Atheist With a Christian spouse

[ChairmanAgnostic]

116. Sorry, but I cannot agree.

First, there is no need to be afraid of divorce court. It can be a very liberating, freeing, and mentally healthy move. Divorces simply mean that people cannot live with one another.

Why should someone push aside their own rational thinking, just to satisfy the irrational ramblings based on a two part, mostly plagiarized, politicized, and fanciful collection of fairy tales? The fact that someone has been mentally abused since birth, learning about a virgin birth, adam and eve, the parting of some sea, and feeding a crowd with one loaf and one dead fish, does not mean that the spouse has to bend over and play mentally crippled, just to satisfy her warped faith.

Divorce might be the healthiest choice. I, too was married to a bible beater, and but for her bipolar disorder, her suicidal tendencies, and her physical abuse, I probably would have tried to stick it out longer. But it was the bible beating that really made things horrific. When someone is convinced of some irrational ideas (like faith and prayer heals) and lived their life by that code, nothing good can come from it. Divorce may be the only answer.

Second, if someone truly loves their partner, and they see them going down an insane path, what is wrong with trying to disconnect that collection of fairy tales from her life? If done carefully, with respect and love, it can be done. But you really have to cherish that person and be careful of relapses.

Third, she may not have had a choice in how she conducted her life. Her determination of her future, and her self-identity may have been molded by ministers, priests, and other brain-washing types, forcing in the fear of god, and forcing out rational thought. How can we NOT try to help those afflicted?

I view religion as a disease. What good does it do, except make televangelists very rich, and keep the sheeple afraid of their own shadow? Did prayer stop a flood? A tornado? A hurricane? Did tithing ever prevent a pandemic? Did strict religious behavior and beliefs ever regrow an amputated leg, or return sight to an eyeball shot out in Iraq?

It is a fool's argument to suggest that I cannot ask for proof.

Here's the deal. A couple of people decide that they know best, so they concoct a religion. They weren't necessarily evil, perhaps they were simply trying to find out why eating shellfish might kill you one time, and taste great the next. Or why a blood transfusion saves someone, but kills another. Or why there is lighting, earthquakes, and drought.

Eventually, they get more organized. They make the rules, they are the deciders. They determine your sin and the punishment you will get.
When you ask for proof of their godly intent, they say, "You Must Have Faith!" and failure to do so will cause you severe problems. If you pray, and your ill child still dies, it was because you did not pray hard enough, or that you had questions within your faith, or best of all, It Was God's Will!

What an absolute load of crap.