Why are Religious people so fucking thoughtless? (Warning: Personal Rant!)
Some background, in the space of 4 months or so, I lost an Aunt(in October), the only Grandma I ever knew(December-buried in January), and my Mom(died January 18th). Now, I can't and won't say anything bad about the Deacon who presided over all 3 of their services, he was awesome, and his insertion of religion was expected. No, not him, not even the rest of the family, many are at least nominally Catholic(as were the ones who died), most cousins are Atheists of some sort or another, but its every fucking body else who is religious that bugs the fuck out of me.
Protip, if you start a conversation(and I'm repeating it verbatim) with "I know your an Atheist but what I believe...", just fucking stop, right there, my regard for you just plummeted to the floor, it couldn't go any lower without you digging a fucking hole, so just stop. I know, intellectually, that for many religious people, even those who know I'm an atheist(as the person who said the above knows), that saying my Mom, Grandma and Aunt are in a better place, etc. They think they are trying to comfort me, but it also seems to me that they are using those deaths to try to insert their beliefs into a time and place that it doesn't belong and isn't welcome, in a show of smug superiority. You know what, my Mom knew I was an atheist and she loved me and respected my beliefs, the LEAST I could expect from supposed friends and coworkers is at least that much consideration.
This is a classic example of Hitchen's idea that religion poisons EVERYTHING, and I do mean everything, even grief.
Part of what triggered this rant is that we are going to visit my fiancee's very religiously Catholic grandparents later today, and I really have to steel myself for their religious posturing. I can tolerate the whole "I'm sorry for your loss, is there anything I can do to help." as long as it ends there. I swear, if I hear another "I'll pray for you" from someone who knows better, I'll want to punch them in their fucking face. Frankly I think I'll respond with "No thank you, your God did quite enough."
At this point I'm teetering on the edge of theism, thinking a God exists, and I absolutely hate the fucker and want to drive an iron spike through his throat.
Oh, and the kicker? You'll love this, I promise, my Birthday was January 31, happy fucking birthday to me, right?
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