Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just to give an idea of what I deal with on a daily basis on social media - and not just her, it's EVERYONE. I can't just unfriend all of them because then I'd have no list of friends/family. Every single person I know irl is religious. Some worse than others of course, but my cousin takes the cake.
Here are some of the things she has said on fb - I wanted to get some feedback as to how I can communicate with her and tell her to stop saying "praise god" and "thank you jesus" all the time so I can stand to be around her. I don't know, maybe it's a lost cause.
1. "Who said god was invisible? I see him everywhere." (ok, mildly delusional)
2. "The more you read the bible, the more you fall in love with the author. Someone say amen!" (Of course she means god is the author, oblivious to the fact that there were multiple -all men- authors)
3. "Heaven has a wall, a gate and a strict immigration policy. Hell has open borders, let that sink in." (I'm assuming she thought this was clever)
4. "One day all will stand before god, it's not too late while we are still here to pray and teach our children about Jesus!!!!" (I got nothing)
5. "If you live for jesus that means everything has to change!! You walk talk see hear feel different." (jesus makes you walk funny?)
6. "God just didn't say come out of the world just to be saying something, he meant for us to really do it." (and where exactly would we go? Mars?)
And these are the piece de resistance, it's why I started this thread.
7. "God opened my eyes to Halloween please hear him, he does not want you to celebrate that day." (wait, it gets better)
8. "Halloween is a sacred holiday for the Wiccans (religion of witchcraft) no one, especially christians, should celebrate this." (I've cleaned up her grammar, it's awful)
9. "Halloween glorifies satan and death, not god. Even dressing the kids up in harmless characters like an an angel or a puppy is still sending them mixed signals to participate in celebrating evil."
What do I say? What should I do? We used to be so close, even roomed together twice. Is it pointless?
I'd say it's pointless. You can pity her or find her mildly amusing, but unless you're a jesus freak, you're just not going to relate as close friends.
Just to give an idea of what I deal with on a daily basis on social media - and not just her, it's EVERYONE. I can't just unfriend all of them because then I'd have no list of friends/family. Every single person I know irl is religious. Some worse than others of course, but my cousin takes the cake.
Here are some of the things she has said on fb - I wanted to get some feedback as to how I can communicate with her and tell her to stop saying "praise god" and "thank you jesus" all the time so I can stand to be around her. I don't know, maybe it's a lost cause.
1. "Who said god was invisible? I see him everywhere." (ok, mildly delusional)
2. "The more you read the bible, the more you fall in love with the author. Someone say amen!" (Of course she means god is the author, oblivious to the fact that there were multiple -all men- authors)
3. "Heaven has a wall, a gate and a strict immigration policy. Hell has open borders, let that sink in." (I'm assuming she thought this was clever)
4. "One day all will stand before god, it's not too late while we are still here to pray and teach our children about Jesus!!!!" (I got nothing)
5. "If you live for jesus that means everything has to change!! You walk talk see hear feel different." (jesus makes you walk funny?)
6. "God just didn't say come out of the world just to be saying something, he meant for us to really do it." (and where exactly would we go? Mars?)
And these are the piece de resistance, it's why I started this thread.
7. "God opened my eyes to Halloween please hear him, he does not want you to celebrate that day." (wait, it gets better)
8. "Halloween is a sacred holiday for the Wiccans (religion of witchcraft) no one, especially christians, should celebrate this." (I've cleaned up her grammar, it's awful)
9. "Halloween glorifies satan and death, not god. Even dressing the kids up in harmless characters like an an angel or a puppy is still sending them mixed signals to participate in celebrating evil."
What do I say? What should I do? We used to be so close, even roomed together twice. Is it pointless?
What can you say other than she is entitled to believe whatever she likes, but they just sound like faith -claims which you once believed, (or some of them) but you reasoned your way out of them. Perhaps she will, too.
"No, I will never change my beliefs."
"That's just what I said."
But of course, I'm not the one who has to say that to her face
Yeah, I agree with Hollytree, its a lost cause. However, keeping peacefully and confidently within yourself, free of frustrations with this lost cause, you can maintain a relationship with your cousin, with the limitations imposed solely by her religion, by being friendly, kind and compassionate to her. Let her responses to your humble kindness, speak for themselves.
Maybe if you consider it a form of mental illness, it would slide over your psyche a little more easily. When/if one of my FB friends makes a post to which I cannot relate, I simply don't respond to it.
I agree with those who say it's best to just let them talk and ignore it.
I have a childhood friend who became a born-again 20 years or so ago. She lives on the other side of the country, so I don't see her much, but we have the occasional phone call and I've seen her when she has come to my state to visit her sister. She has calmed down somewhat from her early days of saying "Praise the Lord!" after every sentence, but she still is part of that world and thinks like a fundamentalist.
I either don't respond or respond with an "uh-huh", or change the subject as if something just occurred to me. "Hey, did you hear that so-and-so moved to Tennessee....?"
7. "God opened my eyes to Halloween please hear him, he does not want you to celebrate that day." (wait, it gets better)
8. "Halloween is a sacred holiday for the Wiccans (religion of witchcraft) no one, especially christians, should celebrate this." (I've cleaned up her grammar, it's awful)
9. "Halloween glorifies satan and death, not god. Even dressing the kids up in harmless characters like an an angel or a puppy is still sending them mixed signals to participate in celebrating evil."
October 31st is celebrated by the Catholics as the "Eve of all hallows", which is the night before November 1st, which is All Saints Day. Eve of all hallows was shortened into Halloween, but it began as a religious day of remembrance of all saints. All the trick or treat, ghosts and witch stuff developed separately within the secular portions of Christian societies. Tell your friend that she need not shun Halloween, merely celebrate its original purpose and ignore all the stuff which has nothing to do with it.
See what sort of reaction that gets, I bet it doesn't change her mind any. Better would be to talk her into making an attempt to reverse the secular takeover. For example, when trick or treaters come to her door, instead of handing out candy, she issues each visitor with a holy card or some sort of prayer tract. Then she will get an education in what the "trick" part of trick or treat means.
Maybe if you consider it a form of mental illness, it would slide over your psyche a little more easily. When/if one of my FB friends makes a post to which I cannot relate, I simply don't respond to it.
No. When it's this extensive, tell her what she's full of. If you've got to listen to that kind of crap, don't stand for it.
Except for avoiding her altogether there is nothing you can do. Her outward religion isn't for you, it's for her own sense of superiority and attention.
I hate people like that. And that trait isn't exclusive to religion.
October 31st is celebrated by the Catholics as the "Eve of all hallows", which is the night before November 1st, which is All Saints Day. Eve of all hallows was shortened into Halloween, but it began as a religious day of remembrance of all saints. All the trick or treat, ghosts and witch stuff developed separately within the secular portions of Christian societies. Tell your friend that she need not shun Halloween, merely celebrate its original purpose and ignore all the stuff which has nothing to do with it.
See what sort of reaction that gets, I bet it doesn't change her mind any. Better would be to talk her into making an attempt to reverse the secular takeover. For example, when trick or treaters come to her door, instead of handing out candy, she issues each visitor with a holy card or some sort of prayer tract. Then she will get an education in what the "trick" part of trick or treat means.
I suspect that the fact that Hallowe'en is Wicked is probably going to be partly accredited to the Dark and misled (by Satan) Catholic church anyway.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
