How do you deal with people who hate people of your religion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I would get her a book about religions. She will hate it, but you will look like a heroine for teaching her something. If she throws it away, just ask her about it every time she says something negative. People can't get away with racist stuff anymore. So religious hatred shouldn't be any different.

What a stupid little game to play.

Are you kidding me? lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm Jewish, DH is an atheist, and DS is Jewish. We went to our neighbors' house for dinner the other night. They're very proud Christians, who hold bible study in their home once a month. They know we're not Christian.

The wife asked if we minded if she said a blessing over dinner before we ate, and we...

...said no, of course not. Including DH, who is outspoken (to people who agree with him) in his belief that religion is stupid. We all bowed our heads, she said a lovely thank you prayer, and we started to eat. When DS asked why we put our heads down, we explained that she was giving thanks and that we wanted to focus on her words, and not be distracted by anything else.

I'll admit, I was a little worried that there would be conversion talk. But there was nothing of the sort, and we had an awesome time.

Because contrary to what DCUM says, Christians aren't all out to convert you.

and atheists and non-Christians can be very accepting of people's religion as long as they are not being proselytized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm Jewish, DH is an atheist, and DS is Jewish. We went to our neighbors' house for dinner the other night. They're very proud Christians, who hold bible study in their home once a month. They know we're not Christian.

The wife asked if we minded if she said a blessing over dinner before we ate, and we...

...said no, of course not. Including DH, who is outspoken (to people who agree with him) in his belief that religion is stupid. We all bowed our heads, she said a lovely thank you prayer, and we started to eat. When DS asked why we put our heads down, we explained that she was giving thanks and that we wanted to focus on her words, and not be distracted by anything else.

I'll admit, I was a little worried that there would be conversion talk. But there was nothing of the sort, and we had an awesome time.

Because contrary to what DCUM says, Christians aren't all out to convert you.

and atheists and non-Christians can be very accepting of people's religion as long as they are not being proselytized.

Again, stop assuming. Proselytizing was not mentioned here until the atheists brought it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've LITERALLY never met any. Or if I have, I haven't known they hate Jewish people. I've met people who are ignorant about Judaism (do you celebrate Thanksgiving?), but nobody who hates my tribe.

OP here. SIL is a pagan, and feels that any kind of "organized religion" is beneath her. Also, as another PP pointed out, anti-semitism is frowned upon. I know it's out there, but people hide it really well - except SIL, of course, because how could they be silly and uneducated enough to believe in God?

Wow, you'd think that someone who is in a religious minority like that would be more sensitive to the feelings of others. Your SIL is just an asshole. Not sure what you should do but you know that the problem is not you, it's her immature, self-centered attitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. What's wrong with simply arriving at the table after the blessing is said? That's what I'd do - and I am of a slightly different religion than IL's, so some things they say I internally shake my head over, but I would NEVER say something about it.

Also, there's a big difference between posting about your own faith on FB and constantly criticizing another one (I personally don't do either). Just so we're clear, her posts aren't the "thank the goddess for this beautiful day" kind, they're the "fucking dumbass <insert faith here> are assholes" kind of posts.

Here's what I think - when people treat other people like that, they are themselves hurting and are probably pretty nasty to themselves as well. Your SIL is a hurting unit and she's angry and she's taking out her own unhappiness on other people because she doesn't seem to know how to fix it on her own. And of course it's not working - it just drives people away.

But you can't fix her or change her. If you want to say something to her, do it because it will make you feel better that you took that step. You can also take steps to avoid being exposed to her negativity. Do what you need to do to take care of yourself and your family but accept that she is a lost cause. I think I can hear you holding out hope that you can do something to make her see things differently. If so, it might help to meditate on the serenity prayer when this happens:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, the religious privilege is annoying. You can go to someone else's house and make everyone sit in silence while you declare the existence and mercy of god. But if someone else says god isn't real while you listen to it, they are rude? You are in the wrong.

The bold part is where you're confused. OP's problem concerns an atheist/pagan/whatever visiting a religious family. Not the other way around.

Props for your endless attempts to twist things to fit your needs. Too bad you're nowhere near as clever as you think you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, the religious privilege is annoying. You can go to someone else's house and make everyone sit in silence while you declare the existence and mercy of god. But if someone else says god isn't real while you listen to it, they are rude? You are in the wrong.

The bold part is where you're confused. OP's problem concerns an atheist/pagan/whatever visiting a religious family. Not the other way around.

Yes, and the part where you are confused is that it's not happening at the OP's house either - it's not really her place to be offended. The people who own the house have chosen to roll their eyes and look the other way.

[Anonymous]

The world has contemp for God. The world hates Jews and Christians since they love the true God. Christians should take it as a compliment.

Jesus explained it very clearly.

"When the world hates you, remember it hated me before it hated you. The world would love you if you belonged to it , but you don't . I chose you to come out of the world and so it hates you. The people of the worlds will hate you because you belong to me, for they don't know God who sent me. They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Light came into the world but they rejected the light , preferring the darkness of their evil ways."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The world has contemp for God. The world hates Jews and Christians since they love the true God. Christians should take it as a compliment.

Jesus explained it very clearly.

"When the world hates you, remember it hated me before it hated you. The world would love you if you belonged to it , but you don't . I chose you to come out of the world and so it hates you. The people of the worlds will hate you because you belong to me, for they don't know God who sent me. They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Light came into the world but they rejected the light , preferring the darkness of their evil ways."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The world has contemp for God. The world hates Jews and Christians since they love the true God. Christians should take it as a compliment.

Jesus explained it very clearly.

"When the world hates you, remember it hated me before it hated you. The world would love you if you belonged to it , but you don't . I chose you to come out of the world and so it hates you. The people of the worlds will hate you because you belong to me, for they don't know God who sent me. They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Light came into the world but they rejected the light , preferring the darkness of their evil ways."

The world appears upset!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, the religious privilege is annoying. You can go to someone else's house and make everyone sit in silence while you declare the existence and mercy of god. But if someone else says god isn't real while you listen to it, they are rude? You are in the wrong.

The bold part is where you're confused. OP's problem concerns an atheist/pagan/whatever visiting a religious family. Not the other way around.

Yes, and the part where you are confused is that it's not happening at the OP's house either - it's not really her place to be offended. The people who own the house have chosen to roll their eyes and look the other way.

OP can't be offended because it didn't' happen at her house? Do you actually read what you post? Yes, you can be offended when people attack you, wherever it happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, the religious privilege is annoying. You can go to someone else's house and make everyone sit in silence while you declare the existence and mercy of god. But if someone else says god isn't real while you listen to it, they are rude? You are in the wrong.

The bold part is where you're confused. OP's problem concerns an atheist/pagan/whatever visiting a religious family. Not the other way around.

Yes, and the part where you are confused is that it's not happening at the OP's house either - it's not really her place to be offended. The people who own the house have chosen to roll their eyes and look the other way.

OP can't be offended because it didn't' happen at her house? Do you actually read what you post? Yes, you can be offended when people attack you, wherever it happens.

The OP wasn't attacked - all the SIL did was tell her kids out loud (kind of like the out loud prayer asserting God existed) that God was imaginary. Pretty strong faith the OP has there that she finds this so threatening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, the religious privilege is annoying. You can go to someone else's house and make everyone sit in silence while you declare the existence and mercy of god. But if someone else says god isn't real while you listen to it, they are rude? You are in the wrong.

The bold part is where you're confused. OP's problem concerns an atheist/pagan/whatever visiting a religious family. Not the other way around.

Yes, and the part where you are confused is that it's not happening at the OP's house either - it's not really her place to be offended. The people who own the house have chosen to roll their eyes and look the other way.

OP can't be offended because it didn't' happen at her house? Do you actually read what you post? Yes, you can be offended when people attack you, wherever it happens.

The OP wasn't attacked - all the SIL did was tell her kids out loud (kind of like the out loud prayer asserting God existed) that God was imaginary. Pretty strong faith the OP has there that she finds this so threatening.

I'm personally offended by rude behavior. You must be a ton of fun to take out in public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The OP wasn't attacked - all the SIL did was tell her kids out loud (kind of like the out loud prayer asserting God existed) that God was imaginary. Pretty strong faith the OP has there that she finds this so threatening.

I'm personally offended by rude behavior. You must be a ton of fun to take out in public.

I'm actually quite pleasant in public - because I'm not constantly getting upset and offended by boorish people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The OP wasn't attacked - all the SIL did was tell her kids out loud (kind of like the out loud prayer asserting God existed) that God was imaginary. Pretty strong faith the OP has there that she finds this so threatening.

I'm personally offended by rude behavior. You must be a ton of fun to take out in public.

I'm actually quite pleasant in public - because I'm not constantly getting upset and offended by boorish people.

LOL - I know your type. You think you can say whatever you want. Disgusting, really.