I can’t help but wonder why my “Invisible Friend” bothers you so very much. It isn’t as though I’m requiring you to talk to him, nor do I drag you to church and force you to sit next to me in the pew pretending you are. So just what is it that so upsets you about me having my “Invisible Friend” that you have to mock and insult and try to take away anything that might remind you that there are many people, who are friends with my “Invisible Friend”?
Do you likewise mock the people who are acting rude and lewd in public, or do you cheer them on and defend their right to flaunt their sexuality all over the place? Oh, that’s right, instead you mock my “Invisible Friend” and me for daring to feel the public display is inappropriate.
Do you likewise mock the Muslims for their Islamic beliefs and for having an “Invisible Friend”, too? I didn’t think so. You wouldn’t dare. You’re too chicken to mock them, because you know some don’t take such mockery lightly and do play for keeps and forever. So, instead, you spend your energy lecturing that everyone should be tolerant and embrace a Mosque being built at the Twin Tower site or some other such place that might be considered an insult to some non-Muslims, while demanding the Ten Commandment tablet be removed immediately from the public square.
I don’t force you to stand with me and talk to my “Invisible Friend”, but you strive to silence my ability to talk with him or about him, except in the shadows hidden from your sight and hearing.
What is it that makes you willing to embrace anything non-Christian and destroy anything that is? What is it that makes you so desperately in need of destroying all the reminders of my “Invisible Friend”? Why not consider it art and mythology and leave it at that? What is it that you fear — that perhaps my invisible friend isn’t a myth after all?
The question of why your “invisible friend” bothers me and others so much is an inherently stupid one (more on this later).
You ask if I would “mock the people who are acting rude and lewd in public, or do you cheer them on and defend their right to flaunt their sexuality all over the place?” and this is also an inherently stupid question…. that quite literally has absolutely nothing to do with religion or it’s practices… especially when you consider that religious people also act “rude and lewd in public” whilst “flaunt[ing] their sexuality” and everyone who does it (regardless of religious or sexual preference) gets mocked because of it….
I do mock people who act rude and lewd in public. It makes me uncomfortable when anyone does this… however this is just a personal preference, and I see nothing wrong with people showing as much affection as they feel like. It’s their lives, if I don’t want to see it I’ll look away. If my kid sees it and has questions about it, I’ll answer them the best I can and as honestly as possible. (See, honesty is a big thing in my family)
Now, if you’re just referring to gay people… well, I mean, straight people cheer on other straight people all the time when they’re “flaunt[ing] their sexuality all over the place”. I’m sure if you saw a straight couple holding hands in public you would probably think this was completely normal, maybe even cute… and in no way “flaunt[ing] their sexuality all over the place”, and yet when my gay friends hold hands in public people shield their kids’ eyes and tell them that they need to stop “flaunting their sexuality in public”.
Do you see the hypocrisy? Probably not.
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You also ask if I would “mock the Muslims for their Islamic beliefs and for having an “Invisible Friend”, too?” This is another stupid question.
You are aware that Islam is an abrahamic belief, and therefore if you have an “invisible friend” your “invisible friend” is literally the exact same “invisible friend” as anyone who celebrates Islam. So yes, you’re all in the same boat. Being a Christian doesn’t make you any more insane than being a Muslim if you believe in your imaginary friend.
But let me add a personal anecdote. Growing up my best friend was a Muslim. His parents weren’t super religious but they still did their prayers and gave to charity and blah blah blah. My friend (around the same time as me actually… [I was born in a Christian household. My father is a minister]) started to question his religious beliefs and realized that he doesn’t actually believe in the things he’s been taught. He often mocks his family for believing in their “invisible friend” (although that might not be the specific terminology he uses), and constantly complains about how terrible his parent’s religion (and all religions, really) is.
Ironic that later on in your post you say that people who mock Christianity would never do these things.
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Well, since you’re so upset about people mocking your beliefs… let’s talk about it.
The one valid question that I saw in your post was:
“What is it that so upsets you about me having my “Invisible Friend” that you have to mock and insult and try to take away anything that might remind you that there are many people, who are friends with my “Invisible Friend”?”
I can mention quite a few things about your invisible friend that upset me to the point that I may want to “mock or insult” someone who believes in it (taking things away is a bit of an overstep though, I don’t want to hide your religion from view, I just don’t want my kids to have to be subjected to other’s beliefs in public schools, I’m sure you’d probably agree with me on this subject. If children wish to pray in school they have every right to go to a specific room and pray in the same way that Muslim children are granted this right during the day. If children wish to omit “God” from the pledge of allegiance they have ever right to do so when they say it, but honestly why do we force our children to give a “pledge of allegiance” anyway? Why does my child have to “pledge” his allegiance to a flag (a false idol) at all?)
#1) The first reason why I might want to mock someone’s “invisible friend” is actually for a point you brought up in your post. The fact that so many people still believe in them.
You blindly follow the (misquoted and misinterpreted) teachings of a book handed to you by another person who is also blindly following the same (misquoted and misinterpreted) teachings of a book handed to them by another person who was blindly following the same (misquoted and misinterpreted) teachings of a book handed to them by etc. etc. etc.
In any other context most organized religions would be considered cults. The only real difference between a cult and a religion is the amount of followers religions are able to generate, blindfold, brainwash and steal money from.
#2) The second reason I might “mock or insult” someone who believes in their “invisible friend” is the fact that most people only believe in that “invisible friend” because they’ve been promised some sort of gold pot at the end of the rainbow.
The fact that most people only believe in their “invisible friend” because of a promised paradise is enough of a joke on it’s own to the point that I don’t actually have to mock anyone. A quick question for anyone who believes in the concepts of “heaven” and “hell” (regardless of the specific religion you belong to): if heaven and hell didn’t exist, but God did, and this was the only life you got would you still be following God’s teachings? Would you care about other human beings at all if there was no chance at heaven? Or is heaven your only incentive for being a good person? If that’s the case, yeah, you are a literal joke to me and quite a few other people…
#3) The third, final, and most important reason I might “mock or insult” someone who believes in their “invisible friend” is the amount of damage a person’s “invisible friend” can make them cause.
9/11
Gay conversion therapy
The Waco seige
The Salem Witch Trials
Slavery (which was defended by Protestant Christian leaders at the time, ironically).
And I shouldn’t even have to mention the crusades.
These are all things that happened due to people’s “invisible friends”.
So when I mock you for believing in your invisible friend, don’t take it personally. I’m doing it for all the people who have been murdered because of religion. I’m doing it for all the people who killed themselves because their families disowned them for not believing in their religion. I’m doing it for every single person that has ever felt disenfranchised by a religion.
It’s not you, it’s your friend. And if you can separate your specific relationship with God from the evils your religion has committed I would suggest that you’re just a self-serving, self-indulgent narcissist. *shrug*
First of all, if you re-read, you will see that I was addressing those who have this desperate need to remove anything and everything that resembles Christianity. You said you weren’t one of them, so everything else you said is irrelevant to this particular discussion.
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