Uncomfortable religious situations you were forced into

[Anonymous]

I was the only non-Jew in a book club. Most of the women were lovely and I looked forward to the club each month. There was lots of talk about holidays and Jewish summer camps and so on, but I found it interesting. One woman, the only one who kept kosher, was fairly hostile and clearly wanted me out. She got her wish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Which part of "why did her mother send her over there for three days in the first place" is such an alien language to such militant anti-religious people?

This is hysterical.

Having someone's kid in your house does not give you the right to force your religion on them, period. A mom should be able to trust a family friend to watch her kid for a few days without having to explicitly say, "Don't try to force your religion on my kid, please. These are basic rules of polite society, like keeping a roll of toilet paper in the bathroom, or washing your hands before a meal, or remembering to do your laundry.

If you are a Christian family who is doing a favor by hosting a non-Christian kid, and if the kid looks like he's able to be at home alone for 2 hours a day (like the PP, a teenager, was clearly capable of) then give him a cheery good morning on Sunday, show him where the cereal is, tell him not to open the door for strangers, and whisk your Christian family off to church. Your guest can stay at home.

Because that is a basic expectation of polite, secular society. You're welcome.

Tagging along to church twice is not forcing religion on them, lol. I'm not even religious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the (former) Baha'i from upthread. The community in my Bible Belt hometown was small, and we didn't have a place to worship; we just took turns hosting services in our houses.

As a service to other Baha'is who might be new to town or traveling, there was a listing in the phone book (pre-internet) with my parents' names and phone number. Periodically, people would call or come to our house to try to convert us and save us from damnation. Fun times.

A few people even asked me - completely serious as far as I could tell - if the Baha'i faith was some kind of devil worship.

Shocking that I don't live there anymore.

I'm so sorry you went through that. I know some people who are Baha'i and I think the faith is wonderful. I've also seen the Baha'i Lotus Temple in India, it's one of the most beautiful temples I've ever seen!

Thanks. It was uncomfortable at the time, but it was a long time ago. And really, no one acted out of malice. The people trying to convert us really thought they were doing a good thing.

We eventually moved to a different city, which was a much better place and is still the place I think of as home. We weren't so religiously unusual there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Which part of "why did her mother send her over there for three days in the first place" is such an alien language to such militant anti-religious people?

This is hysterical.

Having someone's kid in your house does not give you the right to force your religion on them, period. A mom should be able to trust a family friend to watch her kid for a few days without having to explicitly say, "Don't try to force your religion on my kid, please. These are basic rules of polite society, like keeping a roll of toilet paper in the bathroom, or washing your hands before a meal, or remembering to do your laundry.

If you are a Christian family who is doing a favor by hosting a non-Christian kid, and if the kid looks like he's able to be at home alone for 2 hours a day (like the PP, a teenager, was clearly capable of) then give him a cheery good morning on Sunday, show him where the cereal is, tell him not to open the door for strangers, and whisk your Christian family off to church. Your guest can stay at home.

Because that is a basic expectation of polite, secular society. You're welcome.

Tagging along to church twice is not forcing religion on them, lol. I'm not even religious.

+1. The level of hysteria here from people who were taken outside their normal routines is, well, sort of hysterical. Especially the nurse who chose to work for a religious hospital and is surprised about the prayer.

Some of these stories are shocking. I agree completely.

But some of you are big babies playing victim. Grow up, you people. It's a big world out there, and you can't expect everybody to be just like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Which part of "why did her mother send her over there for three days in the first place" is such an alien language to such militant anti-religious people?

This is hysterical.

Having someone's kid in your house does not give you the right to force your religion on them, period. A mom should be able to trust a family friend to watch her kid for a few days without having to explicitly say, "Don't try to force your religion on my kid, please. These are basic rules of polite society, like keeping a roll of toilet paper in the bathroom, or washing your hands before a meal, or remembering to do your laundry.

If you are a Christian family who is doing a favor by hosting a non-Christian kid, and if the kid looks like he's able to be at home alone for 2 hours a day (like the PP, a teenager, was clearly capable of) then give him a cheery good morning on Sunday, show him where the cereal is, tell him not to open the door for strangers, and whisk your Christian family off to church. Your guest can stay at home.

Because that is a basic expectation of polite, secular society. You're welcome.

Tagging along to church twice is not forcing religion on them, lol. I'm not even religious.

+1. The level of hysteria here from people who were taken outside their normal routines is, well, sort of hysterical. Especially the nurse who chose to work for a religious hospital and is surprised about the prayer.

Some of these stories are shocking. I agree completely.

But some of you are big babies playing victim. Grow up, you people. It's a big world out there, and you can't expect everybody to be just like you.

Taking a teenager you are watching for a few days to church with you is one thing. Making teenager actively participate In and talk about what they learned in a bible study that contradicts their own beliefs is clearly another. Then after OP said to said family that she was uncomfortable they took her again. I think you are thinking about this from an adult perspective. As an adult if I feel uncomfortable in a situation like that I can simply leave without any real problems. In this particular situation I can see how that would be difficult for the OP-because causing too much problem would have more than likely made the subsequent time with the family extremely awkward. Someone mentioned waiting outside. Well let's talk about that. What if the family got offended and acted rudely to her for the rest of the time? Maybe you should remember what it's like to be a teenager and look at the situation through those eyes. How is it ok that the host family gets to push all their beliefs on the OP but then when she stated she was uncomfortable her beliefs don't matter just because she is staying with them? No, everyone doesn't have the same beliefs-true and both parties should have been respected.

[Anonymous]

Taking a teenager you are watching for a few days to church with you is one thing. Making teenager actively participate In and talk about what they learned in a bible study that contradicts their own beliefs is clearly another. Then after OP said to said family that she was uncomfortable they took her again. I think you are thinking about this from an adult perspective. As an adult if I feel uncomfortable in a situation like that I can simply leave without any real problems. In this particular situation I can see how that would be difficult for the OP-because causing too much problem would have more than likely made the subsequent time with the family extremely awkward. Someone mentioned waiting outside. Well let's talk about that. What if the family got offended and acted rudely to her for the rest of the time? Maybe you should remember what it's like to be a teenager and look at the situation through those eyes. How is it ok that the host family gets to push all their beliefs on the OP but then when she stated she was uncomfortable her beliefs don't matter just because she is staying with them? No, everyone doesn't have the same beliefs-true and both parties should have been respected.

You might be the only person with competent reading comprehension and a working brain in this discussion. I can't believe it took 7 pages for someone to explain why the OP's situation was legitimately uncomfortable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Which part of "why did her mother send her over there for three days in the first place" is such an alien language to such militant anti-religious people?

This is hysterical.

Having someone's kid in your house does not give you the right to force your religion on them, period. A mom should be able to trust a family friend to watch her kid for a few days without having to explicitly say, "Don't try to force your religion on my kid, please. These are basic rules of polite society, like keeping a roll of toilet paper in the bathroom, or washing your hands before a meal, or remembering to do your laundry.

If you are a Christian family who is doing a favor by hosting a non-Christian kid, and if the kid looks like he's able to be at home alone for 2 hours a day (like the PP, a teenager, was clearly capable of) then give him a cheery good morning on Sunday, show him where the cereal is, tell him not to open the door for strangers, and whisk your Christian family off to church. Your guest can stay at home.

Because that is a basic expectation of polite, secular society. You're welcome.

Tagging along to church twice is not forcing religion on them, lol. I'm not even religious.

+1. The level of hysteria here from people who were taken outside their normal routines is, well, sort of hysterical. Especially the nurse who chose to work for a religious hospital and is surprised about the prayer.

Some of these stories are shocking. I agree completely.

But some of you are big babies playing victim. Grow up, you people. It's a big world out there, and you can't expect everybody to be just like you.

Taking a teenager you are watching for a few days to church with you is one thing. Making teenager actively participate In and talk about what they learned in a bible study that contradicts their own beliefs is clearly another. Then after OP said to said family that she was uncomfortable they took her again. I think you are thinking about this from an adult perspective. As an adult if I feel uncomfortable in a situation like that I can simply leave without any real problems. In this particular situation I can see how that would be difficult for the OP-because causing too much problem would have more than likely made the subsequent time with the family extremely awkward. Someone mentioned waiting outside. Well let's talk about that. What if the family got offended and acted rudely to her for the rest of the time? Maybe you should remember what it's like to be a teenager and look at the situation through those eyes. How is it ok that the host family gets to push all their beliefs on the OP but then when she stated she was uncomfortable her beliefs don't matter just because she is staying with them? No, everyone doesn't have the same beliefs-true and both parties should have been respected.

I still say this is all OP's mother's fault, and the blame lies there. She didn't mind asking these people to watch the daughter for a few days while she went out of town. If OP was going to be so traumatized by being asked to participate in another family's rituals and family discussion about it, then she shouldn't have been there in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Which part of "why did her mother send her over there for three days in the first place" is such an alien language to such militant anti-religious people?

This is hysterical.

Having someone's kid in your house does not give you the right to force your religion on them, period. A mom should be able to trust a family friend to watch her kid for a few days without having to explicitly say, "Don't try to force your religion on my kid, please. These are basic rules of polite society, like keeping a roll of toilet paper in the bathroom, or washing your hands before a meal, or remembering to do your laundry.

If you are a Christian family who is doing a favor by hosting a non-Christian kid, and if the kid looks like he's able to be at home alone for 2 hours a day (like the PP, a teenager, was clearly capable of) then give him a cheery good morning on Sunday, show him where the cereal is, tell him not to open the door for strangers, and whisk your Christian family off to church. Your guest can stay at home.

Because that is a basic expectation of polite, secular society. You're welcome.

Tagging along to church twice is not forcing religion on them, lol. I'm not even religious.

+1. The level of hysteria here from people who were taken outside their normal routines is, well, sort of hysterical. Especially the nurse who chose to work for a religious hospital and is surprised about the prayer.

Some of these stories are shocking. I agree completely.

But some of you are big babies playing victim. Grow up, you people. It's a big world out there, and you can't expect everybody to be just like you.

Taking a teenager you are watching for a few days to church with you is one thing. Making teenager actively participate In and talk about what they learned in a bible study that contradicts their own beliefs is clearly another. Then after OP said to said family that she was uncomfortable they took her again. I think you are thinking about this from an adult perspective. As an adult if I feel uncomfortable in a situation like that I can simply leave without any real problems. In this particular situation I can see how that would be difficult for the OP-because causing too much problem would have more than likely made the subsequent time with the family extremely awkward. Someone mentioned waiting outside. Well let's talk about that. What if the family got offended and acted rudely to her for the rest of the time? Maybe you should remember what it's like to be a teenager and look at the situation through those eyes. How is it ok that the host family gets to push all their beliefs on the OP but then when she stated she was uncomfortable her beliefs don't matter just because she is staying with them? No, everyone doesn't have the same beliefs-true and both parties should have been respected.

I still say this is all OP's mother's fault, and the blame lies there. She didn't mind asking these people to watch the daughter for a few days while she went out of town. If OP was going to be so traumatized by being asked to participate in another family's rituals and family discussion about it, then she shouldn't have been there in the first place.

This is the poster with the "working brain." Would anybody here ship their sensitive kid over to fundies of some religion that's not your own? Of course not. Common sense, people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was the only non-Jew in a book club. Most of the women were lovely and I looked forward to the club each month. There was lots of talk about holidays and Jewish summer camps and so on, but I found it interesting. One woman, the only one who kept kosher, was fairly hostile and clearly wanted me out. She got her wish.

Some Jewish women are very clannish and they get really prickly when their most eligible Jewish bachelors date and marry non-Jewish women. I have known more than a few like this. But maybe this can be said of people in all religions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was the only non-Jew in a book club. Most of the women were lovely and I looked forward to the club each month. There was lots of talk about holidays and Jewish summer camps and so on, but I found it interesting. One woman, the only one who kept kosher, was fairly hostile and clearly wanted me out. She got her wish.

Some Jewish women are very clannish and they get really prickly when their most eligible Jewish bachelors date and marry non-Jewish women. I have known more than a few like this. But maybe this can be said of people in all religions.

This actually happened to me as well, with my first Jewish boyfriend. A lot of female hostility in my direction because I was an "outsider".

[Anonymous]

I'm Catholic and grew up in a very Catholic Midwest suburb. When I went to college, a woman in my sorority freshman year tried to baptize me, saying that I wasn't "really a Christian" and our house mother refused to serve non-meat meals on Fridays during Lent or appropriate food for our Jewish sisters during Passover. The girl that tried to baptize me, she would try to pour water over me and say prayers during study hall. The funny thing was, her best friend was my very secular close friend. On a ski trip, she got a Jesus fish tattoo. She told me I wasn't "a real Christian" because I didn't like Christian rock or Bible study. I volunteered a lot for social justice causes and went to the Newman Center on Sundays with my other friends and sorority sisters but didn't realize there was animosity towards Catholics until I went to school in a college town. This was the Bible belt.

[Anonymous]

We stayed with Muslim friends last summer. They had the house rigged with the call to prayer multiple times a day, including the really early morning one. They invited my son to join in, he declined, but he had to watch because his bed was in the prayer room. More disconcerting was the homophobia they expressed multiple times (wasn't aware of it until then and it's clouded my perceptions of them a bit).

I told my kids to deal, that the world is full of different people, and that's generally a good thing, or at least nothing to feel threatened about. Some of the stories here really are bad, like the Jewish woman talking about her coworkers and Christmas cards. But some of you people are so "sensitive" it's ridiculous, although I suspect anti-Christian animus is at the root of some of this "sensitivity."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Taking a teenager you are watching for a few days to church with you is one thing. Making teenager actively participate In and talk about what they learned in a bible study that contradicts their own beliefs is clearly another. Then after OP said to said family that she was uncomfortable they took her again. I think you are thinking about this from an adult perspective. As an adult if I feel uncomfortable in a situation like that I can simply leave without any real problems. In this particular situation I can see how that would be difficult for the OP-because causing too much problem would have more than likely made the subsequent time with the family extremely awkward. Someone mentioned waiting outside. Well let's talk about that. What if the family got offended and acted rudely to her for the rest of the time? Maybe you should remember what it's like to be a teenager and look at the situation through those eyes. How is it ok that the host family gets to push all their beliefs on the OP but then when she stated she was uncomfortable her beliefs don't matter just because she is staying with them? No, everyone doesn't have the same beliefs-true and both parties should have been respected.

You might be the only person with competent reading comprehension and a working brain in this discussion. I can't believe it took 7 pages for someone to explain why the OP's situation was legitimately uncomfortable.

Get over yourself, please. It was uncomfortable, yes. So what? She wasn't having religion "forced" on her by the family any more than her mom "forced" that family to watch her kid for a few days. They had an arrangement and part of that was going along with the family's normal routine. I do remember what it was like to be a teenager. I was often uncomfortable at other people's houses -- some people's parents said grace, some chastised me for exclaiming "Oh my God!" during conversations. Growing up is uncomfortable, well, most of the damn time. Instead of looking back at this memory with some adult perspective, OP and many others are acting like self-centered fragile whiners. I'm an atheist! Half these stories are NO BIG DEAL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Taking a teenager you are watching for a few days to church with you is one thing. Making teenager actively participate In and talk about what they learned in a bible study that contradicts their own beliefs is clearly another. Then after OP said to said family that she was uncomfortable they took her again. I think you are thinking about this from an adult perspective. As an adult if I feel uncomfortable in a situation like that I can simply leave without any real problems. In this particular situation I can see how that would be difficult for the OP-because causing too much problem would have more than likely made the subsequent time with the family extremely awkward. Someone mentioned waiting outside. Well let's talk about that. What if the family got offended and acted rudely to her for the rest of the time? Maybe you should remember what it's like to be a teenager and look at the situation through those eyes. How is it ok that the host family gets to push all their beliefs on the OP but then when she stated she was uncomfortable her beliefs don't matter just because she is staying with them? No, everyone doesn't have the same beliefs-true and both parties should have been respected.

You might be the only person with competent reading comprehension and a working brain in this discussion. I can't believe it took 7 pages for someone to explain why the OP's situation was legitimately uncomfortable.

Get over yourself, please. It was uncomfortable, yes. So what? She wasn't having religion "forced" on her by the family any more than her mom "forced" that family to watch her kid for a few days. They had an arrangement and part of that was going along with the family's normal routine. I do remember what it was like to be a teenager. I was often uncomfortable at other people's houses -- some people's parents said grace, some chastised me for exclaiming "Oh my God!" during conversations. Growing up is uncomfortable, well, most of the damn time. Instead of looking back at this memory with some adult perspective, OP and many others are acting like self-centered fragile whiners. I'm an atheist! Half these stories are NO BIG DEAL.

+1000. I posted above about big babies. Half of you seem like you're just looking for reasons to be offended. Or you want the world to revolve around your beliefs--or lack of belief--and get all upset when people do something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Taking a teenager you are watching for a few days to church with you is one thing. Making teenager actively participate In and talk about what they learned in a bible study that contradicts their own beliefs is clearly another. Then after OP said to said family that she was uncomfortable they took her again. I think you are thinking about this from an adult perspective. As an adult if I feel uncomfortable in a situation like that I can simply leave without any real problems. In this particular situation I can see how that would be difficult for the OP-because causing too much problem would have more than likely made the subsequent time with the family extremely awkward. Someone mentioned waiting outside. Well let's talk about that. What if the family got offended and acted rudely to her for the rest of the time? Maybe you should remember what it's like to be a teenager and look at the situation through those eyes. How is it ok that the host family gets to push all their beliefs on the OP but then when she stated she was uncomfortable her beliefs don't matter just because she is staying with them? No, everyone doesn't have the same beliefs-true and both parties should have been respected.

You might be the only person with competent reading comprehension and a working brain in this discussion. I can't believe it took 7 pages for someone to explain why the OP's situation was legitimately uncomfortable.

Get over yourself, please. It was uncomfortable, yes. So what? She wasn't having religion "forced" on her by the family any more than her mom "forced" that family to watch her kid for a few days. They had an arrangement and part of that was going along with the family's normal routine. I do remember what it was like to be a teenager. I was often uncomfortable at other people's houses -- some people's parents said grace, some chastised me for exclaiming "Oh my God!" during conversations. Growing up is uncomfortable, well, most of the damn time. Instead of looking back at this memory with some adult perspective, OP and many others are acting like self-centered fragile whiners. I'm an atheist! Half these stories are NO BIG DEAL.

Please, PP, we can't have OP feeling "uncomfortable." She's a millennial, you know. Situations like this are traumatizing for years and years.