a little factoid. the crosses in lv

[Orrex]

13. Anyone can pray for whoever they want. But keep me out of it.

As soon as they tell me that they're praying for me, they have no choice but to accept my response. Otherwise, they're not praying for me; they're praying at me and for themselves.

My elderly neighbor tells me all the time that she's praying for me, when I've repeatedly told her that I'm atheist.

"Oh," she says, smiling. "You're really a Christian, inside."

Because I am a considerate and helpful neighbor, she simply can't comprehend how someone could live that way without being driven by fear of hellfire, or whatever.

But every time she says it, I hear very clearly that she has no respect for my views.

The same is true for "well-meaning" people who send "thoughts and prayers" or who are "praying for me" or who tell me that "God has a plan." Fuck all of that. It is meaningless to me, and if they respected me in the slightest, they would understand that it is meaningless to me.

Consider the reverse: how would the "well-meaning" believer react if I told them that "the universe is an uncaring void, and the soul is a fairytale meant to soothe the fear of death" immediately after they'd suffered a tragic loss? Only an asshole would do such a thing, because it would be obvious that I am ignoring their beliefs in favor of mine.

The same is true when they insist on telling me that they're praying for me.