of truth through Science, blind faith in the face of actual evidence doesn't cut it I'm afraid.

If religion was harmless I wouldn't give a toss, but it's not and Christians in general push it more than any other religion in this country.

YABU -goady and horrible, you have no idea who they thank or what beliefs and depths they have tested in their despair. Why would you you start a post aimed at parents of sick children who have been through hell? Why would you?

Blue, I think you have completely misread and/or misinterpreted my OP if you have come to the conclusion that I am bring goady or targeting the parents of sick children.

Bumbley, I didn't suggest you ho to the church's FB page. You could send your friends a message asking about their position and explaining yours.

Religious people consider their beliefs as part of their identity

What they think is irrelevant, it isn't part of their identity it is a belief or set of beliefs that they freely subscribe to. Their views should be held to account especially when they hold disproportionate influence over public life, they are also fair targets for satire.

I think Shakespeare had it right 'as flies to wanton boys are we to gods, they kill us for their sport'.

Really, the capricious Greek and Roman gods or vengeful Old Testament God make far more sense than a supposedly benevolent loving father. My son died at a year old, so I can't tolerate any kindly God bollocks.

I'm very sorry about your son, what. But with respect, nobody is asking you to tolerate anything. If people's faith helps them to get through a difficult, testing time (as mine is now) how does that adversely affect you, exactly?

I can totally understand why primitive people invented god/gods in order to try to make sense of the world that they were living in.

Now that we are an evolved and intelligent life form, I have no idea why people continue to believe in such rubbish. If someone invented religion now, we'd all call them on the absolute bollocks they were talking.

It is nothing more that a population control tool used by religious leaders in order to wield power and gather wealth over the masses. I am reasonably convinced that most of the top leaders don't believe in it all either.

Dione, I may very well chat to them about it the next time I see them. I think it's easier to put your point across one to one. :) (not PA!) Tbf they may have just mindlessly 'liked' the post because they are happy to hear that the boy is well and they had prayed for him. Hardly something to challenge them about!

myotherusername
With the greatest respect, not you are coming across as a complete arse.
Hth.
I would ask again how the fact that my faith is helping with my current awful situation affects you, exactly?
I've asked this so many times upthread but conveniently ive not had a reply.

Because we are talking about how irritating it is when people thank god for their loved ones recovery - when the same god was obviously happy to let ours die. Dig deep into your empathy deficit & see if you can figure why that may be a wee tad galling.

That's very Christian of you punk

I am very happy for you that your faith is helping in your individual circumstances, I am not stupid, I also understand that believing in an afterlife and that you will meet up again with your loved ones must be very comforting. If that was what religion was limited to and wasn't affecting anyone else, I wouldn't be bothered in the slightest, each to their own and all that jazz.

But it isn't is it? There are countless atrocities and blind eyes turned to others suffering every moment of every hour of every day and that is supported and enabled by organised religion. For that I will continue to campaign for the demise of religious organisations and indoctrination.

Individual worship? crack on and enjoy.

you enjoy your name calling though, don't let me stop you.

Dip deep into your own empathy. I've made no 'claims' on here. If you'd bothered to rtft you'd see that doctors and nurses don't give a shiny shit if people dont give us gushing thanks on fb - we don't go into the profession be thanked If their patient's faith helps more, then fair play to them.

My parents both died of cancer, my dh had cancer when the dc were small and thankfully survived. My db is now dying of cancer.
You're missing the point spectacularly, what. How does the fact that I'm gaining comfort from people's prayer affect you exactly? And equally if I thank people for their prayers and support after he's died, what makes you so angry about that? I know that the medical/surgical team have done their best. The palliative care team will take over and will be thanked appropriately. Thank God they will not judge any beliefs his family have, because we as a profession know how not to judge people's beliefs.
what it's not always about a recovery. How about a peaceful death? If someone's faith helps them achieve that, is that do terrible?

I'm not 'so angry' - I think I mentioned being a wee tad galled?

Your posting style is angry and it worries me that you are apparently in the medical profession. Oh dear.

I don't think it's me that's missing the point.

You don't hold dibs on having lost loved ones - I am not angry at you and am not angry on this thread. I am however very angry that people continue to perpetuate a religious organisation that has used it's power over people to use and abuse vulnerable people whilst apparently crying tears of regret. Any moral god would perhaps think about preventing his servants from raping young children instead of having them cry tears of regret afterwards.

As I say though if praying and other people's prayers bring you comfort then you carry on. No-one is preventing you from having a faith in spite of overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary.

It's also a point to note that the person getting angry and resorting to individual insults here is you. I don't care if you think I am an arse. i don't need a world of fiction in order to define my own moral compass.

With all due respect what, I am in the same situation as you in that I lost my son too. I was lucky enough to get thirteen years longer with him than you and i completely understand why you feel the way you do. It would have been very easy for me to go the same way and I was very angry at one point while my son lay dying. However I personally have managed to move past that and believe it or not my faith is actually stronger now. I know some people will think that I am just using it as a crutch but that is honestly absolutely not the case and to be honest I find it galling when strangers purport to patronise me and try to make out I am a deluded fool. I can't explain why I feel the way I do and you feel the way you do but ultimately we are all individuals and we have to try and do what is best for us and ignore those things which we don't agree with. I would add that I would never dream of mentioning God or my faith to other suffering parents unless they specifically mentioned it or I knew that they shared my faith.

Mermaid, I'd be interested to know what God's voice sounded like ? Male? Female? Did God speak English, have an accent? Did he or she speak in a formal way, or perhaps soften their tone with a few pleasantries or colloquiallism?