As you may have read on your flist some guy was randomly stabbed and beheaded while travelling on a Greyhound bus. It's shocking, horrible, tragic and many other strong words
( Read more... )
fuck yeah. there is something so horrible about telling people that their loved ones are better off somewhere than with them - even if it's supposed to be with a higer being in a place of peace, yadda yadda ... love means you want to have your loved ones closed to you. it's actually the reason why my mother "quit" religion. she was at sunday school once (catholic) and the priest was ranting about the afterlife, and telling the kids that they shouldn't be sad when their parents die, because they'll be sitting right next to Jesus, and seriously, what more could someone possibly want ? I don't mean to be insulting to anyone with strong christian beliefs in here, I am just saying, when you are a kid, and your parents die, this is possibly the most traumatizing thing ever, and I don't think that telling them it's ok because they're better off where they are (implying that regardless of the fact they're leaving you lonely, hopeless, without support and possibly without care, it's a good thing) is going to make them feel any better.
so, the priest was like "are you going to be happy when your parents die ?"
and of course the kids applauded because they'll be in a better place.
I don't think this priest really used appropriate methods of teaching, really, but that sort of threw my mother off.
anyway, no one cares, point is made that your comment is right and i agree.
haha, I actually have strong christian beliefs! But I think a lot of churches are based on very trauma-inducing, shame-inducing shit that has less to do with God and more to do with bad interpretation and power. What that priest said was APPALLING. Especially because children go through a very important, incredibly life-changing stage, when they realize their parents are mortal and have to learn to deal with that. Telling them not to be SAD is like, negating that ENTIRE experience!
Also, being SAD about not being with someone doesn't have to have anything to do with accepting a higher power. If I lost my husband or child, I would be eternally sad just for missing them. Would I STILL believe they were with God? Yes, in my own way that I experience God, I would. But that doesn't ALTER my sadness. Loss is profound. You can't just believe it away. No matter what happens to loved ones after death, the sadness comes with them not BEING there. That won't change! And that's also why I think death is for the living in a lot of ways. It's for those left behind to struggle.
Yes! My friend is Catholic, and the dogma she experiences in her church offers her a very powerful tool for...examining her beliefs and relationship with God. Experience of God should come first, and dogma should only guide it or support it. But usually, it happens the other way around and I just don't get how people build faith from that.
so, the priest was like "are you going to be happy when your parents die ?"
and of course the kids applauded because they'll be in a better place.
I don't think this priest really used appropriate methods of teaching, really, but that sort of threw my mother off.
anyway, no one cares, point is made that your comment is right and i agree.
Reply
Also, being SAD about not being with someone doesn't have to have anything to do with accepting a higher power. If I lost my husband or child, I would be eternally sad just for missing them. Would I STILL believe they were with God? Yes, in my own way that I experience God, I would. But that doesn't ALTER my sadness. Loss is profound. You can't just believe it away. No matter what happens to loved ones after death, the sadness comes with them not BEING there. That won't change! And that's also why I think death is for the living in a lot of ways. It's for those left behind to struggle.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment