There is no religious freedom anywhere !!

[Svartalf]

old joke is ready to die.

[tattuchu]

My parents pulled that shit with me and my response was the same. "Okay, then don't buy me presents. I don't care. Whatever. No one is forcing you to buy me presents. If you don't want to, don't." And yet they still did
My step-father was disappointed I was an atheist. "You can't join the Masons if you don't believe in a god," he said. Gosh, that broke my heart. Like I wanted to join a boring as fuck organization and prance around in a jewel-encrusted apron like a git, recite memorized bollocks from a stupid encoded handbook, secret handshakes, and do nothing more than sit around during the rest of the meetings drinking and telling dirty jokes with a bunch of pathetic washed up old farts

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"Christmas" is about merchandising. I pointed this out in a seventh grade essay and the teacher threatened to hold me back a grade.

[Seth]

My parents pulled that shit with me and my response was the same. "Okay, then don't buy me presents. I don't care. Whatever. No one is forcing you to buy me presents. If you don't want to, don't." And yet they still did
My step-father was disappointed I was an atheist. "You can't join the Masons if you don't believe in a god," he said. Gosh, that broke my heart. Like I wanted to join a boring as fuck organization and prance around in a jewel-encrusted apron like a git, recite memorized bollocks from a stupid encoded handbook, secret handshakes, and do nothing more than sit around during the rest of the meetings drinking and telling dirty jokes with a bunch of pathetic washed up old farts

Someday you will be a pathetic washed up old fart and you'll be lonesome for some company, but it'll be too late to get your mason's apron then.

Poor planning promotes piss-poor performance.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Perhaps you can give him some practical hints on how to deal with that time of life, from the first person viewpoint.

[mistermack]

I still think that to argue that people are free to believe what they like, once they are adults, is a false one.

Everyone knows that religion is DESIGNED to be addictive.
Feed someone cocaine or heroine for more than fifteen years, and then tell them that they are free to stop, is totally false and everybody knows it. That's why billions of people around the world follow the religion they were indoctrinated with as a child.

Most of the people on this site are the exceptions, so it's not to relevant to quote your own freedom to choose.

Most of my own family are theoretically free, but hooked.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I still think that to argue that people are free to believe what they like, once they are adults, is a false one.

MM, people change religions, including choosing no religion, all the time.

[Svartalf]

Well, even 22 years after I renounced chretinity as a bunch of absurdities piled on mistakes and/or falsehoods, I'm still not free from religion... the damn thing still haunts my very speech.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Well, even 22 years after I renounced chretinity as a bunch of absurdities piled on mistakes and/or falsehoods, I'm still not free from religion... the damn thing still haunts my very speech.

Svarty, I was NEVER religious, and I say "God damnit!", it's just a meaningless vocalization of frustration.

[mistermack]

I still think that to argue that people are free to believe what they like, once they are adults, is a false one.

MM, people change religions, including choosing no religion, all the time.

Yeh but, no but, yeh but,
they are the tiny exception.
Out of nearly seven billion, how many change?

And even the atheists go back to god on their death beds.
I know, a holy man told me, and they NEVER lie !!

[Svartalf]

Well, even 22 years after I renounced chretinity as a bunch of absurdities piled on mistakes and/or falsehoods, I'm still not free from religion... the damn thing still haunts my very speech.

Svarty, I was NEVER religious, and I say "God damnit!", it's just a meaningless vocalization of frustration.

Well, when I yell "Fuck!!!", it does express a deep desire for something nice to ally my own frustration.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I still think that to argue that people are free to believe what they like, once they are adults, is a false one.

MM, people change religions, including choosing no religion, all the time.

Yeh but, no but, yeh but,
they are the tiny exception.
Out of nearly seven billion, how many change?

And even the atheists go back to god on their death beds.
I know, a holy man told me, and they NEVER lie !!

Okay then.

[BrettA]

Countries that pride themselves on safeguarding religious freedom are just pushing a fiction.

Who really has had religious freedom in their lives? Not me.

Me, generally. My parents were both atheist and 3 of 4 grandparents - and the fourth wasn't really religious - just believed in God. Some crap in grade school like ineffective L's prayer, but not much more. You sound majorly pissed off but your questions/comments aren't representative of everyone, FWIW.

EDIT: Oh, and atheism wasn't pushed either... just when I started asking, their response was that their view was god is a creation of man, not that man is a creation of god.

Out of nearly seven billion, how many change?

And even the atheists go back to god on their death beds.
I know, a holy man told me, and they NEVER lie !!

I dunno where you're from, but haven't you detected a change in Europe? Esp. N. Europe? (Dunno the relevance of the last 2 - mebbe I shoulds read da hole thread...)

[mistermack]

All perfectly true, but you're one of the exceptions, and Northern Europe is very much the exception.
Go anywhere else, and the story is very different.

One place I did wonder about is China though. I haven't seen much info on religious views there, although the ruling commies are obviously very against it.

But I haven't seen much on what the people actually think or do.

Tibet is heavily superstitious I guess, but don't know anything about the majority.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

So we can ignore "no" and "anywhere"?