Sick of phony religious posts on Facebook

[ebbie15644]

I am not religious but was raised in the church. I was taught that we should have compassion and do service and deeds. These posts that people post comparing providing food stamps to "feeding the animals" disgust me. I don't like to get into arguments with people but feel I have to respond. I don't want to just "unfriend" because then I can't respond and I want people to start thinking about what they are posting. These are the same people that are always talking about Jesus and I don't believe they know one thing about what Jesus would do. I posted about 10 bible versus in answer to them about Jesus and the poor. It really gets my blood boiling. What do you guys do besides unfriending, which I may do?

[dawg]

1. I'm a Christian and I take it seriously.

It *enrages* me to see people try to justify hateful, selfish policies by invoking the name of Jesus. Those people would have been among the first in line to have nailed him to a tree had they been alive at the time. They figuratively nail him to a tree all over again every time they promote hate in his name.

[ebbie15644]

2. I'm really upset about this.

I babysat these people and their mother was very close to our friend. A lot of their friends that go along with this were my friends.

[dawg]

8. I completely understand.

During the health care debate, I had one "very Christian" woman complain that she would face longer wait times if all those uninsured people were to suddenly have access to the health care system.

Really? That's all you care about? You spend all that time singing about Jesus and self-sacrificial love, and yet you would have people die without health care just to keep your wait time down.

I think lots of "religious" people miss the whole point. Christianity is just another form of tribe to them.

[ebbie15644]

12. I heard this same arguement from my dad!

I am surrounded!! PA is ridiculous and should be considered a "Southern State"

[dawg]

13. Philadelphia & Pittsburgh, with Alabama in between.

Or so I have heard.

I've been to Eastern Pennsylvania, and I thought it was a lovely and interesting place.

[JHB]

7. Would they be violating the First Commandment?

When someone projects so much of their own wants and desires onto God and Jesus, so that what they're worshiping is "Supply Side Jesus" or "Macho Jesus With Guns", isn't it pretty much idolatry?

Even if they convince themselves it's not just because they've slapped the label "Jesus" on whatever it is they worship?

[dawg]

11. Jesus basically boiled all of the law down to two "commandments".

1. Love God with all your heart.

2. Love your neighbor as much as you love your self.

I'm pretty sure they are at least violating that second one.

[atreides1]

27. If they're violating the second one...

...it's a good bet they're violating the first one as well!

[get the red out]

3. I hid all those people on my "friend" list

Most of them were from high school. I hid them when they were posting that viral post about wishing for President Obama to die.

This hate is a part of their "identity", they have taken that from the right wing sources and their preachers. It is internalized and unlikely to change through sharing anything reasonable. They will just view anything different as an attack on who they are and dig their heels in even harder.

[ebbie15644]

5. I don't believe in god but my great grandmother did.

She "walked the talk" I think she would have been horrified to see what is being advocated by religion today and it would have broke her heart. I remember she would pick up strangers hitchhiking and I asked her why? She was 40 when she learned to drive and she promised god that if she ever learned to drive and got a car, she would never pass by anyone in need. She kept her promise.

[get the red out]

9. The GOP took many of the Churches

during the "culture wars", especially in the south and rural areas. And there has also been the stupid "prosperity Gospel", where preachers tell people that if they do the right things, and give enough to their Church, then they can become rich.

The religious waters have been drastically muddied.

[Quantess]

4. You can unfollow them. They won't notice.

If it's someone you don't really care that much about, I would just go ahead and unfriend them.
When people post controversial or political or negative things on facebook, they should be prepared to get some responses from people that disagree with them. So, feel free to respond to them, I say.

[ebbie15644]

15. I unfollowed them and will probably start to do more "unfollowing"

[Quantess]

31. There was one guy from high school (way back when) that I never even talked to, who friended me.

He's a brain dead RW religious fundamentalist. He got in a facebook argument with my brother on one of my rare political posts, and lost badly. It should have been really embarrassing for him, if he had any sense. Not a fair fight!
So anyway, I hid the guy from my news feed. About a year later I visited his page for some reason, and saw that he was gushing and raving about Rick Perry as presidential candidate!!!! What a great guy, that Rick Perry!!!
So I pulled the plug and unfriended him. I wrote about it here on DU right afterward, and some DUers were telling me I was mean for unfriending him. Whatever!

[mercuryblues]

6. I ask

when they were on public assistance if they were the only ones ever that didn't abuse the system. Bring up the amount on active and military veterans that qualify for PA. Let them know that Wal-Mart, despite getting tax breaks pay their employees such low wages that it costs the taxpayer about 700,000 to 1 million dollars per store for Medicaid, housing, free school lunches, energy assistance and snap per store. They also get counties and states to build roads for them, put in place the electrical grid they need, pay below market value for their land and below the property tax rate. So they are triple dipping into our tax dollars. Is it worth saving that 3 cents on an Xbox?

[ebbie15644]

10. I post often on this subject but I sense that they don't really care.

These are poor women with a high school education that begrudge anyone getting anything and I will probably hide them or unfollow. We had great times and I find it hard to reconcile my memories to what I hear coming from them.

[closeupready]

14. Agreed. If the religion is one which sanctions bigotry or hatred, Unfriend

is the way to go. If, on the other hand, there's ambiguity, then I just ignore that stuff entirely. As I'm not a religious person.

[Nevernose]

16. I ignore it and try to be the best example possible

I'm not going to change anyone's mind on Facebook. I think responding, without snark or anger, with actual Biblical quotes about helping the less fortunate, is probably the best way to go.

Some of my childhood friends are now pretty radical (I lived in Texas until I was 12, and visited multiple times a year for another decade), so it takes work to remember that I still love the eleven year old versions of them. Ironically, the most devout among them -- i.e., my childhood buddy that's a Southern Baptist preacher now -- are the easiest to shame with Bible verses.

About the only time I remember getting personally upset (furious, in fact), was a few months after my former foster son got out of basic training. He posted some long rant about how he couldn't wait to kill skinnies and shoot some other racist euphemism, and then a whole bunch of "fuck those hippies back home" and "you liberals can go fuck yourselves." I reminded him in no uncertain terms that it was a liberal hippy, ME, that rescued him from the abusive crackhead he was living with, give him food, clothing, and shelter, got him through school (somewhat miraculously), got him psychological therapy, took him to the Army recruiter, and loved him like he was my son (but teachers sheet the summer off, so we have easy jobs, right?).

He apologized (and turned out to be a fine young man).

But for the rest? "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

[ebbie15644]

18. Thank you wonderful post! I will continue to respond with biblical quotes!

[pipi_k]

17. If you think

you're ever going to change their views or make them see the light, you're wasting your time.


When people post stuff I don't want to see, I just "unfollow" them.

It means they're still on my friends list, but I don't see any of their OPs on my newsfeed. I had to do that with a couple of my cousins, although not for religious or political reasons. It does work pretty well.

[ebbie15644]

19. I did unfollow and I know I won't change their mind but I respond for the others

that might read their post so they don't think everyone think like this

[RKP5637]

20. I'm not a religious person, but I did many church things as a youth. I'm disgusted by

individuals calling themselves religious, draping themselves in religion and spouting most hateful diabolical things. I often think back to my youth when we were told, the devil comes in many disguises. These individuals are not Christians, they are not good religious people, they are IMO disciples from hell and should be called out as such.

[ebbie15644]

21. I think people are afraid to call them on their BS because they are afraid

of attacking their religious beliefs. I wish more churches would speak up against this.

[RKP5637]

22. Same here! There are very good religious people but seldom do you hear from them, it's

generally the jerks being spokesman for the rest of the good religious people. These jerks do not even hold religious beliefs other than using religion as a code word for their hatred, persecution and obnoxiousness.

[haele]

24. Part of the problem with why they aren't being called out is with the live and let live attitude -

the "turn the other cheek" and "do unto others" supposedly means that you shouldn't call out bullshit when it happens because, well - you've made mistakes and had screwy opinions and thoughts yourself that you grew out of. And you're not a bad person, right...?
Too often otherwise good people will assume that "well, that's their opinion, and opinions and words aren't actions, so while what they say now is offensive, it's not a big deal, because when they learn the truth and actually meet people who are [FITB], they'll change their opinion."
This is an effective strategy when you're dealing with people who are willing to learn and have the capability and imagination to be able to adapt to new experiences and situations as they occur; people who can change their opinions because they aren't the center of their own universes.
However -
The problem with this is when "an opinion" is really an elephant in the room that isn't going to leave because the person with that opinion has made it a core value and reason for his or her life.

A bigot is a bigot is a bigot. Many can control it, some can work through it when dealing with those they are prejudiced against, and others can hide it, but they will always be a bigot - even if they are one's sweet old granny or dependable old grandy. Prejudice and Bigotry is a gut reaction that is controlled by self-awareness and the acceptance that it is there and why it is there.

Another problem is that a vocal minority always seems to be larger than what it really is and is really difficult to deal with once it becomes established. One loud bully who cozens his or her followers can seem to be "a leader" when the others are unsure and feel low; this creates a herd that will follow the bully and do some really evil, thoughtless damage just because the loudest, most flattering voice becomes the brains and head of those who need some form of personal validation.
S/He tells them what they want to hear, makes them feel special enough that they will literally worship ever word they hear from the bully who then winds them up and sends them out as a personal army.

Pretty damn intimidating to deal with if you're a reasonable person. So it's easy to play the "that's their opinion" game until it gets to be too late and they've infected the entire group with "their opinion" or driven out those who don't agree with them.
Most people don't want to set themselves up to be attacked by the mob - nor do reasonable ministers want to get involved with a power struggle that can split their congregation apart. If they want to keep their congregation together, they tend to just quietly let the loud mouths shout and push people around, constantly telling themselves it's okay because they're not like those good but otherwise mistaken fellow church-goers who will have to come around eventually...
And finally, why make trouble when it's not you that has gone astray? The Creator God (whichever one the congregation is supposed to be following) will sort it out in the end...

Just my observation.

Haele

[RKP5637]

28. I think this is an excellent synopsis! Also, I feel there is a subset that are hard-wired for this

behavior, perhaps some sociopaths and then others with overdeveloped primordial areas of the brain as now documented in a number of studies. Some, will never change, others might change if soft-coded. By the latter, I'm referring to those who by whatever environmental factors have developed these behaviors. There is, however, glue that holds all of this together, such as, hate radio/tv/internet/politicians/religion ... the behavior is reinforced. ... and very profitable for the masters of this hate propaganda. Hence, as you well mentioned, the herd mentality prevails.

[haele]

23. The greatest blasphemy one can do is to claim they're doing their deity's will

to justify whatever selfish or cruel bullshit they're doing to feed their own fear and hate.

The assumption that an omnipotent Creator deity that had made so much diversity that there's a whole world outside their own experience approves of their personal casual disrespect of the entirety of creation is the greatest insult one can give a Creator.

They are creating their own God and putting it in front of the Creator they supposedly worship.

People like that are the five-year-old infant terrible in a large extended family like the "oh so pious" Dugger family, jumping up on the table during dinner and proclaiming:

"I don't care what Mom and Dad, the Uncles and Aunts, and the Grandies say, I'm in charge of this house. F**k you all, I'm not going to do my chores or clean the room - try to make me and I'll burn this house down. By the way - Jerome, Jessica, and James are stupid - they told me I couldn't treat their toys and play in their rooms the way I want to. So Mom, Dad - just get rid of them now or I'll cut them and bury them - I don't want to see them anymore and they can't stay here anymore.
Y'all know the rules - just get me what I want, and let me do what I want. And by the way, you still need clean up after me, but don't touch my stuff. Everything will be just fine if you just do what I say, because the Grandies love me most of all..."

To think a Creator that would make something so complex and yet so delicate as this universe and would then approve of a juvenile part of that creation throwing a tantrum and destroying what was tens of billions of years in the making just because they feel they aren't being "respected" enough is a thoughtless idiot at best, and a sadistic narcissistic psychopath at worse.

Haele

[spinbaby]

25. Look for "The Christian Left" on Facebook

They always have good stuff to share.

[CrispyQ]

26. Post this on your FB page:

[G_j]

29. I refuse

to tolerate that junk. I unfriend them immediately. You won't change their minds.

[DirkGently]

30. Facebook is a tool of Satan.

What can be fun, though (if you have already decided not to ignore it) is RELENTLESS, REASONABLE ARGUMENT. Posters of blurbs and slogans and funny pictures do not know what to do with it.

But then again Christians who think Jesus' message was "Every man for himself" may be beyond help.

[Ms. Toad]

32. What is it with people trying to govern what everyone else posts on THEIR facebook page?

Second thread today.

Just ignore it. You don't get to control what other people want to talk about on THEIR page. If it bothers you, stop paying attention to it.