I havent spoken to my Born Again sister in 10 years

[lunatica]

I’m willing to bet she’s a Deplorable now so I’m fine with it.

The last time we talked she was a Born Again Christian and we argued about God and, to her, his hatred of The Gay. She claimed god is a jealous god who demands obedience and fealty and that he has commanded that she hate Gays. I asked her why god would hate what he created with his supposed unconditional and boundless love. She accused me of trying to brainwash her and order her on what to believe. I recognized the religious brainwashing and ended the call as a lost cause.

She wrote me a letter describing in great detail the punishment I was going to get in eternal hell. Three pages of it! I'm pretty sure she enjoyed every imagined gory detail of it.

I did get one valuable thing out of it though. Religious zealots, of which we have plenty, may talk of god’s Great love but what they believe in is his unconditional hatred of those he chooses to hate and his jealousy of their absolute fealty and in his wrath if he’s disobeyed.

They follow Trump with this fealty because he is just like their god. Mean, petty, vindictive, and demanding they hand him their “loyalty” and obedience. All they need is for their preachers to tell them what God demands they do. Trump is something they understand intimately. A perfect reflection of the God they worship.

[awesomerwb1]

1. Yikes....three pages?

What happened to simply "burning in hell"?

[lunatica]

15. The ways of burning in hell are only limited by your imagination

Each one is more awesome than the last! God may hate religious variety, but obviously loves variety in his punishments.

We should be thankful he doesn’t have a twitter account!

[awesomerwb1]

24. Well, I have never put too much thought (any)

into burning in hell. But now that you mention it....

Anyways, God -does- have a Twitter account.

[Upthevibe]

84. It has greatly saddened me what

has happened regarding Christianity. I was raised as a Presbyterian and it was NOT like this. Our Minister was a wonderful man whose messages (sermons) resonated with me and brought much comfort. It's absolutely horrifying what has happened. I blame this almost completely on politics and the Religious Right. As an adult, I'm very into "spirituality" but not religion. The "Christ Consciousness" isn't being practiced by many (or probably most) of these so-called Evangelicals." It's sickening. I'm sorry you've had to go through this.

[csziggy]

105. I was raised Presbyterian but the church I went to is now an Evangelical Presbyterian

I have not real idea what their tenets are but it is not the same as when I was a kid. It broke my Dad's heart since he had attended that church since he was a tot. Dad still contributed to the church but he stopped going. Mom felt so strongly about it, when Dad died she refused to have his service in the church - it was held at the funeral home instead.

And here's the thing - even though over the decades (since 1925) my family donated tens of thousands of dollars to that church, no one from it visited Dad during his final years. Mom has not gotten a single visit from anyone connected to that church in the five years since Dad died even though she is still contributing money to them. Mom even compiled and published the history of that church years ago, but no one associated with it has given her a moment of time.

Even if they didn't feel any Christian charity, they should at least feel some obligation to members who have given them so much lucre over all those years!

[RKP5637]

2. With all respect, your sister sounds demented! n/t

[dameatball]

4. This!!

[lunatica]

16. Yep

I don’t imagine that’s improved in the last 10 years.

[keithbvadu2]

70. demented/converted... same same in this case

[RKP5637]

74. Yep! n/t

[irisblue]

3. I'm so sorry.

I have family members who 'Are Born Again.' It hurts at times.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. Well

1) Hell is just separation from God for all of eternity.
2) The furnace theory of Hell is silly
3) God or at least my God doesn't instruct me to hate anybody.

[Baconator]

10. That's the nice part about making him up...

He says what you want him to say...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

17. " Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

[lunatica]

11. I bet youre not a Born Again Christian are you?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

20. I apologize for your sister.

This is what God hates:

There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

Proverbs 6 16-19&version

Sounds more like Trump than any gay person I know.

[SCantiGOP]

32. Damn, if I were an all-powerful Creator

that would be my formula for Donald J.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

37. It's amazing how adequately it describes him.

[treestar]

85. 19 describes the Orange Disaster to a T

[LanternWaste]

87. And it's written in English!!!

And it's written in English, so no one overaly concerned with foreign languages will have any problems translating it.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

88. He literally checks every box.

[workinclasszero]

102. Describes Trump to a T!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

103. He literally checks every box.

The only one open to debate is "shedding innocent blood."

[workinclasszero]

104. Bone Spurs still has his war card to play

[angrychair]

79. With all due respect DSB

I enjoy reading your input and respect your opinions but religion, any religion, encapsulates everything that is wrong with the world and all of humanity, now and throughout human history.

Think about how much easier things would be today in America without religious idiots screwing things up. We would be so much further ahead, socially and intellectually, than we are now. Racism, sexual bigotry, xenophobia, misogyny and child abuse all have deep roots in religion.

As much as you likely ascribe yourself to the “kinder, gentler god” that is simply branding and not who has their fingers on the economic, social and intellectual triggers, ready to blow themselves up and destroy it all and bring about the end times for their god here in America.

I always laugh when I hear “at least Christians don’t use bombs like Islamic terrorist” because the truth is they do use figurative weapons of mass destruction that do far more damage and have greater impact than any single act of a bomber.

Religion is the bane and the likely death of all humanity.

[Maeve]

106. Thank you for that

I was brought up the same way, but lost faith in the way churches are run anymore. If I beleive anything, that is the sort of faith I still hold to.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

107. My faith is one of love, empathy, and understanding. It is not one of condemnation.

[Dem_in_Nebr.]

110. Ditto that. n/t

[Laffy Kat]

6. Gee, I am so sorry.

I would be devastated if I had a split with my sis like that. It must be difficult.

[lunatica]

18. We were really close growing up

I miss her old self. She was far more loving then than she is as a Born Again.

I think she just full of fear.

[trixie2]

48. She has been kidnapped

I am not joking. How can anyone with love turn against a family member because an institution says so? How hard must her life be to live in hatred every day. She can't see it now but one day she will and will feel a loss none of us can comprehend.

[Laffy Kat]

108. Yes, just try to remember that, it's the fear.

She is still the same person,she is still your sis.

[brooklynite]

7. Why don't you invite her out to the closest RED LOBSTER to discuss her philosophy?

They're probably having a special on shrimp.

[phylny]

29. I get it :) nt

[lunatica]

38. ?

I don’t get your reference. I must have missed those discussions.

[irisblue]

45. Shrimp & Shellfish are prohibited to orthodox Jews.

There a fair number of restrictions, dietary & social in the Old Testament.

[brooklynite]

53. More specifically, they're apparently prohibited to any "true" Christian

...who believes in the "angry god" of the OT,

[geardaddy]

44. Or ask her why she wears clothes that are from blended materials?

Like cotton-poly blends?

[elleng]

8. ONE of the reasons I decided I could not 'believe,'

this when I was about 11 years old.

[rurallib]

9. funny how their gods always hate the same things they do

Decent of her to go into great detail of the punishment you will endure.

It has been so enlightening to see the evangelicals have to twist their "firmly held beliefs" to accommodate this con man. And of course it hasn't only been evangelicals. Every trump supporter must put aside any integrity to support one of the biggest cons in history.

Too bad it is your sister. Maybe at some point she will realize the scam she fell prey to.

[niyad]

12. I always figured that anybody who could come up with, and revel in, the concept of eternal damnation

has to be seriously ill.

and, of course, the eternal damnation for our very brief human lifespans seems more than a bit whacked.

[lunatica]

22. Especially when youre not sure what you did wrong

Living in that kind of fear can make you cleave to obedient behavior, just in case you ever piss God off.

[dawg]

13. I am so sorry.

I guess most of us have a few people in our families who go off the deep end. I certainly have my share.

For what it's worth, I'm a Christian. I grew up going to a Southern Baptist Church, and I consider myself "born again".

But, in my way of thinking, your sister is not thinking in a Christ-like fashion if she feels compelled to *hate* anyone. Jesus prayed for his murderers even as they were crucifying him.

There is a real spirt of hate in this country, and much of it winds its way through our churches. (I would call it a spirit of anti-Christ, but I don't want to sound like too much of a religious nutball.)

The answer is for us all to love one another, as much as is humanly possible. Some days that is hard.

[niyad]

14. I used to have a bumper sticker that read, "Born okay the first time" over an image of Stonehenge.

and then I found this:

[thbobby]

19. During the Black Plague in the 14th century

A movement arose of "flagellates" who went from village to village flogging themselves to prove themselves to god(?). Kind of like trump voters. Willing to suffer and make America suffer to justify stupidity(?), hatred(?), who the hell knows what.

[shanny]

64. yeah, but trump voters want to flog others, not themselves nt

[Mariana]

69. They burned Jews and heretics.

They believed God was punishing everyone for tolerating the existence of Jews and heretics living among them, so they murdered them. Today, many Fundamentalist Christians believe God will similarly punish everyone because we've tolerated the existence of the homosexuals, Muslims, atheists, etc. etc. etc.

[Orsino]

21. The religion of a vengeful, patriarchal deity is going to attract punishment fetishists.

Obey-or-die is a simple commandment that appeals to simple minds, and excuses any petty cruelty in which they want to indulge.

[zipplewrath]

23. Does sound like there's a problem

From your brief description, it does sound like there is a health problem of some sort. Some sort of obsessive behavior. Quite honestly though, I've known a few born agains that over a 10 year period get vastly less strident. Passions can temper themselves over time. It's a bit like reformed alcoholics, at first everyone they know is an alcoholic that needs their help. After a while they lose the need to save everyone.

Write your sister a letter. 10 years is a long time.

[lunatica]

33. Shes a full blown Manic Depressive

So, yeah.

[erronis]

77. That was my thought also - underlying condition that was manifested later in life

We all go through a lot of changes and some of those changes can trigger reactions that might have not been exposed before. And we all do brain-rewire during our lives. Stress and other environmental factors can cause this. That being said we can all engage in thoughtful activities that actually make us more competent and more aware of our environment.

Unfortunately once someone starts to slip down a slope that limits outside stabilizers the slope becomes more precipitous.

I've known several bi-polar and other friends that really don't have control over how they feel. And when the high or the low hits, who know what might happen.

[Mariana]

25. Cults isolate members from their "unbelieving" family members and friends.

That includes just about everyone who doesn't believe exactly as they do. That's just one of the things they do. With Christian cults like your sister's, it doesn't help that the Bible contains material to support many of their views. I'm very sorry.

[keithbvadu2]

75. AMWAY - isolates

[gratuitous]

26. I go with the Hawkeye response

In the first Avengers movie, Hawkeye and Poison Ivy are battling invading aliens intent on taking over Earth. As they get into the thick of battle, Poison Ivy exclaims, "This is just like Budapest all over again!" Hawkeye nocks another arrow into his bow and observes laconically, "You and I remember Budapest very differently."

When I engage with someone whose concept of God is a murderous psychopath who will torture you forever if you don't agree to be his best friend, my response is "You and I read the Bible very differently." The conversation usually ends there.

[earthshine]

89. Poison Ivy is from Batman. You are referring to Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson).

Get it straight please!

[gratuitous]

91. You and I remember the movie very differently

Which doesn't rule out the possibility that you're not incorrect.

[Revanchist]

97. You got your DC in my Marvel!!!

[HopeAgain]

27. Yeah, my wife has some relatives like that

My wife was nothing but an intolerable sinner until they came upon hard times and needed some money.

[lunatica]

30. Puts another slant on the belief

that God helps those who help themselves doesn’t it? It’s what they help themselves to that matters.

[NCTraveler]

28. Sorry about your sister. Nt

[SCantiGOP]

31. As usual, George Carlin summed it up well:

(paraphrasing):
God created you and is all loving and all merciful.
But, if you choose the wrong religion or break the wrong rule, he will send you to eternal torment in Hell.
Why? Because he loves you!

[Marty Marzipan]

34. So sad...

... to have someone's mind destroyed by religion.

[Initech]

50. A combination of hate-filled religion and Fox News.

I swear Fox News is creating the world's largest cult, and that's scary.

[keithbvadu2]

78. Many Protestants/Evangelicals consider Catholics a cult... BIGLY cult

[Initech]

86. Fox News is kind of like the Catholic church when you think about it.

They work in secret. They have a charismatic leader. Their pundits are like the cardinals. Their buildings are huge and elaborate fortresses. The only thing missing is the robes.

[keithbvadu2]

96. Fox has the super short skirt thigh couch.

https://postimg.org/image/4gc1e7mlj/

[sandensea]

35. I'm sorry to hear that.

Here's hoping for a reconciliation. Blood is blood, after all.

[Paladin]

36. Sounds like you've got a good handle on it.

The whole unfortunate situation appears to be your sister's doing, something she'll ultimately regret. And I say that as a Christian of the non-Born Again variety who believes God truly does love us, one and all.

[lunatica]

40. My life rule is

Live and let live. For some reason she needs these beliefs. I have no hatred of her. Just a lot of regret about the way things have turned out so far. We were close growing up. She was much more Christian then, even without religion.

[Paladin]

68. I have acquaintances and relatives who have done the same. It's a shame. (nt)

[kairos12]

39. Religion. The original and still most effective brainwash.

[lunatica]

42. Amen to that!

[VOX]

95. And if Im not mistaken, Christianity is the only major religion where the stakes are all or nothing

If you don’t repent (ugh), you go to eternal damnation without ANY chance of redemption at that point — there’s no working your way out of it, or doing your time. You are screwed for ETERNITY.

What kind of god DEMANDS that you love him (of course it’s a DUDE), and if you refuse, he’ll torture you by roasting you forever? Is that truly love?

“Love me or else.” If another person says that to us, we sensibly head for the hills. But an all-knowing, all-seeing deity that is so insecure he forces people to worship and adore him, or he’ll throw you in the furnace?

That kind of “theology” puts god on the level of Hitler— total, unswerving loyalty, or you face execution. Who would want an insane dictator as a deity? Someone with zero self-esteem, or someone so dumb that they’re just along for the ride.

[Pepsidog]

41. Very insightful post.

[geardaddy]

43. Whenever someone asks me if I'm born again, I tell them...

"No, I got it right the first time."

Your sister sounds like a nut. So sorry that you have to endure that shit.

[Javaman]

46. being an atheist...

I can only believe that people that act such as your sister, are in desperate need of professional help. Because that kind of behavior comes from some deep seated jealousy or mental disorder.

I hope one day she gets the help she desperately needs.

[efhmc]

47. So sorry that she totally missed the entire idea of following Christ and his

teaching of love and acceptance of all people. Here is what I am reading now: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/372623.Rescuing_the_Bible_from_Fundamentalism. (only because what I was reading on my phone shut down for lack of power and it was available)I find it fascinating in the author's scholarly approach to the history of both new and old testaments. I did not realize that the author had debated Jerry Falwell in the 90's. Going to try to search for those.

Didn't mean to go off on my thing. I find these zealots to be mentally unsound and wish them healing and spiritual health. I hope that you are able to put this in the mental trash basket and not be hurt.

[LanternWaste]

49. I gotta agree. Zealots suck. Religion, political, financial...

I gotta agree. Zealots suck. Religious, political, financial, or national fanatics and radicals proselytizing their dogmatic One True Path to Freedom tend to be bores (at best).

[NightWatcher]

51. The all knowing all seeing demands praise but killed his kid for us and hates the gays that he made?

So glad I'm a born again atheist.

The supreme being has a lot of the same hang ups that my ignorant bigoted family has. Funny how that works.

[zentrum]

52. Interesting theory

…..of why they like Trump and see him as almost magical. Also, I think many of their authoritarian fathers are punitive and vindictive like this.

George Lakoff's theory comes to mind.

[Skittles]

54. I am so very sorry lunatica

it is hard to cut off family members but you did the right thing - stuff like that is not good for YOUR mental health.....so many people think they have to tolerate family because, well, it's family - no, they do NOT.........ditch these kind of people and be around folk who love you for who you are and who truly care

[lunatica]

65. I agree with you

Many times families are much better off not staying close.

[gilligan]

55. Say

Three hail Mary's and call me in the morning.

[DUgosh]

56. My older sisters

Joined John Hagees Cornerstone church San Antonio in the mid nineties. Probably spoken less than one hundred words apiece since then. I don’t even miss them anymore.

[hurl]

57. Sorry to hear

I grew up immersed in similar beliefs, and many of my family members still are not free of them. I think it comes down to the fact that some people have a hard time fathoming an 'us' without a 'them.'

[pansypoo53219]

58. taint it funny these born agains ignore jesus to embrace mainly the old testament.

pretty sure jesus didn't mention teh gays. OR ABORTION.

[pazzyanne]

72. You just put into words what I do whenever my Evangelical sister starts her crap with me.

She gives me lectures mostly from the Old Testament and Revelations, and I counter with New Testament quotes which really angers her for some reason. We both grew up in the Lutheran church so I really do not get it at all. I just know I had to put her out of my life for my own sanity. It hurts, but it is healthier for me. Thanks for sharing.

[world wide wally]

59. They always forget the part about love

[LiberalFighter]

60. Strange how there is no mention of Hell in the OT.

[woundedkarma]

61. In roughly the same boat

Religious nut of a sister. She used to be a person I got along with. Then she moved to West Virginia.

Her gay daughter once told me that of course she's going to burn in hell. She's a good person who wouldn't hurt a flea.. like literally, she'd rather not hurt bugs or anything else. But according to the way she was raised she's so horrible she'll burn in hell for eternity.

And it's her mom who's allowed her to believe this.

I really think this sort of religion needs to be declared a mental illness.

[CanonRay]

62. I have some pretty conservative cousins

but nothing on this scale...sorry it happened to your sister.

[FakeNoose]

63. It's possible to stage an intervention for your sister

If everyone in your family, and her very oldest friends, agrees to participate. It's not easy for those involved and there's no guarantee that she'll be convinced that she has a problem. I'm very sorry for you and your family. The cult has kidnapped and brainwashed her, and apparently she was willing to let it happen.

Good luck!

[lunatica]

66. Unfortunately that kind of emotional dependency

will only attach itself to something else just as bad.

I just let her live her life as she sees fit and I live mine. She needs it for some reason.

[MosheFeingold]

67. Ick

She doesn't even know her own scripture.

[WestMichRad]

71. My sympathy for the loss of your sister

I understand your plight, my sister has put herself in a similar situation. With her, the driving force has been her reborn minister husband, who has repeatedly and publicly made no secret of his disdain for her heathen brother. As in every time our paths have crossed over the past several years. Out of courtesy to my sister, I've remained non-confrontational with him.

If a consequence for being "saved" would be having to spend eternity with that sanctimonious prick, I've made the right choice already.

[BobTheSubgenius]

73. I once knew a person that I got along with quite well, oddly enough.

I knew she was very devout, but a bit taken aback when she professed her unwavering belief in Young Earth. What REALLY surprised me, though, was that she knew both the dimensions and topography of Heaven. It seemed weirdly specific.

Less surprising was her antipathy towards Mexicans.

Another once told me she would immediately and irrevocably ostracize even her son, if he turned out to be gay. It's a dandy way to live, isn't it?

[radical noodle]

76. It's much easier to keep converts

in line with fear than with love.

[EX500rider]

80. If you talk to her whip this out:

A quote from Epicurus:

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then He is not omnipotent. Is He able, but not willing? Then He is malevolent. Is He both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is He neither able nor willing? Then why call Him God?"

[keithbvadu2]

81. The newly converted often have to demonize the old ways/others to rationalize their change.

The newly converted often have to demonize the old ways/others to rationalize their change.

This can be for religion, alcohol, tobacco, weight loss, sex, most any bad habit.

[TNLib]

82. I have a couple of zealots in my family

But they have serious diagnosed mental health disorders and are now elderly. Unfortunately their kids have some of those views as well but seem to be slowly overtime changing their perspective.

[trackfan]

83. Reminds me of the quote from a comedian - I'm not sure who.

I paraphrase:

Growing up in a small, religious town in Texas, I learned two things.

One: God loves you; and you're going to burn in hell.

Two: Sex is the most awful, filthy thing on the face of the earth; and you should save it for someone you love.

[lunatica]

98. LOL

Eternal knee jerk mental acrobatics! It bypasses all logic with admirable speed and adroitness leaving the rest of us eating their dust!

[kimbutgar]

90. When hear soneone say they are born again I know they are still the same a$$holes

They were before their so called conversion.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

92. There's a born again sucker every minute.

[earthshine]

93. She needs for you to believe. It angers her because you don't, but the anger comes from deep within.

The source is her own inner doubts about her faith - the space between what she sees and what she wants to believe.

Empathetically, -- Earthshine

Faith is believing what you know ain't so. - Mark Twain

[lunatica]

99. So, in essence she can legitimize her anger

by blaming me for “trying to tell her what to think” because she is trying her best not to think it too.

Good point!

[earthshine]

101. It's basic psychology. If someone gets so angry at what you say ...

it's indicative of what they most fear, deep down inside. Often, we call it "triggering." Freud called it "resistance."

Ultimately, she's probably afraid there is no God, and no salvation after a few decades of being invested in this kind of thinking.

I forget who, but it has been said by philosophers that there is nothing scarier than "the void" (aka. the vacuum, nothingness). Even hell is better.

It's also basic psych that you can't confront her on her fear. She must figure it out on her own based on ambient evidence.

I have no advice for you other than ... send her love. Feel it as you send it. Live it, knowing it's who YOU are.

Your post hit me. Peace to you.

[Vinca]

94. My father went through a brief phase like that near the end of his life.

Once, when I happened to be visiting, I went to the megachurch with him. What a freaky experience. People speaking in tongues and the whole shebang. The only things missing were the snakes. It was like being amongst hundreds of mentally ill people.

[eppur_se_muova]

100. Confirming once again -- Man created God in his own image. nt

[TexasBushwhacker]

109. My brother Rick is like that

He was a drug addict for 25 years. Then he became Born Again and gave up drugs. At first I thought it was great. We weren't raised in a religious household, but if religion helped him stay sober, I was happy for him.

But he never lifted a finger to help care for our mother when she was dying of cancer. He was living with her while she was in remission, but when she was diagnosed with metastisis in her bones, he moved out before she even came back from the hospital. He never even visited until about 2 weeks before she died. Then he spent his time telling her that the only reason he turned to drugs was because she didn't raise us as Christians.

He married his girlfriend without telling his 7 year old daughter or inviting her to the wedding. When he finally told her, she threw a huge tantrum. He took her back to her mother and said he never wanted to see her again. His payment of her child support into a trust fund, because her mother "didn't deserve it" was spotty at best.

When Mama was on her deathbed, we called him on a Wednesday to tell him that her death was imminent and if he wanted to see her before she passed away, he should come NOW. But he didn't come on Thursday. Then he didn't come on Friday because he was "sick". And when we called him on Saturday, he said he would come to see her on Sunday after church. She died in the wee hours Sunday morning, and he was SO upset.

When I was packing up Mama's things, I found an old Bible that my grandmother gave her for her 12th birthday. It was covered in ivory leather and had my mother's name on the cover in gold letters. It was so precious. I'm not a Christian, but since he is, I thought he might like to have it. When I offered it to him in an email, he wrote back and said that he didn't want it and that it would be better for me to READ it. Of course, I read plenty of it years before.

At our father's funeral, we didn't speak. Rick's 15 year old daughter, who he hadn't seen or spoken to in 8 years, came to the funeral with her mother to pay their respects. Of course there was no avoiding her. He shook her hand and told her he had been praying for her all these years. After the funeral, he chewed my other brother out for "inviting" his daughter without asking him first. "I have heart disease! She could have given me a heart attack!"

That's right Rick. It's all about you. It always has been.

But I don't have anything against Christians. Most of my friends and extended family are Chriatians. What I hate are sanctimonious HYPOCRITES.

[lunatica]

112. This is very similar to my sister who lives in another state

She didn’t come to see my mother when she got dementia. My mother had pancreatic cancer which took five years to metastasize into all her organs until it finally killed her. She was in home palliative care for a few months before she died. My sister would write letters to my mother telling her what she wanted to inherit and badmouthing me. She also told my mother that it was my fault she couldn’t come to see her because I was so selfish that I wanted to keep her, my mother, and all her things for myself.

It was nuts. All because I questioned her God. But the real reason my sister went to all that trouble is because she didn’t want to have to take care of my mother. So she made up things to make it look like it was my fault. I wasn’t letting her be the good daughter she really yearned to be.

The good thing is that my mother wasn’t aware enough to know what was going on. That’s the only good thing about that horrible illness that I can or will ever say. I truly hope a cure is found so no family ever has to go through that ever again.

[TexasBushwhacker]

120. Ah yes. The inheritance

Rick borrowed tens of thousands of dollars from my mother over the years, never repaying her a cent. When she would ask him about it, he would tell her "take it out of my inheritance". My mother was a divorced, retired school teacher, so you can imagine how big her inheritance was. So she changed her will and split her estate 3 ways, between me, my good brother and Rick's daughter (the one he abandoned). It's no surprise he was livid. He threatened to sue and I told him if he could find a lawyer who would represent him for free to take away HIS DAUGHTER'S inheritance, he should go for it. Of course, he didn't.

[LakeArenal]

111. One thing ....

It really doesn’t matter how hateful, petty or cruel. Because as long as they “really believe” at the end they just need to say sorry to anyone I hurt, ruined or killed and I repent. Done...eternal life....
(background angels singing). 🌅

[pangaia]

113. My what a happy post.

[lunatica]

114. I know!

I can’t wait to die and go to eternal punishment in hell!

I’m so looking forward to it!

[pangaia]

116. Eh, just listen to Mozart instead.

For example--
One of the most brilliant creations in the history of western classical music..
Including an example of 5 part invertible counterpoint...!!

[panfluteman]

115. Paramahansa Yogananda, One of India's Greatest Masters of Yoga

Once referred to the fundamentalist Christian concept of God as a "cosmic dictator" in his writings. It seems like your sister has found the earthly reflection of her godly ideal of a cosmic dictator in our so-called president.

[lunatica]

119. Ive read his autobiography

Cosmic dictator is exactly the right description. A god in a perpetual bad mood.

[Blue_true]

117. I am straight. You asked the very same question that I ask religious people concerning LGBTQ

people. "Why would God want any creation reviled, hated and mistreated for no other reason than what God created that person as?". Their temple budge and they find a chore that they must rush off to attend.

[lunatica]

118. Maybe they rush to get out of the way

just in case their vengeful god strikes you dead or something.