I am dreading tomorrow because of religion!

[StinkyXmasCheese]

Dreading tomorrow with my family.
They are all strong in their faith Christians and I know there will be praying and thanking god etc.
I was brought up Christian but am no longer and I'm actually quite angry about religion at the moment. (Working through these issues with my counsellor.)
I know Christmas is a Christian holiday but I know I can't have a drink or I'll say something to cause an argument and I have to bite my tongue.
I've already said to dh that we're going away for Xmas next year cos I just don't want to deal with it.
I don't know how I'm going to get through the day without letting something slip!

Still failing to make your own coherent arguments I see. It’s intellectually lazy to rely on videos and merely demonstrates your own inability to defend whatever if is you’re trying to say.

I don’t care to debate (because you’re not debating, you’re copying and pasting a link and expecting far more effort back than you’re giving out) you’re not entitled to that, or indeed anything other than ridicule at this point.

🤟🏼

If people are being asked to accept Christ as their saviour, I’m sure the majority of people are capable of either ignoring the request or just kind of not accepting. It’s a request, not an order. It’s just someone expressing a belief/opinion and it really doesn’t offend me at all.

It may not offend you and that barely matters. You do not go to randoms and try to get them to accept your fictive friends as their personal lord and saviour.

Takethebiscuit feigninghorror is NBU. Not all Christians take a completely literal reading of the bible. You are taking a very narrow approach which is being counterproductive.

See, you got the backlash while I was writing my post. If you want to attract people to Christianity and feel that it could offer them spiritual comfort hectoring them isn't the way.

We are Christians but some of the people sharing our Christmas table are not. That’s fine. I don’t understand why it’s such a big deal. Some people believe in different things. That’s neither traumatic not a reason not to share a meal.
My children used to believe in the tooth fairy but no longer do. We sold it as fact at the time. They had letters and a tooth fairy language; it was very real and personal. Time passes and the tooth fairy isn’t relevant to them now. They’re not traumatised nor needing counselling. They can eat a meal very happily with little ones who still believe.
I think you’re being overly precious.

As an aside, if you frequently find can't hold your tongue when you drink, to the point where it's a real worry, you might want to look at your drinking.

I don't drink.

Because sometimes it’s a very big deal for Christians to have their children, or other friends, family, or community members, believe. It’s not all ‘gentle’ Christianity that’s live and let live, there also exist very aggressive, unpleasant, and ‘fire and brimstone’ strains, the imparting of which can certainly be abusive.

I did wonder whether OP's parents are of the fire and brimstone variety and were hectoring her about religion . If that is the case she is not being unreasonable. If it is just that she has been brought up in a religious family whose faith is important to them then her anger and need to put them right is unreasonable.

@mostlydrinkstea yes what is the issue I am a fairly conservative British evangelical Protestant Christian who takes their faith seriously.

*not that my nationality is relevant it is just the PP mentioned it being American.

You are really not helping takethebiscuit. If OPs parents preach at people in the same manner as you then she is NBU. Many people live a spiritual life without pushing it down people's throats and people are drawn to discussing faith with them because of the kindness and calm they project. Bible bashing to people who have no religious faith will only serve to irritate them.

Ray Comfort the young earth creationist ? Ray Comfort who does not believe in evolution ? Ray Comfort who claimed that the banana was the perfect example of intelligent design and then had to retract his argument when he realised that modern bananas are the product of human intervention ?

@Paintedmaypole surely from the above article you understand the above reason and that it is not at all intended to annoy.

@scarecrowhead I don’t know about any of that so I’m not really the person to ask.

I don’t know about any of that so I’m not really the person to ask.

And yet you swallow what he says hook, line and sinker.

Check the provenance of your sources before you post them @Takethebuscuitandthesink , his questionable views are well publicised.

@Takethebuscuitandthesink, do you struggle with comprehension? I live in the countryside — there are no other schools for DS to go to for miles, and those distant schools are all C of E, too. Which is why DS and a lot of other non-Christian kids go to this school.

I’m not in fact especially hostile to Christianity, or to schools with a notional C of E ethos — I grew up in a devout Catholic household — but the type of dim-witted Biblical literalism the vicar espouses is really depressing and pernicious. And plain stupid. It makes the Catholicism of the nuns who educated me look pretty sophisticated in comparison. No one ever expected me to think that the book of Genesis was literally true.

From reading the article I see where you are coming from biscuit but you are going about it in a completely counterproductive way. You are also pushing one quite fundamentalist interpretation of Christianity and effectively turning people off.

@FeigningHorror it is hard to respond without examples?

@Paintedmaypole so how should I improve then?

Leave people alone to make up their own minds

There are many strands and denominations of Christianity. This includes conservative Protestant which is a strand that slides into fundamentalism. It can be a very attractive world view as it has clear answers for everything. This can be comforting in a complex and changing world. Oddly enough the clear answers are provided by straight, white, middle aged, able bodied men from the western world and predominately from the US. Scratch the surface and you will power and privilege lurking behind the clear answers.

Fundamentalism can be a safe space but it can do a huge amount of harm when Christians move out of that simple, someone will give me all the answers, worldview and start asking questions. The backlash against those who ask questions can be huge as it threatens the safety of a simple faith and the power of the straight, white, middle aged men who are its elders and ministers. I've been on the receiving end of this backlash face to face and online. It isn't pretty. The insistence that as a woman, an Anglican, an academic and a priest am not a proper Christian because the only true Christians are conservative Protestants is wearing. I completely get why the OP does not want to deal with it at the Christmas dinner table any more than I want to deal with my father's political views.

Other varieties of Christianity are available. I'm sorry that you are dealing with this OP.

So how should I improve then?

Well, bearing in mind the number of people you've visibly pissed off on this thread alone I'd say your 'net conversion score' is negative, so you'd probably have been better just keeping your opinions to yourself. (Not that copy-pasting other people's bullshit actually constitutes having an opinion.)