Have you ever lied about your religious beliefs for personal gain?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm atheist, but I've said I was Catholic at times when I felt it wouldn't be safe to say I'm not religious. I never say I'm atheist to anybody. The most I say is that "we're not religious." Too many crazy violent religious people around.

People like you are the reason I hide the fact that I even go to church.

+1. I don't hide the fact that I go to church, but I don't bring it up because of bigotted reactions like that of top PP. I don't know who the rest of you are hanging out with, or maybe you all live outside the DMV area. In my case, nobody at my DC office asks and I don't volunteer.

The poster who is bullying everybody else to fly the atheist flag is just as bad as any fundie proselytizer.

I'm the PP who wrote the above. We have lived this. My child was both repeatedly excluded and physically hurt by some religious children after they found out we aren't religious. Now I teach my kids to be extremely careful about when they say anything about lack of belief in god. I've also told them that it's okay to say you believe in god if that's what you need to do to keep yourself safe. (My child got away from the bullies by shouting "Okay! I believe in God!" several times and they finally stopped.) Myself, I never say anything about my atheism. Safety is more important. My kids haven't been physically hurt since we started warning them to be careful. I'm sorry it's necessary but safety is a bigger priority than educating other people.

If this is what you mean by "flying the atheist flag," even though we never actually say anything about atheism to anybody in real life and explain to the kids that they have to be respectful of people's religious beliefs while at the same time saying that keeping safe means not talking about being atheist, okay then. I cop to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I am Catholic but I sometimes pretend to be jewish when I am buying at a jewish business, throwing in yiddish phrases etc. Plus my surname can pass either way.

Do you think Jews transact with one another on more favorable terms?

Of course they do. I don't blame them.

How? I am jewish and never noticed this.

[Anonymous]

It's about how you talk about your atheism or your religion.

If you're disrespectful or you proselytize (and DCUM has atheist proselytizers and childish atheists who disrupt every religion thread), then it's no surprise you're going to provoke a reaction.

If you--a religious or atheist adult--sneer at the non-believer or religious person, then you get the same back to you. If your kids are going around telling the other kids that God is a sky-fairy and sneering about FSMs ... then yeah, they're going to get the same in return.

But then you can't claim victimhood. Sorry, you're not as clever as you think: we all see how that works, and a provocateur is not a "victim" of bullying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's about how you talk about your atheism or your religion.

If you're disrespectful or you proselytize (and DCUM has atheist proselytizers and childish atheists who disrupt every religion thread), then it's no surprise you're going to provoke a reaction.

If you--a religious or atheist adult--sneer at the non-believer or religious person, then you get the same back to you. If your kids are going around telling the other kids that God is a sky-fairy and sneering about FSMs ... then yeah, they're going to get the same in return.

But then you can't claim victimhood. Sorry, you're not as clever as you think: we all see how that works, and a provocateur is not a "victim" of bullying.

PP here again. I do need to add that if you tell someone they are going to hell because they haven't accepted Jesus as their savior or you haven't submitted to Allah and abandoned your polytheism, then you deserve what you get, too. And you don't get to fly the "bullying victim" flag either.

I just despair about the dialogue and lack of mutual respect. FWIW, some of you DCUM atheists are worse than any southern fundie, I've ever met, I have no doubt you're teaching your kids to be equally disruptive of mutual respect and dialogue, and I don't have a lot of sympathy.

[Anonymous]

When strangers invite me to their church, like when I'm waiting at a bus stop, I just say "I'm very happy with my current church family, but thank you for the offer."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I am Catholic but I sometimes pretend to be jewish when I am buying at a jewish business, throwing in yiddish phrases etc. Plus my surname can pass either way.

Do you think Jews transact with one another on more favorable terms?

Of course they do. I don't blame them.

How? I am jewish and never noticed this.

Really- probably because you are jewish. Go buy jewelry as a goyim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's about how you talk about your atheism or your religion.

If you're disrespectful or you proselytize (and DCUM has atheist proselytizers and childish atheists who disrupt every religion thread), then it's no surprise you're going to provoke a reaction.

If you--a religious or atheist adult--sneer at the non-believer or religious person, then you get the same back to you. If your kids are going around telling the other kids that God is a sky-fairy and sneering about FSMs ... then yeah, they're going to get the same in return.

But then you can't claim victimhood. Sorry, you're not as clever as you think: we all see how that works, and a provocateur is not a "victim" of bullying.

Um, I'm PP above. My child who was bullied -- and this was corroborated by kids who observed the start the incident and later by their parents who came and talked to me about it -- said absolutely nothing about how god doesn't exist. The incident started because a couple of kids from some religious families were going around asking kids if they believed in god. When they got to my child, the answer was a truthful, "No, I don't."

I'm just fascinated by the way you think. You are so determined to believe that you, a member of a significant majority, are persecuted based on that majority belief, that you make up and add on facts until it can fit your world view. Here are the unvarnished facts: This is a thread about lying about religious beliefs for personal gain. In my case, based on what what we, in my family, have experienced, I tell my kids it is okay to lie about being atheist to keep safe. I have never used the term sky-fairy in my life, or FSM. Almost nobody in real life even knows I am an atheist. In my family, we have direct experience with unprovoked religious violence based on lack of belief in god. I am not sure how sharing these facts in the context of this thread -- lying so as to stay safe, which I would consider personal gain -- counts as "disruption." Sorry if that messes with your persecution complex.

[Anonymous]

I'm half Jewish/half Christian, don't identify strongly with either, and will use either of those as needed for work or even socially. If being Jewish is an advantage I will use it. If the people I am dealing with make anti semitic comments, which happens a surprising amount in parts of the country, I won't fess up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's about how you talk about your atheism or your religion.

If you're disrespectful or you proselytize (and DCUM has atheist proselytizers and childish atheists who disrupt every religion thread), then it's no surprise you're going to provoke a reaction.

If you--a religious or atheist adult--sneer at the non-believer or religious person, then you get the same back to you. If your kids are going around telling the other kids that God is a sky-fairy and sneering about FSMs ... then yeah, they're going to get the same in return.

But then you can't claim victimhood. Sorry, you're not as clever as you think: we all see how that works, and a provocateur is not a "victim" of bullying.

Um, I'm PP above. My child who was bullied -- and this was corroborated by kids who observed the start the incident and later by their parents who came and talked to me about it -- said absolutely nothing about how god doesn't exist. The incident started because a couple of kids from some religious families were going around asking kids if they believed in god. When they got to my child, the answer was a truthful, "No, I don't."

I'm just fascinated by the way you think. You are so determined to believe that you, a member of a significant majority, are persecuted based on that majority belief, that you make up and add on facts until it can fit your world view. Here are the unvarnished facts: This is a thread about lying about religious beliefs for personal gain. In my case, based on what what we, in my family, have experienced, I tell my kids it is okay to lie about being atheist to keep safe. I have never used the term sky-fairy in my life, or FSM. Almost nobody in real life even knows I am an atheist. In my family, we have direct experience with unprovoked religious violence based on lack of belief in god. I am not sure how sharing these facts in the context of this thread -- lying so as to stay safe, which I would consider personal gain -- counts as "disruption." Sorry if that messes with your persecution complex.

Cultural Christians might be a majority, but believing Christians are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know someone who has essentially started her own religion in order to make her feel better about the fact she cites a religious objection on school forms to getting her child vaccinated. I'm horrified.

PP here. Just clarifying that this person does not vaccinate and claims a religious exemption. She felt guilty and gathered a bunch of anti-vaxxers to start a church.

They await the second coming. The second coming of smallpox.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's about how you talk about your atheism or your religion.

If you're disrespectful or you proselytize (and DCUM has atheist proselytizers and childish atheists who disrupt every religion thread), then it's no surprise you're going to provoke a reaction.

If you--a religious or atheist adult--sneer at the non-believer or religious person, then you get the same back to you. If your kids are going around telling the other kids that God is a sky-fairy and sneering about FSMs ... then yeah, they're going to get the same in return.

But then you can't claim victimhood. Sorry, you're not as clever as you think: we all see how that works, and a provocateur is not a "victim" of bullying.

Um, I'm PP above. My child who was bullied -- and this was corroborated by kids who observed the start the incident and later by their parents who came and talked to me about it -- said absolutely nothing about how god doesn't exist. The incident started because a couple of kids from some religious families were going around asking kids if they believed in god. When they got to my child, the answer was a truthful, "No, I don't."

I'm just fascinated by the way you think. You are so determined to believe that you, a member of a significant majority, are persecuted based on that majority belief, that you make up and add on facts until it can fit your world view. Here are the unvarnished facts: This is a thread about lying about religious beliefs for personal gain. In my case, based on what what we, in my family, have experienced, I tell my kids it is okay to lie about being atheist to keep safe. I have never used the term sky-fairy in my life, or FSM. Almost nobody in real life even knows I am an atheist. In my family, we have direct experience with unprovoked religious violence based on lack of belief in god. I am not sure how sharing these facts in the context of this thread -- lying so as to stay safe, which I would consider personal gain -- counts as "disruption." Sorry if that messes with your persecution complex.

After this situation, I can see how you would focus on protecting your children instead of being out atheists (just as "out" as any Christians) but I sure hope this still isn't happening in the next generation.

[Anonymous]

I'm PP. I hope not either. I really hope that my grandkids will not have to pretend they're religious to keep safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've also taught my kids to say "I'm not religious," and to avoid any discussion of religion. One kid made the mistake of telling some classmates that she didn't believe in God and got bullied for it. It's just not safe to say you're atheist, unfortunately.

I'm a teacher and I see this a lot. At my school, it usually comes from the Modern Orthodox students toward the culturally Jewish atheist students.

[Anonymous]

I had to claim to "convert" to Islam to get an Islamic marriage certificate & Iranian citizenship. So I could travel in Iran and be recognized as a wife and mother of my children.

[Anonymous]

Do Gentiles pay more for things?