Preachers who lose their faith

[mothwentbad]

For some reason, the topic of this post bothers me very much all the way to the core. I tried to say a few things about it, but I can't seem to capture the existential horror of the thing. It's just one of those things that make me want to pound my fist on the table and make humanity splinter into nothingness on account of its being too ridiculous

Comments

[a_tergo_lupi]

I found that post entirel unreadable.

[bec_87rb]

Sounds like this really got under your skin?

I had always assumed that faith was like marriage, with natural ups and downs and being patient, not expecting highs all the time. I'd be surprised and a little suspicious if someone of faith was in the honeymoon stage all the time. Or I'd wanna know what kind of good drugs he was on, and if he'd share. ;p

[mothwentbad]

Well, it just looks to me like they don't really believe all that like they say that they do - it just looks like they're trying to believe it. Why would you worry so much about whether your kids wear sun screen if they're just going to die and go to Heaven that much sooner if they get skin cancer? Every drop of fuss that goes into the worries of everyday life just casts doubt on the proposition that they really believe what they say they believe. They tell you that you're invincible, and then worry that each little scratch could be the death of you.

[suegypt]

I used to tell my mother, a priest's wife, not to worry, it was an affront to god. (I was young, I wouldn't say such nonsense now) The answer to that is that we are human, not gods and we will never be able to stop being human. There is also no cure for doubt, even in the things you feel most sure of (your "one true love," god). And if any religious figure says he's never had a shade of doubt about his faith, he's lying. That doesn't mean what he or she aspires to, and what they believe is not true, it's simply elusive.

Oh, and that shit about people of the cloth staying "in" because they are bought and paid for? Most preachers, etc are as close to poor as teachers. I bet my daddy never made over $50,000 in any year he ever worked as a priest, and that was with a wife and 4 kids to put through college. He was an engineer, and well on his way to a nice income when he felt a call.

Have you ever felt something calling you, Math?

[virginia_fell]

As someone who works for a non-profit on commission, I always kind of saw religious leaders similarly. They're not in it to get rich on those dozens of dollars a year they get paid. They're in it because there's some other return there than a nice fat paycheck.

The difference is that I can stay in politics if my opinion changes about this or that issue. I can just go work on something else. If I were a woman of the cloth, would I see my opinion on the existence/nonexistence of God--and the mutability or immutability of that opinion--the same way if it meant giving up an entire life path to change my mind?

That was what I was trying to get at. I hope you didn't feel that I was insinuating that priests are unwilling to give up their faith in God because God makes them super wealthy, since I'm as aware as anyone else that aside from televangelists that... doesn't actually happen.

[mothwentbad]

Yeah. I guess that's why there's no way I could have ever ended up in the predicament in the first place. How do you just wake up one day saying, "I really believe this, and I'm going to let people pay me to pronounce on it in a cocksure manner for the rest of my life"? It's unimaginable to me. If it weren't something that actually happened, I never would've been able to construct a fictional concept of it. It's so much stranger to me than a vanilla fantasy world in which people are certain about gods because they actually do exist and they really do meddle with things and do magic tricks reliably.

[virginia_fell]

I believe that corporations shouldn't be permitted to write laws that allow them to exploit their customers and taxpayers, and I believe it strongly enough that I show up on people's doorsteps to ask them to pay for my fight and my paycheck and in general spend money to ensure I can keep doing what I'm doing

[mothwentbad]

I understand why you do what you do, or at least I'm not baffled and distraught at the very thought of it. The differences are huge and important.

[vee_ecks]

You know I've softened some in my stance toward religion, of late, but...I still think those people have some fucked up agenda going on. And I still think they're theists fucking with atheists.