Is anyone else an atheist with BC besides me?

Thanks to the respondents writing on your resilience and atheism. The article is here:

http://malebc.org/thanks-for-your-offer-of-prayer-...

Well done, Traveltext. Have you gotten any feed back from other members of the malebc site?

traveltext-well written and carefully crafted to share stories from real people without being snarky. Good job.

Thanks for the positive feedback. Yes, low on snark factor. Easier said than done haha.

Actually, I was thinking that nobody I know ever said they'd pray for me. Then I realised that my country is not overtly religious.

"The growing percentage of Australia's population reporting no religion has been a trend for decades, and is accelerating. Those reporting no religion increased noticeably from 19 per cent in 2006 to 30 per cent in 2016." Government Statistician.

I'll spread this story on social media and post here if there's feedback.

I'm with you, AliceBastable, and chiming in with you on your rant. Yes, it is so egotistical to think that if I pray loudly enough and am in the right club, I get the attention of the Decider Deity. That puppeteer deity is apparently very busy deciding which cancer to cure, which sports team loses, which side "wins" a war, which people die in a concentration camp, which children die of cancer and malnutrition...

Jo6359, your friend may be deeply religious, but she's got a ton of common sense. What a great response!

I'm on another board for a different cancer (🙄), and when someone posts they've had a clean follow-up scan, there are always a bunch of repetitive "Thank gawd" replies. I like to stick in some "Thank your surgeons" and "Thank modern medicine" comments just to bring some reality.

When I was in 4th grade the father of one of my classmates died. The nuns had taught us that if we prayed for something and didn't get it, it meant that either we didn't pray hard enough or that we were praying for something that wasn't good for us. (Seriously.) Now, how does that make a nine-year-old girl who just lost her daddy feel?

I agree with you HikingLady. It is absolutely ridiculous; and I don't think we should be placid and quiet when we can see the harms it's causing.

My cap was when I asked a priest why birth control was so bad. (I was 19 and not married). He said we were commanded to go forth an multiply. I responded that we have done too good a job and what would be the solution to overpopulation? Wait for it.... He said god would provide by sending a plague or world war to reduce the population. Bye Bye.

Great quote and true.

Here's a story with a lighter note. My aunt, who was completely unchurched, married a devout Catholic in the early 1940s. He continued to go to church every day, and she never went, but cooked breakfast while he was gone. My grandparents were not churchy, either - I have no idea what they thought about religion; it never came up. So Aunt Hazel had only the most fleeting acquaintance with Christianity, probably mostly from Christmas music. Somehow, they made their marriage work. I think there were initial problems with his family, but those resolved over the years. They had no children. As my mother said, "We don't ask." In the late 1970s, Uncle Clarence developed pancreatic cancer, and like with most people with that, he declined rapidly. After treatment was deemed to be no more use, he came home to die. It was beautiful watching her care for him, and his good humor even when he could no longer lift his hand to feed himself. She left the room when his priest came to pray, but they developed a cordial relationship. As was inevitable, Uncle Clarence died, and his funeral was Catholics on the left, heathens who had no idea what to do on the right. At some point after the interment, the priest had private words with my aunt. From that day on, she claimed her husband was not buried in that cemetery, but had been moved elsewhere. We chalked it up to the stress of being his full-time nurse for months. Then we thought she was, perhaps, slightly batty. It wasn't until years later that the rest of the family put our heads together and realized that the priest had told her that Clarence had gone to a better place. Ah, well, it gave her something to do, trying to figure out where the dear departed had departed to.

yesterday I went to what was called a celebration of life. It turned out to be a dreary almost funeral. All kinds of hymns and Bible verses. So I just left. I didn't know any of the family. The friends I see a lot. Bummer

Lisa, That's as bad as the service we went to for a neighbor who died suddenly. They were singing all 5 verses of hymns off tune. I think the people were Lutheran. Never going there again. Beyond tedious.

I think a party is the right way to go. Ok to put out snapshots, but no microphone that gets passed around for people to drone on and on.

I continue to visit my elderly neighbor in the hospital. Even though she is a devout Greek Orthodox, she's becoming quite frustrated with her church friends. They all pray for her but not one of them has offered to assist with anything. She asked several of her friends yesterday to come to the hospital for half hour or so to give her daughter and myself a break. Every single one of them informed her they had luncheons, bingo, family activities but the important thing is they would keep her in their prayers. WTF. My elderly neighbor does not drive( paid driver when needed) but when her friends are hospitalized or dealing with a serious family situation, she has offered to bring them food, sit with them, and even grocery shop for them. They have all taken advantage of her generosity and she has no regrets. I know on many of these threads some of our BC girls and guys rely on their church friends to assist them and and the church friends do provide assistance. For my friend, it has been six days in the hospital and not one Church friend has shown up. But the most important thing is they will be praying for her. Sarcasm

Minus, I've lived in Houston too, so I know what you mean. The majority of people here are cremated so very few viewings happen. You've got the right idea, though. Go and greet, then disappear. I'm getting to the age where I know a lot of elderly people, so funerals and memorials are more often.

When DS got married he and his wife were working for the Institute for Bird Populations so a lot of the guests were birders. DH did a toast which was a bit of a story about the couple composed mostly of bird names. He must have mentioned at least 100 bird species. Several people asked for copies, but he hadn't written it down beforehand.