No

I’m irritated with everything thing people do all the time.

I’m fine with whatever delusions people want to hold as long as they do it away from me. I’m just not interested in thanking a fictional character who hates me.

God yes. (pun intended)

I once overheard a woman in a store going “Jesus provides”… while staring at a wall of drinks carefully stocked by employees and made in factories built and operated by other people.

I was just working on a post sharing some pics by one of my favorite photographers and wrote a little something along these lines.

They praised God for the opportunity to get these very unique photos. While I’m not religious, and to me, the photographer did all the work following this bird forever, through long hours of darkness and cold, waiting patiently day after day, honing his craft.

And that is a good enough reason for praise from me. But he felt a blessing from outside, and I can appreciate that for him. Did he think providence put him and this bird together? I don’t know if it went that deep. Maybe he was just glad this animal existed, and he is here to experience it, and this moment could have randomly happened for anyone, but instead it happened to him.

Whatever the reason, his beliefs led him to experiencing something amazing. I could just call that inspiration, while he attributes it to his beliefs. Does it make a difference to either of us what the other believes? Nah.

If people aren’t proselytizing at me, they can believe in what they please. When most people say they were glad God gave you the strength to do something, they’re just being happy for you from their perspective. They probably have no idea what your beliefs are, that’s just their default and the words that come to their mind to congratulate you. You should kindly take their words with the intention they were spoken with, not necessarily a literal meaning. Jumping to being offended just makes conflict where there wasn’t any, and that would make you the disrespectful one most likely.

I was extremely irritated this week when the office catholic, who is quite happy to lie, cheat and steal, told me I’m going to hell unless I accept his god.

Yes… doctor saves a critically injured patient… “thank God all mighty !”

removed am I a joke to you? - doc probably.

Also only credit for the positive shit. Mass shooting , never hear them say…thank “God for the killings”

Gotah start thanking Satan just to level it out.

Anytime someone totally disconnects from reality, I could imagine that irritates the rational people around them. It sure as hell does with me.

I’m currently deconstructing decades of brainwashing and indoctrination.

I think this is far more normalized in the US to bring god into everything. After all, it’s one nation, under god. And in god they trust! It’s on the money after all, thoughts and prayers. And lordy, the language is full of religious references, from oh my god gosh golly to dang darn dammit. There is also the performative “I was praying for” whatever, jeez, Jesus help me. I’m already irritated by all these religious vestiges in the language.

Piety is also this sort of monstrance required for political office in the US. Even when it’s quite unbelievable, like in the case of 47 who would only own a bible if he could sell it. And if you’re not a Catholic or some Protestant, you have you be Mormon or Islamic just enough to tick the religious box. But we might draw the line at Scientology because that’s all just made up nonsense, isn’t it.

I find it offensive when people just assume I believe in any god. The older I get the more I think Christopher Hitchens had a point when he said that ardent believers in monotheist religions are predisposed to vote for and follow authoritarian leaders. One god, one fuehrer.

Not particularly.

If you consider your example, you may have worked hard for it, but another person could’ve worked equally hard at all the right things and never have gotten the opportunity to even attempt getting into university. We might call that luck. Someone else might call it God’s doing. Regardless, it’s just a different name for the same thing.

The fighters that thank God for helping them beat the shit out of their opponent.

Veeery.

I’m not in any way religious, and it does irritate me when people say, of some senseless tragedy, “everything has a purpose.”

But I do see, in your specific example, that what they say has metaphorical value. You should be grateful that you had it in you to accomplish what you did, even if you don’t attribute it to some mythical being.

I often think the phase “there but for the grace of God, go I” because I don’t know a secular equivalent. Think of God as a metaphor for the universe.

me when I say anything good for LGBTQ

-“that’s Satan”

“god is love” except when they don’t like it