AIBU to really hate religion?

[speakout]

My 5 year old great niece is very upset right now,
She was given a fairy door- small wooden one that sticks on the bottom of a skirting board.
My sister- very religious has seen it in her room, ripped it off and broken it telling the child that Satan will come through and it is an evil trap.
I am trying to be respectful of my sister's religion but it is hard.

No point Magpie, you'll just reply with more airy-fairy "human nature" rubbish. No point in continuing down that cul-de-sac.

Did the child even want to prey? The child wanted the door. She's been told her that Satan is real, and that she's going to burn in hell for eternity for doing x, y and z. That's child abuse.

If I told my son, that Freddy kruggar was real I'd be in trouble. I hope one day, the church is shut down as something so power, it's a corrupt, abusive and horrific organisation.

That's not religion, it's just not nice behavior.

Not part of her religion. Part of her personality. It's time people stopped using religion to blame for their actions and took some ownership

I couldn't have put it better myself ...

No point Magpie, you'll just reply with more airy-fairy "human nature" rubbish. No point in continuing down that cul-de-sac.

Tell me then, Cardinal, if religion, as a construct, does not stem from human nature, where does it stem from? Surely if you believe religion is a human can construct then the control it exerts has something to do with human nature? Or is religious thought and belief something other than human? Why do you consider talking about human nature ‘rubbish’ or ‘airy-fairy’? I would have thought you would have reserved those terms to more fantastical aspects of thought and belief than the fact of human nature.

As a former Baptist myself, I certainly don't recognise this sort of behaviour or teaching whatsoever. I've always found them one of the most "reasonable" sections of Christianity in terms of not foisting it on other people. Some of the nicest, most tolerant people I've ever met. And as others have said, Baptists do not use holy water at all, so someone's talking bollocks somewhere.

Magpie, I've had many arguments on here on this subject, but this thread is not about that, and I have no desire to today, least of all with you.

Isnt Westboro called a baptist church? Just because we have one version of Baptists here in the U.K., does not mean all do believe / worship / act in the same way across the world

As I thought, Cardinal, you’ve nothing really you can comment, re. my post, constructively. Just the expression of some vague, undisclosed, disagreement. Feel free to elaborate when you have sorted through your own thinking, well enough to express it clearly.

Blah blah blah.

Nice try. My thinking is patently considerably more coherent than your vague assertions of "human nature". Come over to the Philosophy board sometime, and join in some real debates.

Adara The use of holy water to bless homes, churches and articles of devotion (as described by the OP) is exclusive to Roman Catholicism and Eastern Christian churches and not employed by any accepted Baptist church.

Laurie has given really good advice on this thread.

Widening your situation/your great niece's situation out into some generalised idea about religion is interesting as a thought experiment on a slow afternoon but it's not helpful for your great niece .

What your great niece needs is support, choices, access to alternative world-views - which includes other, less fundamentalist, interpretations of religion - education, examples of autonomy, belief that she has choices, knowledge of other choices. That's where you can help.

Even in America (and you seem to be hinting that they are in America) fundamentalist religion is a small proportion part of the population. Your great niece needs to know there's a big, wide world out there where people think all sorts of things.

I'm surprised you don't realise that they have a niche interpretation of Christianity, OP, since you appear to have broken away from the family belief-system.

Nice try. My thinking is patently considerably more coherent than your vague assertions of "human nature". Come over to the Philosophy board sometime, and join in some real debates.

I’ve been. Many times. Been here years, don’t keep the same name. Like to keep things fresh. Sounds like you treat discussion as some form of elaborate pissing contest, Cardinal, from your post. Ironic, just another form of ‘bells and smells’ but using ‘intellectual’ semantics instead.

Not any kind of Christianity I know and I go to church most Sundays.

I would buy the little girl a new fairy door, and a pixie door, and a unicorn door, and a giant door. Then watch as the evil aunt has a heart attack next time she goes into the girl's room.

"Not any kind of Christianity I know and I go to church most Sundays."

There are many Christians who hold similar beliefs.

That's appalling. I wonder if her grandmother realises she's probably turned her into a budding atheist?

shatners yes I'm aware of that, but as I said, using the name baptist is no guarantee that those using that name will do / believe exactly what anyone else using that name does, which is obviously the case won't the people / group the op is talking about

“Religion is evil”

No. People are evil. Evil people use religion as an excuse to behave badly

“Stop blaming religion they are responsible for their own actions.”

This ^^ with brass knobs on

“They won’t have Christmas tree (too pagan). No Santa or Easter eggs (ditto) No pop music, won't buy newspapers with horoscopes.
My 5 year old grandnephew has had a class in school explaining how Santa and Satan are the same person, including showing the anagram.”

This isn’t Christianity. It is a weird religious cult. I am C of E and we have a Christmas tree in church, the church gets used for all sorts of social events which include drinking and gambling (wine at harvest supper, raffle tickets being sold), the children get given Easter eggs at Easter and Santa makes an appearance at the Christmas fair. This type of thing has always been my experience of Christianity (C of E)

“Yes. She teaches creationism in science class.”

Isn’t that illegal? Or it should be.

“I tend to pity people who are sucked in or need it as a crutch or are lacking the intelligence to comprehend science”

Interestingly most of the congregation at our church are well educated professionals – doctors, architects, lawyers, social workers etc. Probably, like me, they just enjoy the spiritual side and the support of the members of the congregation if they feel they need it. They don’t hold ridiculous views like your sister, they are open minded and are quite happy to accept people as they are. I haven’t been to church for over a year, but I still feel included. I deliver the parish magazine, bake for fundraising events etc. No-one has hassled me about non-attendance. No-one is evangelistic. They are just nice people.

What an excellent post canttestright

“Satan sits on her shoulder waiting for a chink in her defences.” “My sister has a long history of such behaviour, she has tried to get her husband exorcised, would force her own kids to wear black on Easter weekend and have them mourn.”

It sounds like your sister needs help. This is really not a normal way of thinking. Does she suffer from depression or anxiety, or other delusional thoughts? It sounds like she needs to see her GP. How can you honestly accept this as normal behaviour?

Your sister isn’t religious. She is odd and has some strange and disturbing ideas. Should she even be a teacher with her unhealthy views?

“People control, using religion as an excuse. The whole essence of Christianity is free will.”

Absolutely, but many atheists refuse to believe this.

Massive drip feed there. Which country is this school in?

And what does she think of Halloween?

When DD was little we went trick or treating with the vicar's children. What would your sister make of that?

I believe there have been various fundamentalist cults in the States over the years that have called themselves some variation of Baptist.

But what matters is helping the girl, surely, rather than sharing opposing views on religion?

The fire and brimstone reading of the Bible is discredited by most churches these days. My Bible translates 'Hell' as grave, i.e staying dead rather than a place of fiery torment. And the vicars I know will only speak of things like exorcism if directly asked and then in as little detail as possible. I know because I used to have a genuine phobia about demonic possession. I never believed I was but I worried I might be. Without exception any Christian I spoke to told me to see my doctor. I did and I had treatment and now my phobia is under control.

I'm starting to understand why fairy doors are so popular.

Oh OP! I just realised - you gave her the door didn't you?

Adara Westboro Baptist (using it as an example) is not affiliated to any official Baptist denomination and has been denounced by all official Baptist organisations. This is why it's wrong for the OP to say her relative is a Baptist - if they aren't affiliated to an official Baptist denomination, then they while they call themselves Baptists, they actually aren't. They're just unpleasant cunts.