Ask Tim: Tolerance from religious folk
A reader and
fellow blogger writes (from his bike computer I'm sure):
Do you have an explanation for why the holy-rolling crowd seems to leave you alone? You make some fairly inflammatory statements here toward religion (which I enjoy by the way), yet you never seem to get preached at for it. In my case, if I endorse a certain type/brand/style of bicycle, I often have two or three people who give me shit for it.
Zeus bless.
This question intrigued me. Some of my regular readers may already know that I am not religious, and sometimes it may even come across in my writing. While some of it may be inflammatory, that is not my sole intention. Most of it is just goofy, so they probably figure it's not worth their time. But in the spirit of your letter, I'll try to stretch the limits of what I can get away with. Without further ado (except this) (and this - okay after writing this I need to add here that this could be highly offensive if one doesn't realize I'm completely kidding - most of my friends are religious, and most of them are wonderful people):
- Religious people are too stupid to use computers
While religious people are indeed among the most stupid living things, this is not likely. Computers (which are not religious) do most of the work for the faithful these days.
- Religious people only appear to be leaving me alone - they are actually praying vigorously for me to be struck by lightning or crushed by an anvil falling from the sky
You see, religious people think that prayer is more than just talking to yourself. Here's an interesting anecdote. At my parents church, they had a certain committee that had been meeting for a while, but hadn't done anything. My mother came home one night, and told me that they had finally done something. What had they done? They had agreed to pray for help with their task. Wow. Congratu-fucking-lations.
- Many people are religious about things besides god
Even though many people will claim they are religious, they are actually more devoted to other aspects of life. For some people it is bikes, as you mention. For others, it is professional sports. Many vegetarians are zealots who wish to proselytize as much as the most annoying evangelical Christian. This does not explain why my site doesn't get much heat, but rather why yours does. In my case, people have only wasted time if they are wrong about god. But in the case of bicycles, people have wasted their money!
- Religious people don't feel the need to judge others, because they realize that god will do this at judgement day
And if you believe this, I have a bridge that I'd like to sell you, and then push you off of.
Posted by mill1991 at January 18, 2005 01:18 PM
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