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The Rat
SFN Regular
Canada
1370 Posts |
 Posted - 05/10/2010 : 19:19:31 [Permalink]
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I was asked to say grace once, so I said, and truthfully I might add, "I'll give you the one our regimental chaplain used to give in the field: Rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub, YEAH GOD!". They nervously chuckled and we carried on. Yes, I had already been into the wine.  |
Bailey's second law; There is no relationship between the three virtues of intelligence, education, and wisdom.
You fiend! Never have I encountered such corrupt and foul-minded perversity! Have you ever considered a career in the Church? - The Bishop of Bath and Wells, Blackadder II
Baculum's page: http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=3947338590 |
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Machi4velli
SFN Regular
USA
854 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2010 : 22:51:49 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by H. Humbert
Originally posted by Machi4velli
If there's a direct question, just say you personally don't believe in the ritual, otherwise, just sit there and let them do their ritual.
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Or just start eating. I mean if their ritual is taking so long that food is going cold, I see no reason to keep sitting there mute and motionless. |
How long are these prayers? I would imagine food keeps its heat for 10 or 15 minutes o_O |
"Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people."
-Giordano Bruno
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge."
-Stephen Hawking
"Seeking what is true is not seeking what is desirable"
-Albert Camus |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 02:51:42 [Permalink]
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And on the flip side of the coin:
Ga. Seniors Told They Can't Pray Before Meals
Posted: 1:55 pm EDT May 8, 2010
PORT WENTWORTH, Ga. -- Preston Blackwelder proudly showed off a painting of his grandmother that had hung next to the front door of his Port Wentworth home.
She was the woman who led him to God, Blackwelder said Friday.
And with that firm religious footing, Blackwelder said it would be preposterous to stop praying before meals at Port Wentworth's Ed Young Senior Citizens Center near Savannah because of a federal guideline.
"She would say pray anyway," Blackwelder said of his grandmother. "She'd say don't listen."
But Senior Citizens Inc. officials said Friday the meals they are contracted by the city to provide to Ed Young visitors are mostly covered with federal money, which ushers in the burden of separating church and state.
On Thursday, the usual open prayer before meals at the center was traded in for a moment of silence.
The dilemma is being hashed out by the Port Wentworth city attorney, said Mayor Glenn "Pig" Jones.
Tim Rutherford, Senior Citizens Inc. vice president, said some of his staff recently visited the center and noticed people praying shortly before lunch was served. Rutherford said his company provides meals like baked chicken, steak tips and rice and salads at a cost of about $6 a plate. Seniors taking the meals pay 55 cents and federal money foots the rest of the bill, Rutherford said.
"We can't scoff at their rules," he said of federal authorities. "It's a part of the operational guidelines."
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The way I see it, if you want to pray, then do so with my blessing (for whatever that's worth). If you don't, then don't. I think that in this case, the authorities are full of shit. The prayers are individual acts, not organized by the center, and therefore none of anyone's damned business.
I'm agreein' with Blackwelder's granny.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 06:55:09 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by filthy
I think that in this case, the authorities are full of shit. The prayers are individual acts, not organized by the center, and therefore none of anyone's damned business. |
Yup. If the company providing the meals is not leading the prayers, then there's no risk to the funding and the company has no business telling their clients that they can't pray. The Mayor is on the right side of this, but is being far too tentative. The ACLU could have this straightened out in no time, by meeting with the company officials and telling them what's what (and threatening a lawsuit, if needed).
Someone with Senior Citizens, Inc., is far overstepping their authority, probably due to an overabundance of caution. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 16:41:52 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Ebone4rock
A custom that I am frequently subjected to by my in law family is praying at meal time.
I'm not talking a nice short " Good bread good meat good God lets eat" but a long drawn out process where the person doing the praying racks his/her brain to try to think of everyone and everything possible to bless. The whole process can take anywhere from 2-5 minutes. Sometimes the food is cold by the time this whole praying process is over.
It doesn't just happen for a home cooked meal at someones house. It happens at restaurants, McRonalds, or even just grabbing a quick hotdog somewhere.
Sometimes my brother in law will throw me under the bus and say " I think it's E-Bone's turn to pray". At that point I will usually say "No, Sissy is much better at praying" and then kick his ass later when no one is looking.
Sometimes when I am particularly annoyed I will be flipping the bird under the table while the praying is going on. Immature and disrespectful, I know, but it makes me feel better.
Does anyone else have to deal with this? If so what do you do?
Comments are also welcome.
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The little kid in me starts off with
"My most adoring and powerful, Satan".
With some of the fast food, I'd say he has to prove that you are eating food for the prayer.
I was asked to do the prayer one year at a family gathering. I involked Ra and Isis. They never asked me to do it again. |
Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion |
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Ebone4rock
SFN Regular
USA
894 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 16:50:54 [Permalink]
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The little kid in me starts off with
"My most adoring and powerful, Satan".
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Oh how I would love to do that.
I tried claiming I was a Satanist to my brother in law but it freaked him out too much. It was mistake on my part. I had to spend a whole weekend with him trying to save my soul. Drinking and talking about religion don't mix. |
Haole with heart, thats all I'll ever be. I'm not a part of the North Shore society. Stuck on the shoulder, that's where you'll find me. Digging for scraps with the kooks in line. -Offspring |
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podcat
Skeptic Friend
435 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 19:52:23 [Permalink]
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| Or, if you are asked to say grace, you just simply say, "Ok......'Grace'". :P |
“In a modern...society, everybody has the absolute right to believe whatever they damn well please, but they don't have the same right to be taken seriously”.
-Barry Williams, co-founder, Australian Skeptics |
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moakley
SFN Regular
USA
1888 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 21:46:30 [Permalink]
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"Come O Lord be our guest. Let this food thus be blessed. Amen"
At my in-laws, my brother-in-law would say these lines when asked until he died at 22. At 16, while watching movies, he simply stated that he did not believe in god. Well, Thank god for brevity. My father-in-law use to keep it short, too. |
Life is good
Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned. -Anonymous |
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R.Wreck
SFN Regular
USA
1191 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2010 : 11:56:09 [Permalink]
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For many years my wife and I (and later with the kids) would go to her aunt and uncle's for Thanksgiving and Easter. The pre-meal prayer was always brief and not too irritating, and I would sit at the table with everyone for the twenty seconds it took. A few years ago her 20-something cousin and the cousin's husband got everyone to stand in a circle in the kitchen, holding hands, for a prayer (which turned out to be one of those rambling beseachments ending in "we pray thid in the name of our lord, Jesus Christ"). When asked to participate, I simply said "No thanks" and went into the living room to catch a few minutes of football. Nobody gave me any crap about it, or even asked why I didn't join in. I know my mother-in-law, who was there, knows I don't believe in a god, but she's never made an issue out of it.
I figure that the hosts can do, or allow, whatever they want, and as long as I can opt out, that's fine. They don't give me shit for not praying, and I don't give them shit for wasting their time. |
The foundation of morality is to . . . give up pretending to believe that for which there is no evidence, and repeating unintelligible propositions about things beyond the possibliities of knowledge.
T. H. Huxley
The Cattle Prod of Enlightened Compassion
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Elmo the Clown
New Member
31 Posts |
Posted - 05/20/2010 : 11:40:54 [Permalink]
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Jesus H Hoping Christ. What is wrong with being a gracious guest in their home and respecting their ritual? Does it cause you physical pain or emotional distress? If so.. stifle it anyway, and contact a psychiatrist.
If you have to participate how about "Thank our hosts for preparing this delicious meal." or, maybe "Thank our hosts for their daughter, who I worship." (well, worship might not be the right word). |
Support a clown, buy a luury cruise from www.ChicLuxuryCruises.com (or any cruise...) |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 05/20/2010 : 11:57:52 [Permalink]
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Welcome to the Skeptic Friends Network, Elmo!Originally posted by Elmo the Clown
Does it cause you physical pain or emotional distress? If so.. stifle it anyway, and contact a psychiatrist. |
Wow. The folks who are distressed by other people talking to invisible beings with superpowers are the ones who need psychiatric care?! Just wow. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Ebone4rock
SFN Regular
USA
894 Posts |
Posted - 05/20/2010 : 12:25:52 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Elmo the Clown
Jesus H Hoping Christ. What is wrong with being a gracious guest in their home and respecting their ritual? Does it cause you physical pain or emotional distress? If so.. stifle it anyway, and contact a psychiatrist.
If you have to participate how about "Thank our hosts for preparing this delicious meal." or, maybe "Thank our hosts for their daughter, who I worship." (well, worship might not be the right word).
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Thank you for the wonderful advice. I'll get right on that. |
Haole with heart, thats all I'll ever be. I'm not a part of the North Shore society. Stuck on the shoulder, that's where you'll find me. Digging for scraps with the kooks in line. -Offspring |
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Elmo the Clown
New Member
31 Posts |
Posted - 05/20/2010 : 13:19:41 [Permalink]
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Gees... Dave. You expect tens of thousands of years of pre-disposition to religion to be weeded out in our lifetime?
If one is actually generally distressed by simple giving thanks.... They need a thicker skin or better meds. Now, by all means, be distressed that there are folks who want a theocracy. Be distressed that folks want Shira law enacted.
And if ones conscious, sense of self importance, and ego are so great to think that one would do anything but get smug enjoyment out of the silliness of other peoples faith, well, then you know why so many people think atheists are asshats. |
Support a clown, buy a luury cruise from www.ChicLuxuryCruises.com (or any cruise...) |
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Ebone4rock
SFN Regular
USA
894 Posts |
Posted - 05/20/2010 : 14:14:43 [Permalink]
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Gees... Dave. You expect tens of thousands of years of pre-disposition to religion to be weeded out in our lifetime?
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I'm not Dave but since it's my story I'm going to respond.
I do think that it is entirely possible to eradicate religion in the course of two generations. It would take a huge effort by all of humanity but I think it could be done.
If one is actually generally distressed by simple giving thanks.... They need a thicker skin or better meds. Now, by all means, be distressed that there are folks who want a theocracy. Be distressed that folks want Shira law enacted.
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Does it appear that I am distressed about this or does it appear that I am attempting to discuss the subject with some like minded people to see if anyone has similar experiences?
| And if ones conscious, sense of self importance, and ego are so great to think that one would do anything but get smug enjoyment out of the silliness of other peoples faith, well, then you know why so many people think atheists are asshats. |
The silliness get real old after a while and turns into disdain. I don't mind being thought of as an asshat when it is coming from a dumbass. |
Haole with heart, thats all I'll ever be. I'm not a part of the North Shore society. Stuck on the shoulder, that's where you'll find me. Digging for scraps with the kooks in line. -Offspring |
| Edited by - Ebone4rock on 05/20/2010 14:15:46 |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 05/20/2010 : 17:19:31 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Elmo the Clown
Gees... Dave. You expect tens of thousands of years of pre-disposition to religion to be weeded out in our lifetime? |
No, but that doesn't mean I need to stand idly by while ludicrous rituals are being performed. Justice by tooth and claw is a genetic predisposition we rightfully frown at, so we have precedent for working to overcome our biological natures.| If one is actually generally distressed by simple giving thanks.... |
Ah, a strawman argument. I give thanks all the time, to real people. I don't give thanks to delusions.| They need a thicker skin or better meds. |
Again, the suggestion that I'm the one who has a mental disorder. Most of the people who claim to talk to God get put away for their own safety. Most of the people who "pray" do not, yet it is the exact same behavior. But I'm the one who needs medication. You've got things backwards.| Now, by all means, be distressed that there are folks who want a theocracy. Be distressed that folks want Shira law enacted. |
Why not be distressed at all examples of brain cells going to waste? We have real problems here on Earth, and an extra five seconds here and there of thought could go a long way to solving them. All serious consideration of nonsense is therefore a frivolous abuse of a limited resource.| And if ones conscious, sense of self importance, and ego are so great to think that one would do anything but get smug enjoyment out of the silliness of other peoples faith, well, then you know why so many people think atheists are asshats. |
You're just making things up as you go along, aren't you? You just invented a pathology to explain my distress. Didn't even bother to ask.
Besides, the smugness is why people think atheists are asshats. I don't feel smug when faced with rampant irrationality, I feel dismay. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Praying at meal time
