Goddammit, I hate that. I was having a discussion with my grandmum and we were discussing my tics (complex motor and vocal twitches). There are a few things that could be causing it. Most likely Tourette's Syndrome or a generic tic disorder, or a precursor to epilepsy, or maybe even a brain tumor. The highest probability rests in it just being Tourette's or a tic disorder, though. I'm not overly worried about it.
Anyway, she mentioned something along the lines of "We'll just have to pray about it." Now, as an apostate Christian, I still carry some animosity towards Christianity for the false hope that I came to realize it is. I said something along the lines of "I don't see that working".
Then she points to the side of her wrist and says "See. I had a bone growth (calcium deposit?) there and I prayed about it and it went away. Granny (my other grandmother) had one just like it and she had to have surgery. Prayer works."
Me: "How do you know it didn't break down on its own."
Her: "Because I prayed about it."
Me: "But there was a study conducted proving prayer is ineffective in aiding medical conditions."
Her: "I don't care about your science studies. I know there's a god and I know he healed my wrist."
I could see this wasn't going anywhere. Then, she pulled out the artillery.
"You do believe in god don't you? I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't see you in heaven with grandpa."
Fuck! Shit! I held myself together. I was on the verge of..."There is no god. There is no heaven. Grandpa's dead. We all die and that's it. Your wrist healed itself through natural means. And kneeling at our beds and talking to ourselves isn't going to do any good for the randomly firing neurons in my brain that generate my tics."
I imagined her breaking down in tears. Then the inevitable "Oh! You just
have to believe! You don't want to go to
hell, do you?! Boo hoo hoo!"
So I bit my lip, made a sly grin, and said something along the lines of "I hope he likes me enough to let me in" and walked away.
Why the fuck do they do it? Fucking patronizing us with their emotional sensationalism. Just once I'd like to tell a family member "I think god is fake" and have a simple "Why?", "Ok", or even better, "So do I."
But no. I get the fucking sad faces and the "Don't you want to see me in heaven? God loves you. Blah blah blah." Every. fucking. time.
I almost feel like a closet gay guy trying to give his family a hint and they keep trying to hook him up with girls against his will. Where's my fucking "Atheist Pride" bumper sticker? When's our "Skeptics Parade"? I'm sick of being patronized every time I hint that I think Jeebus and his daddy are bullshit.
Anyone else get this? Or is there some atheist paradise where there are no churches and you don't get scowled at by strangers for saying you don't attend a church (has happened to me more than once)?
Argh!
[This message has been edited by Elephantitis Man (edited 08-04-2006).]
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