Queen of Swords

I went to the hospital to see my mother yesterday (she's having chemo) and when my dad arrived we started talking about college and roommates. I mentioned that I had discussed religion, or the lack thereof, with my college roommate, and she had either come out of the closet or deconverted. I forget which. Of course, I had deconverted at about the same time, but I was more interested in learning about religion and atheism than she was. So I might have taken a dominant role in our (eventually quite productive) discussions, and this upset my parents deeply.

Mum : So you made her an atheist?
Me : Well, she became either that or an agnostic.
Mum : God will punish you for that.
Me : What?
Mum : It's a terrible thing.
Me : How is he supposed to punish me? If the bible is accurate, he's already sending me to hell for being an atheist. What's he going to do - send me to hell some more?
Dad : No, before you die.
Me : Before I die, what?
Dad : You'll get your punishment before you die.
Me : And what kind of punishment will this be?
Dad : You'll just get it.
Me : How is this punishment supposed to be any different from natural disasters or other things which occur frequently on earth? Or, for example, what happens to Christians when they get cancer?
Parents : <silence>
Me : In any case, why would I want to worship a god who punishes me?
Parents : <silence>
Me : It will probably be more than one punishment, anyway, because a Christian on the II board emailed me with some questions about atheism, I answered them, and he deconverted some time later.
Parents : How could you do that? You'll have to pay for that some day.
Me : The guy asked me questions, I replied honestly. Are you saying your god wants to hurt me for being honest?
Parents : <silence>
Me : <raises eyebrows>
Parents : <silence>
Me : I'm writing this one up for the Infidels.

So here it is, and my question is whether my parents have any biblical justification for their theory that God has a special hate-on for the sin of deconverting a person. And that God, unable to pull out the biggest gun in his arsenal a second time, will instead find ways to torture me in this life. Is there any backing for this?

What a peculiar little episode, and what a sad belief. Were the constant references to punishment supposed to impress me? Were they supposed to make me so wet-trousered with fear that I fell on the floor like the last panel of a Jack Chick tract, repenting of the fact that I stated my thoughts openly whenever someone asked me? If this is what Christianity does to people, I'm so glad I'm an atheist.

Sheesh!

cjack

I don't have the biblical background regarding whether or not god has an extra-strong case against you, but maybe this is another argument against the utter impotence of god and the weakness of Xtianity.

I mean, if these people you "deconverted" had previously known the "Word of Gawd," how come it was so easy to talk them out of it, so to speak?

You'd think the "Truth of the Word of Gawd" would stand up to a little questioning, wouldn't you?


I am soooo glad my parents were infidels!

winstonjen

No offense, but I think your parents are nutcases!

If they read the book of Job, apparently the best way to get punished is to lead a virtuous life.

keyser_soze

Oh man, if he does and he exists....I'm fscked....

keyser_soze

And I also will have to go with winstonjen on this one! But then again, my father is a methodist minister and my mother is a fundy(both adopted), so are they the BIGGER nutcases? I think so.

Queen of Swords

Originally posted by cjack
You'd think the "Truth of the Word of Gawd" would stand up to a little questioning, wouldn't you?

That reminds me of another thing my mother said the night before : "You're not supposed to question the Bible."

Indeed. That might make you an atheist. It's best you remain in blind unquestioning obedience, baaing your way into the heavenly stable.

Sorry. I'm just frustrated. How could my own parents not see something wrong in this vicious punishment-fixated god whose creed is apparently, "You love your enemies, but I get to torture mine"?

keyser_soze

That is bumper sticker material!

Woot! QOS:notworthy

The Naked Mage

<embraces QoS> Run away with me, and leave this wretched state behind!

But anyway, how long have your parents been...uh...difficult?

cjack

This reminds me of a conversation I had a couple of weeks ago with my mother.

I'd been re-reading the Bible, and I had all kinds of questions by the time I got through Genesis.

She said "now you know why we never took you kids to church...they don't like it when you ask questions!"

Inconnu

The god punishment throughout history was effected by people, not gods. Had god actually jumped off his cloud and done the punishing we wouldnt be here discussing this stuff