Religious people are weird.

[Shinobi]

I was waiting to cross the road at the lights and across the street, out the front of a real estate agents was a person talking loudly to people in the street. I couldn't hear him and thought he must be some guy advertising for the real estate, when I crossed the street and got closer I saw that he was a christian preaching to people, everyone was ignoring him.

Once when I was on the bus to college I saw this woman standing beside a busy intersection holding a board above her head and slowly rotating around, I thought that's a bit strange then when she was facing in my direction I saw that there was a picture of jesus on the board, and I think she was reading stuff out loud off the other side of it.

Lesson of the day: Religious people do funny things.

[Starboy]

It amazes me that religious people are not more wacky. These are people that have been taught that spirits rule the universe, that these spirits possess people in various ways and we should listen to them. All the supernatural religions of the world teach some version of this. What amazes me is that over 54% of the population in the US believes this. No wonder all of our jobs are going off shore. The number of jobs that exist in the economy that is compatible with magical thinking shrinks daily.

Starboy

[Ronin]

Once when I was on the bus to college I saw this woman standing beside a busy intersection holding a board above her head and slowly rotating around, I thought that's a bit strange then when she was facing in my direction I saw that there was a picture of jesus on the board, and I think she was reading stuff out loud off the other side of it.

Could you hear what she was saying?

She might have been scalping Ted Nugent tickets...or singing Wango Tango.

[Ellis14]

I was pretty whacky when I believed in God. "At least God knows what I'm doing, even if these people don't understand". Of course you don't realise how whacky you are until you wake up and realise that those people were real and your God was not.

Makes me feel silly when I look back.

[Greger]

For those of you who plan to travel to Stockholm, there's a real treat running around at the central station. She's pretty infamous in Stockholm, since everyone seems to have seen her do her thing. All she ever does is run around and preach to the passer-byers how Jesus reached out to her and healed her crippled arm. :D

But I guess she's sort of a "blessing" to us cold Swedes. She puts smiles on our faces, and for a joyful minute, strangers smile and talk to eachother about the crazy Jesus lady. :D

[Ojuice5001]

Originally posted by Starboy
No wonder all of our jobs are going off shore. The number of jobs that exist in the economy that is compatible with magical thinking shrinks daily.

Starboy

I think you'll find that lower wages and less governmental regulation play quite a big role in this as well....Also, the Asians aren't really less superstitious than we are; they're just better at not letting it interfere with natural thinking, just as we're better at it than the Muslims.

[Krosis]

Moved to Secular Lifestyle as we've had many discussions of this nature there.. (a few started by your truly.. ;)

-Krosis GRD moderator

[Ftoomsch]

On one occasion I went to a local Rent-a-Wreck and rented a car. The employee took me out and was driving the car around the block of a residential neighborhood as a means of orienting me to the car. He suddenly stopped in the middle of the street, mid-block, put the car in park and started asking me if I knew Jesus. I was furious and felt trapped in the car, and also was thinking what if this guy is some kind of dangerous nut? I am female and was alone in the car with him. It was my home town, but how much more nervous would I have felt if I was in an unfamiliar place? These thoughts only served to make me angry, and I told him I am an atheist and was not interested in hearing about his religious beliefs. As is inevitable, he said he'd pray for me. If I had had any choice in the matter I would have cancelled the car but I was in a bind on that particular day, unfortunately. It is always satisfying to be able to complain with your pocketbook! Needless to say I will never go back to that particular location again.

[Shinobi]

There's this guy who hangs out the front of Town Hall in Sydney with a mic and speaker talking about bizarre stuff, satan is out to get you, evolution is proven wrong stuff like that. Once I saw him on the train and his speaker was blaring out chistian music. A rather imbalanced individual I must say.

[Zygote]

Is it that religion makes people weird ...

... or that weird people are drawn to religion?


I know a middle aged man from an upstanding atheist family who turned to religion during high school. He uses his religion as a yardstick for his life decisions. Turns out he's been mildly bipolar for the past several decades. I guess the religion gave him some objective guidelines that he could follow regardless of his mood swings. Now that he's on medication and getting some therapy, he doesn't talk about his religion nearly as much.

[Shinobi]

Is it that religion makes people weird ...

Good question, maybe one that deserves it's own thread. I remember someone on the board saying that he had worked in mental institutions and never found one mad atheist. Of course if 90% of the population is religious that doesn't say much. (exept that maybe 90% of people are mad.) :confused:

Ever seen a wierd guy walking the street, shouting loudly that there are no gods and that these myths were invented to keep people docile?

[Ronin]

Ever seen a wierd guy walking the street, shouting loudly that there are no gods and that these myths were invented to keep people docile?

Ummm...no.

Why?

What have you heard?

[dimpledop]

Originally posted by Ftoomsch
...He suddenly stopped in the middle of the street, mid-block, put the car in park and started asking me if I knew Jesus. I was furious and felt trapped in the car... Needless to say I will never go back to that particular location again.

That's infuriating. That employee tossed courtesy out the window.

I hope you notified the manager of that Wrent-a-Wreck location of the reason for your decision. Otherwise the employee will simply repeat the same self-gratifying behaviour on others. Good businesses like to know what factors go into a consumer's decisions. You might have even scored yourself a discount on a future rental.

And if the manager didn't care, then there's a head office out there somewhere that would probably like to know about your mis-treatment.

[Plognark]

Try going to salem massachusettes on halloween. The freakiest freaks are the bible thumping holy vengeance whackos screaming at the tourists while the goth witch and vampires wannabees point and snicker.

It is truly interesting :D

[Face]

Originally posted by Ftoomsch
On one occasion I went to a local Rent-a-Wreck and rented a car. The employee took me out and was driving the car around the block of a residential neighborhood as a means of orienting me to the car. He suddenly stopped in the middle of the street, mid-block, put the car in park and started asking me if I knew Jesus.

That is nothing to play around with, like the pilot who called everyone crazy who didn't believe in Jesus.

By way of example - when I was in high school YEARS ago there was a small-town incident wherein a girl at another school got accosted by a pair of older men preaching on the street. She flipped them off, and one of them grabbed her by the wrist and held her for a minute while the other read to her from the Bible. Now, they meant and did no real harm aside from scaring the crap out of her, and were of course peacefully arrested, warned, and released, while protesting that they were only doing God's work to save those led by Satan.

I'm NOT SAYING that all religious folk are nuts - they aren't. But the ones who risk public mocking, condemnation and insult by standing on street corners or stopping you in public should be avoided or politely repulsed rather than confronted, because it is impossible to tell if you've run into that one exception who IS crazy enough to do something unpleasant.

[Starboy]

Originally posted by Face
... because it is impossible to tell if you've run into that one exception who IS crazy enough to do something unpleasant.

The fact that they are already doing something unpleasant should be the tip off. Now if we could just get people to notice the unpleasant things they are doing to our government.

Starboy

[Deacon Doubtmonger]

We've got a placard-waving antiabortion schmuckass in Denver who parades the 16th Street Mall dressed as Abraham Lincoln.

[4th Generation Atheist]

Originally posted by Zygote
Is it that religion makes people weird ...

... or that weird people are drawn to religion?


I also find this an interesting question. My opinion would b a little of both.

I once ran across some advice about religious-themed television and other media, intended for family members of those with mental illness (specifically psychotic-type bipolarity and schizophrenia). Odd ideas about religion apparently often crop up in those with such afflictions, causing them to be attracted to those religions and sects that offer intense emotional experiences and apocalyptic or other dramatic mythology. It's apparently something involving the "promise of order" and its attractions for a confused and anxious mind, and a context for an intense inner life. So at least sometimes it appears that reliogion is attracting at least some sorts of "weird" prople.

OTOH, there seem to be times when previously "not-weird" people become religious and then begin spouting weird ideas, often simply parroting them from others in the sect. When these individuals break with the sect, through "deprogramming" or other means, or lose interest, they get embarrassed and apologetic and the weird ideas disappear. It doesn't appear that any type of mental illness one would find in the DMSR has much to do with it, at least not any obvious psychosis (at risk of opening a can-of-worms, maybe the "fantasy-prone" thing?). The odd ideas in that case seem to stem only from the religion itself. In that case, is it because the person had some hidden mental illness? (My mother would certainly have thought so; I'm not so sure). There are also those "mainstream" religions where you could work with someone who has it and it would be a year before you knew, because they never talk about it and don't act especially funny.

So that's why I'd think "a little of both".

(Mods: if you do decide to split this thread, go ahead and put this post in the other one.....;) )

[Philosoft]

I was referreeing a volleyball tournament this past weekend. One of the coaches I know apparently had a player (a 15-year-old girl) who was supposed to do something on Saturday toward her Confirmation, which was to take her from the tournament early.

A discussion ensued with the parents, the child and the coach. The child asked her mother if she really had to do whatever it was right then, whereupon her mother replied (paraphrasing), "Honey, I can't believe you would risk your eternal soul for volleyball!"

[Reynard]

This happened a few years ago:

My son, about 10 at the time, and I were at a McDonalds located in a nearby mall. The area we were sitting was empty of people. This guy, who had a strange spaced-out, angry look, walked up to our table and said to me, "God doesn't like you, Jesus doesn't like you, and I don't like you". I wasn't sure if he had a gun or knife. I told my son, who was really scared (so was I!), "Greg, I want you to slide out and run like hell into the mall." He did. I then got up and did likewise. I reported the incident to security and we left the mall.

At the time, there was a state-run psychiatric facility about 1/2 mile from the mall. I suspect that he got out of that facility. Perhaps he was on some kind of release program. I brought this up to mall security and they told me that they intended to contact the mental facility. I don't know if they did.

More recently, I was at home and spotted these two guys walking up my driveway. They looked like identical twins. Both were dressed in black, except for their white shirts; their ties were black. This was contrasted by their crewcut very blond hair. One was carrying the bible, the other a pile of brochures. When I opened the door, and before I could say, "Bug off! I'm an atheist.", one of them said, "Were here to save you". I then said, "Bug off! I'm an atheist. I don't want saving." They left. They may have been JW's; I'm not sure.

But it was all so surreal. They were like cartoon Grim Reapers. I was reminded of characters out of Clint Eastwood's metaphorical western spaghetti flicks.