My Brother.
Ever since my brother found out I am an atheist, he has refused to actually discuss anything with me in person. (Man-to-man so to speak) He instead resorts to only attacking atheism and science on his wall. He never did this prior to his knowing of my atheism. I am really getting tired of it. I have tried to be nice about it all, but I am tired of holding back. Here is his most recent post:
David Warren Wilhelm Biotic status
shows TRUE CREATION. Mutations vary around a mean, or a norm -- they do
.What do you all suggest I should do or say? Should I continue to ignore him, or should I actually defend myself and the truth? Any advice and answers would be greatly appreciated.
David Warren Wilhelm Biotic status
shows TRUE CREATION. Mutations vary around a mean, or a norm -- they do
not take off into left field creating whole new things. In hundreds of
thousands of generations of bacteria they are.......still bacteria!
Gina Fazenbaker All mutations are created from a subset of existing genes. No new genes are created right?
.What do you all suggest I should do or say? Should I continue to ignore him, or should I actually defend myself and the truth? Any advice and answers would be greatly appreciated.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Reggie on -
Do and say nothing. It is his wall and if he chooses passive aggresiveness over direct confrontation, the best choice (IMO) is to ignore it. He will either grow tired of it and either stop or he will confront you directly. And if he continues as is? So what, you can ignore wall postings of select people and ignorance can be bliss while he toils away trying to provoke a response.
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Permalink Reply by Mr Good Without God on -
But is it good to let this disagreement fester in silence? When around me he still treats me as if I were still a Christian. He has recently been staying with me till his wedding and he constantly blasts Christian music and pastors giving sermons. He uses every opportunity he has to throw his religious views in my face he uses. He sees nothing wrong with bombarding me with his religious ideology but refuses to let me discuss my atheism or what science really has to say...
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Permalink Reply by Reggie on
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Well, if it is bothering you, then you should confront him. But not about the specifics of what he is posting, blaring, or yelling loudly in your general direction. The problem is that he is being disrespectful of you as a person with his passive aggressive displays (and remember, he need not respect you beliefs or unbeliefs). If he doesn't want to discuss the issues like an adult, then he needs to stop harrangueing you.
I don't know the people, the situation, or the variables involved, so I can only tell you what I would do. I would confront him personally about his behavior. Let him know how it makes you feel. Then, the ball is in his court. I would have no problem kicking a family member out of my house if they treated me in that manner, were talked to, and refused to change. Life is too short to put up with major ass-hattery, even from family.
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Permalink Reply by Jon Heim on -
if you retaliate, it will only make him think that he is the one who is right.
remember, the Christian God said an eye for an eye.....then Jesus came down and said turn the other cheek. lmao.
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Permalink Reply by Dave G on -
He's certainly being disrespectful of you if he's blaring out religious music and sermons while a guest in your house.
I don't know you, or your brother, or the relationship between you, but if one of my brothers were to act in such a way, I would make it clear that if he is going to throw his views in my face, I will respond. So if he does not want to hear about science, he'd best shut up about religion.
And if were happening in my house...well, I wouldn't play clips from atheist conventions in the home of a family member who was a believer (not without headphones, anyway), and I'd expect the same amount of respect in return. If he refuses to behave like a civil human being, then he can't expect to be treated like one.
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Permalink Reply by Mr Good Without God on
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Really good point Dave. Thanks.
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Permalink Reply by Keith Johnston on -
Yeah. If it were me...After beating the crap out of him I'd throw him out and never speak to him again. But thats just me and my brother.
How can you out up with such a complete and utter lack of respect? Doesn't it bug you that he finds no problem in dissing you while he is highly offended by your views and disrespects them every chance he gets.
Grow some balls man.
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Permalink Reply by Yet Another Atheist on -
Agreed. If he's being this much of a douche, kick him out.
Tough love, and all that.
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Permalink Reply by Mr Good Without God on
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I do have balls, but I also have brains and a heart. If I do that to my brother, I would lose a friend as well as a brother, I would cause conflict with much of my family, and I would lose a large bit of my support structure. (Both financially and emotionally). Its not always as simple as kicking him out or treating him badly. Its even harder when he is the only one in my deeply religious family who knows I'm an atheist.
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Permalink Reply by Keith Johnston on
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First of all I said.. Thats just me and my brother.
But heres the thing: What kind of friend treats you like that? And worse still what kind of brother? If its a game and he's teasing you then the joke is over. If its not a game and he's somehow blackmailing you that he will tell the family...and it certainly seems like that, again what kind of friend or brother is that? Thats not a person I would want to associate with. You should make this clear..
And also you know Christianity pretty well. So why are you not using that? I mean would Jesus advocate this behavior? Is that what the parable of the good Samaritan meant? I don't think so. So not only is he a bad friend and a bad brother but he is acting like a bad Christian too.
Now as for your family. Do you think they will reject you if they find out? If so then they have no real love for you at all. But they don't need to find out do they? Not yet anyway, not while you need them and their money.. But are you sure you are happy using them like that?
Isn't that also being a little hypocritical?
You have some serious decisions to make here and you need to make them now.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Sizer-Watt on -
My experience with creationists is that no amount of reason nor logic will change their mind, especially if it's from someone else trying to change their minds. They only become even more adamant. I agree with Reggie. Just let it continue to slide. My mother in law is a christian and dislikes philosophy, and during the one discussion that she and I had about it she got defensive and said things you'd expect from an 8 year old, so I just avoid it altogether. It bugs the shit out of me, but it's the best thing to do IMO.
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Permalink Reply by Mr Good Without God on
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The thing is I used to be a staunch creationist. Ray Comfort and Kent Hovind were some of my hero's. I was a right wing, bible thumping, conservative, evangelical, bible literalist, creationist. If people hadn't confronted me with facts and challenged me I would still be on my way to being a Pastor and would still be deeply embedded in the study of Christian apologetics and creationism. I'm a perfect example of how confrontation with scientific and philosophical truth can destroy faith in in the mythical.
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