Screw that noise. I'd be upset. I'd probably monologue for about half an hour in front of my family talking about the injustices of such a dictated holiday, especially upon those who don't believe.
Do what you want bud. Life's too short.
However, I do know that many Jewish people celebrate holidays even if they aren't believers because it is part of their strong cultural identity. So it's hard to compare with my own life, though I can at least imagine some of the struggle involved since I can relate it to my Christian de-conversion.
Originally posted by DigiMark007
Screw that noise. I'd be upset. I'd probably monologue for about half an hour in front of my family talking about the injustices of such a dictated holiday, especially upon those who don't believe.Do what you want bud. Life's too short.
However, I do know that many Jewish people celebrate holidays even if they aren't believers because it is part of their strong cultural identity. So it's hard to compare with my own life, though I can at least imagine some of the struggle involved since I can relate it to my Christian de-conversion.
Sometimes putting up with stupid holidays shows love to those people who find some meaning in the ritual.
Originally posted by Shakyamunison
Sometimes putting up with stupid holidays shows love to those people who find some meaning in the ritual.
True (I celebrate Christmas too), but I'm talking about being forced to do so. It's a very different scenario than being able to voluntarily do something for the sake of others, even if you don't believe it.
Originally posted by DigiMark007
True (I celebrate Christmas too), but I'm talking about being forced to do so. It's a very different scenario than being able to voluntarily do something for the sake of others, even if you don't believe it.
That's true, but if you love the person (people) even being forced to do something can be mutated into a positive thing.
Re: Is this god?
Originally posted by allofyousuckkk
I am forced to celebrate Yom Kippur this year, even though I have made it clear to my family I don't believe in god. They say that I am disrespectful for having a different belief and have no choice.I feel like it is going against myself to put my life on hold and not leave the house, when I have much to do. I mean, I have work at 4 tomorrow and the holiday doesnt end until you can see the third star in the sky. How rediculous is that? I'm not gonna skive off of work because my family has a different belief. That makes me look bad at work.
Is this what god is? Would "god" really want me (and countless others) forced into his rediculous holidays we don't believe in? Why should I continue the suffering of people from over 2000 years ago? You don't see African Americans taking a day to pick cotton in remembrance (that wasn't racist, it was directly connected to what I'm saying).
Not to mention the only rule is that I'm allowed to do nothing but walk and read, and use the bathroom (but I can't turn the light on! door needs to stay open)
I had a similiar situation, but not as intense.
On Thanksgiving, my parents wanted me to lead the pre-meal Prayer. They know pretty well that I am not Christian anymore, and it felt very awkward praying to a god that I don't beleive in.
So instead of saying the word "God" or "Father", i Simply said "you". I said we thank you for our meal, for all our blessings and fortunes, etc.
I did it, because I would feel horrible disrespecting my parents and thier beleifs (especially my mother who strongly beleives in God), especially in a family dinner they took the time to prepare.
I don't beleive in God, but I still celebrate Christmas, Thanksgiving, and even Easter.
God did not create those holidays. They are man-made holidays, part of human tradition, and I feel I must respect them, especially since they bring Joy and cause no harm.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Is this god?
Originally posted by BananaKing
No, but atheists don't believe god and anything about us even being energy.
They think that when we die we're gone forever and that's that.
Untrue. Science makes it clear that all matter is energy. An Athiest most likely will not deny scientific fact, which is that energy cannot be created or destroyed.
Reincarnation makes more sense to me, because the bodies we inhabit now..the atoms in those bodies are billions of years old. And those atoms that make us up right now will always exist, even after we die.
We change. All things change. All states are temporary. Death is not the ultamate end.
I beleive that the typical Atheist's beleif that there exists nothing after death, is just as wrong as a religious person's beleif in Heaven and Hell.
people are mixing materialism with atheism. materialists believe that we will die and never exist again. or sum forms of nihhlists. atheism simply means not believing in the existance of A supreme god. doesnt mean you cant believe in reincarnation or life after death or mystical forces.
as far as holidays like easter and christmas go. they are less about{generally these days} the birth of jesus or watever, but more about presents, hapiness, family joy etc. i think its great. i wud say the same about eid ul fitar to an extent oif muslims and devali etc of hindus. however, when you have more severe religious based occasions like the one you described{although i do think more newage jews living outside israel are more tolerant these days, with things like barmitzvah etc} u definately shudnt keep up with that stuff. speciallyif it humiliates your sexuality, and mostly is an occasion to become more airheaded and self righteous about the narrow minded philosophies of relegion.
cause then the message of love/family/joy etc isnt there{like it often is in christmas or heck even valentine's day.} and its a more faith based negetive thing.
as far as the thing with your parents goes, it really does depend on the parents, if you have nice loving, understanding ones, then be happy for it and cherish it. if you have good people stuck in bad faiths or life position, love them, respect them and try n not make life harder for em. on the other hand, if you have self righteous, negetive ones with no reason to be but being too full of their heritage and place in the world, then scerew em and get on with your life.
My parents aren't religious, and it only offends them because they don't want me to be "different."
My mother isn't even israeli, and she didn't celebrate. She went out to a diner for lunch.
But either way, I managed to get grounded for the rest of the weekend. I din't complain once about being forced into this, but my mom was on edge, thinking I was going to. what ensued was 12 waking hours of her lashing out at me for dumb things such as me taking to long in the bathroom and closing the door to my room to do homework. (which made me lash out)
So there, all day I dealt with this. But I guess it was somewhat better than listening to my dad speak about the superiority of "our" people. Then again, his ramblings have never ended with me being grounded. Gah.
And to add to the conversation, I don't believe that after we die we are reborn, however, our leftover energy/atoms/whatever do survive and eventually go on to create fire, new life (although it isn't really us, just a mixture of different people's atoms) etc.
Hope everyone else had a good day 🙂