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Thanks so much for your input, everyone! It seems the consensus everywhere is to forget it if you know it's not going anywhere. I just felt like I betrayed myself, in a way. Glad to know I'm not the only one who bites their tongue.
I like moving the conversation into fact based direction when confronted with ignorance like this, gives them food for thought without being too confrontational. I would have said something like, "You know they actually believe in the same god of Abraham that Christians and Jews believe in?"
Hey Loren! That woman (if only you could read) is my sister-in-law. She is a terrific person and the mother of my two gorgeous nieces. She is extremely well educated and is a teacher herself. Her mother was the principal of school from which she retired. Both woman have religious beliefs. As I have said many times elsewhere on the A/N website, people who were religious but are now atheist never had or ever will consider themselves stupid. They are people just like most of us (except you apparently). Just like they have many reasons to continue to believe, you, Loren, must have many reasons to hate and bestow your anger toward. But it is ultimately your choice to be human and understand that most religious people are just like you, regular people. You may have though it was funny, but it is at the mother of my nieces' expense, and that is insulting to me. MANs like you need another perspective.
The brand of "god" is inconsequential, as is any attached mythos. What is salient is the danger of "faith" itself.
You could have said, "You're right. No one who believes in Chango, the Voodoo god, would have ever done that." Then again, probably not. In all seriousness, the best course is to bite your tongue, and let the woman have her delusion. More importantly, though, let your child know the truth.
Hey, Jane! That was actually aimed at the woman in Cane's story, who was certain someone else was going to hell. I figured it was a proper comeback for that!
@Loren: thanks... it's been a few years. :-P
Rebuttal:
I'll keep this short as I can. We had a holiday dinner with my two brothers and the youngest's wife and kids. We were having a political discussion during which the wife kept mostly silent. That is until she blurted out that the person we were discussing would go to hell. Dead silence met her comment.
I too have had similar experiences and chose to bite my tongue. The question I asked myself is this: Is religion/god or at least my views on those subjects worth more to me than this friendship?" In most cases where conversation will go nowhere, I have concluded that my friendship is a) not based in any way on religion and in fact, religion hardly comes up at all and b) my friendship is more important to me than promoting my view or changing my friends. My advice to you...have an honest discussion with yourself about those questions or similar ones that better fit who you are.
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