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Permalink Reply by david garcia on November 18, 2012 at 2:07pm

Here is the deal  religious people and people who believe in witchcraft specially the older ones ..its not worth it to argue with them.. like your step mom she will probably believe and there isn’t much we can do for them ..however people your age you can help.. you CANT argue with these people like if it wa any other subject ...this subject... is special and fragile you have to go about it the right way to be effective. Now I have got in a lot of arguments and it does get heated and people start thinking your the devil  tempting their faith… and that is not good because what that does is it makes them go back to their faith stronger then ever.. I am still learning how to effectively communicate with them … this is my only tip for you .. Never go after their god … never trust me … what you need to do is learn how to use the Socratic method. .. (Im just learning it my self but) .. and go after thier faith ... .. it means no more arguing.. this is good.. what you do is you ask questions.. .and let them realize on their own while they are answering you that their faith dosent make sense.. so step one learn how to use the Socratic method on little things first then start Appling it to religion and faith …like you step mom i could tell you what i would have done .. she’s too old and probably stuburn .. it would be a waste of energy.....  if you want ill give you some examples.. good job standing up reason though 

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Permalink Reply by Kari Huizar on November 18, 2012 at 2:44pm

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Stewart Pietersen on November 18, 2012 at 2:46pm

There is no difference in believing in god and believing in witchcraft. So I don't know why one is seen as reasonable and the other isn't? Both are based on ancient superstitions and have no basis in reality.

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Permalink Reply by Kari Huizar on November 18, 2012 at 4:16pm

You're right. Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Stephen B Boudreau on November 19, 2012 at 2:55am

I think what needs to be done with aggressive people like this woman is simply state you have your views and I have mine. No need to get into it, of course unless you wish to, though it may be at the expense of your uncles affection. We all need to carefully pic our battles in life and this one seems to be one I would brush aside. All my uncles have passed on and I miss them. So enjoy your uncles Love and affection. But certainly, respectfully decline any of that silliness.

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Permalink Reply by kOrsan on November 19, 2012 at 4:21am

You don't. Just like you don't deal with rabid dogs or the mentally insane. Those kind of people are beyond any help and reasoning, so just try to get away from them as soon as you can and let them live what's left of their miserable little lives to the end. Save yourself.

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Permalink Reply by Marc Poulin on November 19, 2012 at 8:34am

*Like*

I was going to suggest pointing and laughing, but running away is good too. 

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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on November 19, 2012 at 10:54am

La Bruja

Kari, my son is married to a young Mexican woman, and I (an American) lived in Mexico for a number of years, and it's been my observation that when the Spanish conquered Mexico and imposed their Catholic religion of the indigenous people there (I'm reluctant to call them, "Native Americans," as there ARE no Native Americans - we ALL came from somewhere else!), they accepted it rather readily. The Aztec kings had a custom (that I really wish our politicians would adopt), that when things went wrong - drought, famine, any natural disaster - they took the blame, and assumed the gods were angry at them. To ask their gods' forgiveness, the king himself, and often the queen as well, would stand on a pyramid, in full view of the people, and using a sacrificial knife, publicly mutilate themselves, giving their own blood for the forgiveness of their people.

When the Catholic Spanish came along, with their son of god who allowed himself to be tortured and crucified for the "sins" of the people, the Aztecs jumped on it, as it was so similar to their own concept of a king sacrificing his blood for his people, they assumed it must be true.

The big problem was that they had other customs and beliefs, beliefs in magic, holdovers from their own religion, that were not present in the Catholic belief system, but which they were not ready to let go, and some of those have continued on into the present day, despite the fact that education should tell them otherwise (but then, education should tell us all that religion is BS too, but still we have it).

Case in point - when my son's son was born, his wife's mother was there when mom and child came home from the hospital. His mother-in-law insisted on rubbing the child all over with an egg, which was supposed to absorb the "evil" from the newborn baby. The egg then was broken and disposed of, along with, presumably, the baby's evil.

I have always wished I had been there, as I would have insisted on eating it for breakfast - with salsa verde.

This is not a condemnation of the Mexican people, it's just that some of them have hung on to their old superstitions that have been passed through their families for generations - think of it as an extension of Pascal's Wager - like chicken soup, it may not help, but it couldn't hoit!

I'd just say, no thanks, I'm not superstitious. Without ever saying it, you've told her you think it's wrong to be, yet you haven't said hurtful words that you can never take back - family harmony is important. It certainly won't change her, but it will let her know you're not the one to come to with such suggestions.

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Permalink Reply by Kari Huizar on November 20, 2012 at 1:29am

I know what you're talking about. My grandparents were Catholic but somehow they believed in witchcraft and when we'd go over to Mexico to visit my grandma would rub and egg on top of my head, then crack it in a glass of water and the yolk was supposedly the evil spirits that I had caught on my way to Mexico. I always told my grandparents that what they believed was insane and silly but of course they stuck to their superstitions.

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Permalink Reply by Milos Cakovan on November 20, 2012 at 8:30am

They have to believe in witchcraft. After all, doesn't their bible say "Suffer not the witch to live."

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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on November 20, 2012 at 9:15am

Ah, the incredible, edible, multipurpose egg - it's not just for breakfast anymore!

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Permalink Reply by Kari Huizar on November 20, 2012 at 9:26am

Your comment made me laugh hard.

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