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I'VE DONE IT BEFORE. I try to keep to a better work habit. Really, I do. Then this shit just ends up happening, and I end up somehow getting good grades and so I've never really learned. :(

I bet speedydesiato never has this problem. Sensible chap.

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I bet speedydesiato never has this problem. Sensible chap.

 

go back and look at his posts. whiney fucker

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Ugh. Haven't been able to get a job yet... paid my rent and student loans for this month, and realized I only have $30 left.

The worry is coming hard and strong now.

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I also don't object when my parents want to take her to church (as long as she's not forced to stay in there against her will, meaning she gets bored and is out there within ten minutes anyway).

 

I am pretty damn fearful of people trying to introduce religion to my daughter (she's 4). Being raised very religious I lived in massive fucking fear until I woke up one day and realized that I didn't actually believe any of it, but unfortunately I was already 18 by then so I was stuck with that being the defining characteristic of my childhood (especially since I went to church school most of my life). It all seemed innocent at the time but in hindsight I realize there were some pretty devious psychological tactics that believers used to scare me into conforming and forcing me to forgo any concept of logic. Not to mention some of the ridiculous stances the church takes on social issues which I also had to adopt.

 

I guess I worry that someone introducing religion to my daughter will undermine the way I am trying to raise her. I want her to have an open mind and question everything and I feel that the concept of faith is fundamentally at odds with that. But the biggest worry for me is definitely the fear aspect because that was the sole thing that kept me ensnared for so long. It was so terrifying to think of the consequences if I fucked up in life and didn't get into heaven.

 

I realize I am being overly paranoid and I apologize if what I'm saying offends anyone but damnit, I just felt compelled to say it.

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I like goofy smileys. Ones I frequently use:

 

OuO = happy

OnO = sad

QnQ = sad enough to cry

o u o = blissfully ignorant

3__3 = tired

UuU = tucked in

u_u = sleeping

x__x = out of it

♥u♥ = wuv

=u= = the Konata face

=n= = unhappy Konata face 

:0 = dull surprise

:0c = dull revelation (the c is like holding a hand up to your face or chin)

:U = aghast

:T = ambivalent

:Tc = thinking

:3c = nyoro~n

:I = poker face

:J = smuggy mcsmuggerson

 

:I

}:I

>:I

= gradual anger

 

:U

:I

:U

:I

:U

:I

= chewing

 

B   :J

 B  :J

  B :J

   B:J

    BJ

= deal with it

\\o

o//

\\o

o//

marek dance

 

\o/

_o_

\o/

_o_

we're not worthy

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I am pretty damn fearful of people trying to introduce religion to my daughter (she's 4). Being raised very religious I lived in massive fucking fear until I woke up one day and realized that I didn't actually believe any of it, but unfortunately I was already 18 by then so I was stuck with that being the defining characteristic of my childhood (especially since I went to church school most of my life). It all seemed innocent at the time but in hindsight I realize there were some pretty devious psychological tactics that believers used to scare me into conforming and forcing me to forgo any concept of logic. Not to mention some of the ridiculous stances the church takes on social issues which I also had to adopt.

 

I guess I worry that someone introducing religion to my daughter will undermine the way I am trying to raise her. I want her to have an open mind and question everything and I feel that the concept of faith is fundamentally at odds with that. But the biggest worry for me is definitely the fear aspect because that was the sole thing that kept me ensnared for so long. It was so terrifying to think of the consequences if I fucked up in life and didn't get into heaven.

 

I realize I am being overly paranoid and I apologize if what I'm saying offends anyone but damnit, I just felt compelled to say it.

Well see here's the thing: in the world we live in, children are always going to be introduced to religion one way or another. I'd rather that it happens in an environment that I deem safe, and at a rate where I can explain to her what people believe, and why I personally think it's not true. From the sound of it, this, nor the specific church my parents go to, really fits your situation.

 

I'm unsure I should even have used that particular example because it's such a hot-button issue, but then so is vegetarianism to a lot of meat-eaters.

 

I'm sorry to hear you had such an unpleasant experience. That sort of thing is why I'd prefer to do things gently. See it as an inoculation.

 

e: I love having this conversation sandwiched in between posts about smileys btw, it just makes it better somehow.

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Yeah, these forums are awesome like that.

 

Re-reading my post, I came off as a bit of a pretentious dick about my point of view but for whatever reason I was feeling a little passionate at the time. To be clear, I harbor no ill will towards nor do I judge anyone of faith. I have lived both sides of that coin and I would be a major hippocrate if I claimed that my current point of view is the "right" one. I have actually managed to have a lot of pleasant conversations with people of faith where I was able to fully express my opinion without offending them (partially because I think they respect that I have a deep knowledge of the Bible and am not just another atheist calling them crazy, just pointing out what I view as inconsistencies and impossibilities in the book). These conversations usually end in them making some pretty decent points and us agreeing to disagree and continuing on with our lives.

 

Sadly it is tricky as fuck to have these conversations without someone getting offended and I think that is simply due to the fact that our society is still deeply rooted in religion in some way or another. For instance, the general perception is that it is perfectly acceptable to hold up a sign saying you need to repent for your sins or accept Jesus into your life. On the other hand, if you held up a sign that says "Let go of religion and it will bring true happiness into your life", holy shit the reaction would be fucking crazy. Just like when the news reports on how us crazy atheists request that Christmas trees be taken off of government property because we want there to be true separation of church and state and for there not to be a societal bias toward any particular religion.

 

Long story short, I love everyone, even people I strongly disagree with. When I get to know someone I can't help but put myself in their shoes and try to make myself understand that they are people just like me who have had different life experiences and could very well have a better point of view than me. I mean, we all think we're right about most things but are probably wrong about at least half of those things.

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Yeah, these forums are awesome like that.

 

Re-reading my post, I came off as a bit of a pretentious dick about my point of view but for whatever reason I was feeling a little passionate at the time. To be clear, I harbor no ill will towards nor do I judge anyone of faith. I have lived both sides of that coin and I would be a major hippocrate if I claimed that my current point of view is the "right" one. I have actually managed to have a lot of pleasant conversations with people of faith where I was able to fully express my opinion without offending them (partially because I think they respect that I have a deep knowledge of the Bible and am not just another atheist calling them crazy, just pointing out what I view as inconsistencies and impossibilities in the book). These conversations usually end in them making some pretty decent points and us agreeing to disagree and continuing on with our lives.

 

Sadly it is tricky as fuck to have these conversations without someone getting offended and I think that is simply due to the fact that our society is still deeply rooted in religion in some way or another. For instance, the general perception is that it is perfectly acceptable to hold up a sign saying you need to repent for your sins or accept Jesus into your life. On the other hand, if you held up a sign that says "Let go of religion and it will bring true happiness into your life", holy shit the reaction would be fucking crazy. Just like when the news reports on how us crazy atheists request that Christmas trees be taken off of government property because we want there to be true separation of church and state and for there not to be a societal bias toward any particular religion.

 

Long story short, I love everyone, even people I strongly disagree with. When I get to know someone I can't help but put myself in their shoes and try to make myself understand that they are people just like me who have had different life experiences and could very well have a better point of view than me. I mean, we all think we're right about most things but are probably wrong about at least half of those things.

 

For the record, I don't think you came off as a dick. I had a pretty similar experience, although, luckily, I came to the realization pre-18. Probably around 14 or 15? Not that, at that age, I even knew what that would mean. Obviously, ten years later, I have a better idea.

 

When I told my mom I didn't believe (a couple years after I decided that I didn't, in fact, believe), goddamnit, she started crying. It was the worst. I wish I'd never told her. For a while, she lived in constant fear of me going to hell, hoping that I'd see the error of my ways. Or, at least, that's how I imagined it in my head. She talked to me about it, told me it was just a "phase" I'd get over. Ugh. A few months after my confession, she stopped trying to bring me back in. Now, she's very supportive of anything I do. She just doesn't talk about religion anymore. Which I appreciate. But I think there's still a part of her that is scared for me because I don't believe and that means I'm going to hell.

 

And it fucking sucks to know that, and not be able to do anything about it.

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That is a tough situation to be in. My point of view is that if there really is a God, I would still go to heaven because I am a good and moral person. The only difference is that I derive my morals from logic and what truly makes sense rather than what a book tells me and ironically I have found that I think I am actually a better Christian now than I was when I was a Christian.

 

I imagine you may be in a similar situation. Maybe there is a way to convey that to your mom. I basically told my mom that I believed that if God did exist he is a whole hell of a lot smarter than he is portrayed in the Bible and that I think the Bible was just an attempt by more primitive people to explain all the shit that went on around them and as a result ended up with some really weird things like sacrifice, and the malevolent version of God (with a lot of imperfect human attributes added) that exists in the old testament. I told her that if he is real, I believe I would be going to heaven because he would be smart enough to know that I lived my life justly and treated others as I would want to be treated. I mean, it would be pretty weird for a God to send me to hell because I refused to believe in him unconditionally without any proof even though I was a good person that followed more of his rules than his followers. Why create us with insatiable curiosity in the first place if we are supposed to take all of that on faith alone?

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When it comes to kids and religion is that I actually do wish that they were taught more about it, despite being an atheist myself. The big problem is that any time someone says "I think religion should be taught in schools," what they actually mean is "I think my religion should be taught in schools." Despite religion being a massive part of art, history, literature, culture, and international, politics; we don't make any effort to give kids objective lessons in it. Of course there are very good reasons for that, but I think it's something that we really ought to think about moving toward. I think that most people's preferred faith is based on what the rest of their community believes in rather than what they find actual truth or spiritual fulfillment in, because they always end up getting an extremely lopsided view of religion. If you asked your average North American how much they actually knew about Buddhism, or Islam, or Hinduism, or whatever; they're probably going to have little to no knowledge whatsoever, and what they do know is probably going to be inaccurate. And I'll bet that you seem the same pattern in most of the world. That's kind of a shame.

 

 

Incidentally, I read Osamu Tezuka's eight-volume graphic novel biography of Buddha a few years ago and I highly recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in this sort of thing. It's fictionalized to some extent (ie: there's at least one character invented solely for audience perspective), but it's absolutely fascinating.

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Tegan, absulutely agree with you. There are some very good life lessons that can be learned from religion that you won't typically see anywhere else and those have stuck with me. I truly hope in the near future that society can learn to be more tolerant and take an objective viewpoint on EVERYTHING. Seriously, if everyone took philosophy 101 and became aware of the prevalance of fallacies in so many aspects of our culture we could really start making some progress.

 

I think once the 'fear' aspect is removed from most religions (Buddhism is an excellent example of this) we might start to get to a place where kids can learn about it in school without risk of indoctrination.

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At this time it's not very feasible anyway because it's such a laden political choice for schools, but to be completely frank I don't think we need a dedicated religions class.  Cultures are heavily affected by religions especially the further back you go, but people would be learning about those cultures already in their respective classes (for example taking a spanish or mandarin class will include some of the culture as well), and the general education provided by history courses cover what's relevant.  There are theology courses available in colleges but I don't really know what that entails, if they're focusing on a single religion or not.

 

The reality is there are too many religions to go into depth in a general studies course, and for what you're trying to achieve I think a debate course would be more effective.  If students better learn to think critically that can be applied to a variety of subjects, this one included.

 

On an unrelated note I learned how to frown a couple days ago.  Haven't found occaision to whip it out yet but now I can if need be, though I'd need to practice more to make it not look like a comedic parody of a frown.

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My mom sent me a job posting for a graphic designer in town. I'm only familiar with some of the software they would need me to use though. Also, looking at it, the pay is good but there's not so many hours. Think I should apply anyway?

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The way I see it, you never regret applying for a job, only not applying. If you have the will and the time, go for it.

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Do it. If it's entry level they probably won't expect you to know all of the specific software they use.

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Holy shit. So I recently got into acting as a thing, and figured I'd try out for a couple plays this final term. I've just been cast in three, and I should really probably drop one but I don't know which and aaaargh.

(One of them is literally a three minute role so I don't have to worry too much.

Black adder II / Lord Flashheart

Gilbert is Dead / Bartholemew Meriwether

A Midsummer Night's Dream / Lysander)

I mean, before auditioning I was gagging for GiD, and somehow I got it. I wasn't too interested in MND, but the final recall was a bunch of fun - turns out I do actually still really love Shakespeare, and fuck I get to say The course of true love never did run smooth - so I really don't know what to do.

I could theoretically do all 3...

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Ah, but do you get to say "I've got a plan, and it's as HOT as my PANTS! Woof!" ?

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I do indeed. Blackadder is the known quantity, that's easy to blag. It's the other two I'm worried about! 

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If you ask me, Lysander is a solid role in the most straightforward of Shakespeare's comedies. You won't regret putting in the time. It's no Oberon, let alone Puck, but there's room to put your mark on it and to have some good ensemble play.

 

Then again, there are ten million productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream every month and I have no idea what Gilbert Is Dead is, so maybe the latter is an even bigger opportunity.

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Make sure to have a moustache that's coming off on one side.

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