I'm so tired of seeing posts like these in my Facebook feed. They're click-bait at best - and that's saying a lot. At worst, they're mindless, narcissistic time-wasting tripe designed to draw people into a vicious circle of cultist fantasy and a celebratory rejection of reality.
You know the posts I mean, right? Pictures of infants, men, women or children injured, abused, sick, dying - and sometimes even suffering animals - "don't scroll past without praying or saying 'amen'" they proclaim in the accompanying texts.
Why?
Why do I object to having these obscene, ignorant and pointless items forced on me by people who have requested the privilege of my "friendship" on Facebook - which implies naturally that I will have to see their posts in my news feed? What makes them think I would want to see voyeuristic, inane mindless drivel like this on a daily basis?
Babies with swollen bodies looking like grapes about to burst, veterans with missing limbs picking up the pieces of their broken lives, car accident victims with their brains splattered on the pavement, diseased skeletal kids living in famine, cities being carpet-bombed or unarmed protesters being killed in the name of "freedom and democracy" - and a slightly fire-damaged cathedral that has received billions of euros overnight in donations from conceited billionaires looking for another tax-break, while all these terrible things continue to go on around us?
You don't need "prayer" to help others, dearie - you need a conscience. Those people in the pictures don't need "prayers" - they need doctors, medicine, pain killers, food, water, emergency aid, love and refuge - they need an end to war and corporate greed; they need a change in global mindset, including yours - not some pious numbnut sitting in her bedroom mumbling to herself.
Don't I care about human suffering? Don't I care about helping sick and suffering children? Of course I do - but how will wringing my hands, getting choked up and crying real tears and talking to myself - or typing 'amen' on your posts help anyone?
Is there a "donate" button on your post? Is there an address to send food or supplies to? Is there anything useful, practical or real that would help, that your post asks people to do?
No, you're asking for "likes", "shares" and saying "amen". ...Really.
When I point this out to these people - before I routinely remove them from my friends list (and sometimes block them) - I am also sometimes attacked in retaliation (expected) and sometimes - like today - accused of being "arrogant".
"Arrogant" eh?
Aside from the arrogance of these people routinely posting religious crap all over Facebook where everyone - non-lemmings included - sees it? Aside from the attitude of "if you don't like it, just scroll by" - you still see it when you scroll by... Is that not arrogance? Of course not - that's just "sincerely held religious beliefs" in action *sarcasm intended*.
Let's examine this problem critically from a logical viewpoint for a moment:
You make or share these posts because you believe in God - not so? Obviously, you believe that asking that same God to alleviate the suffering of others will be enough to convince God to do something to help them? (Because you asked them to? - goes to "arrogance".)
Did you ever ask yourself why "God" would allow such suffering in the first place? What did an infant do to deserve getting bone cancer? To "punish" the parents perhaps? This is the sort of mindset that emerged during the plague years in Medieval times - "you're obviously being punished with those boils because you're not praying enough - get thee to church at once to repent, brother!" (I have to ask - what kind of monster would inflict a terrible disease on a child - for ANY reason? - but I digress.)
Is logic such an alien concept? This is the 21st century - WHY are we still having this argument?
So a child has a dread disease - or someone's husband or wife is dying in hospital with tubes stuck in every orifice, or little Timmy fell down a well... So you make or share a post to ask people to "pray" for "God" to help...
Did you ever, in all your life, pause to ask yourself why "God" would withhold its help - OR wait for YOU to ask or beg for its intervention before helping? (Is that not arrogance?) Another question that bakes my noodle is - WHY would that same "God" - whom we are told and expected to believe cares so much about each individual - allow something so terrible to befall anyone anyway?
AND does "God" wait for a certain number of "prayers" for intercession BEFORE interceding? Why is that? Didn't you ever wonder?
"Sorry, Jim, your month-old baby has bone cancer - better hope your Facebook post gets enough "likes", "shares" and "amens", or he's done for. Love you, God."
Furthermore, if your prayers fail and the child continues to suffer, or dies - you tend to claim that this misfortune is "God's will" - and "God answered your prayers - he just said 'no'"... What kind of allegedly all-powerful "God" would do that? What kind of idiot sits there and numbly accepts it?
Further, Christians like to claim that "it's not up to us to question God's will." Why not? Because people might start to actually think rationally and figure this whole religion scheme out and see it for what it is - a heap of steaming mind-control social-conditioning bullshit?
"Sorry, Mike - I could've helped you miss that landmine, but well, that's just My Will after all... plus, you knew what you signed up for. At least you have your other leg and most of your fingers. Don't forget to thank me."
"The operation to restore your sight wasn't a success, Kim - you see, I put that brain tumor there, because I wanted you to go blind at 17 and spend the rest of your life groping around in darkness. Isn't my special plan for your life great?"
Say "amen", "like" and share. Don't scroll by without doing that, or it means you're heartless, right?
"Hank, your son was hit by a drunk driver who veered onto the wrong side of the road. It was a head-on collision - he's paralyzed from the neck down and will need assisted breathing for the rest of his life - the other man was killed instantly, so he's really lucky to be alive."
"Mary, we prayed as hard as we could, but your boyfriend died anyway. It was just his time to go - the Lord called him home."
What does all that say about "God"?
The only possible answers are 1) "God" doesn't exist, or 2) "God" is a monster.
Even more importantly, what does that say about YOU for clinging to obviously flawed beliefs?
Because "God" is either fictitious OR monstrous, you too are a monster for championing continued belief in and obedience to a monster in spite of its monstrosity - and THAT is arrogance.
This is why I'm an atheist - because I am not a monster.
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All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2019.
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