I hate getting books for Christmas in general because I’m such a mood reader, and I’ve plastered a fake smile on my face many a time and repeated internally ‘Its the thought that counts.’ as I unwrap a book I will not read.
But the worst one by far, given to me by my own Mother , who I know loves me, when I was fourteen years old! was >!Men are from Mars Women are from Venus.!< I am sitting there horrified thinking what is she trying to tell me? As my sisters are flat on the floor laughing to the point of puking. We eventually came to the conclusion she just saw an attractive cover on a bestseller table and grabbed it. Love to know your terrible gift stories.
I was a young teenager and had finally found the courage to openly state I was an atheist. I was receiving some backlash from my religious family, but I was finally feeling confident enough to stay steady in my lack of belief. And a family member gifted me a book titled “Because God is Real” with 16 chapters “debunking” atheism. Lol!
Did they seriously think you were going to read it ? I know people do stuff like this, but do they seriously expect you to read it when they offer you a book that completely opposes your beliefs ?
As an atheist ex-Christian, I’ve been more than once gifted something like this by a concerned Christian.
Quite frankly I think they haven’t themselves ever really seriously thought about whether it’s real or not. These books tend to make the most simplistic and obvious basic arguments (“2.38 billion people can’t ALL be wrong!”), and lean hard into the consequences of being wrong about God not existing.
Most Christian apologists I’ve interacted with don’t have any conception of the fact that what brought me here is that I have thought about it way more than they have; they think it must be from ignorance, or deciding that “being good” isn’t worth the trouble.
I always read to have grounds for laughing at people - know your enemy and all that jazz 🤪 Usually they don’t read these books at all and just expect them to magically force you to think like they’re thinking but it always bites them back
Good question! I’m not sure. I think they hoped I would read it. I flipped through it at least!
I always respond by giving them my own book. The origin of species.
A friend’s mom gave me “Proof of Heaven” when she learned I’m an atheist. I got like 20 pages in (only because I figured I’d at least see what was in there) and realized the entire point of the book was to already agree with what it said so that it doesn’t have to hold up to scrutiny
Is that not a good thought?
It sounds insulting to me.
Is being rational insulting now?
You know that thing you’ve clearly spent the last five years agonising over before eventually, tentatively, coming to a conclusion after much pondering, reading, research, and deliberation? Here’s an introductory pamphlet on the topic!
The only reasonable response is “fuck off!”
The thought of the gift here is a relative wanting to help the person rethink their position rationally. Jeez you guys are all really sensitive.
And its also really funny and naive how you think people arrive at their positions in this way lol.
Maybe you should learn that proselytism is irritating and unwelcome. The more so if you are doing it in such a scattergun way.
If that relative were to start pressuring them and making appeal to that persons supposed moral degeneracy or emotional arguments in general it would be bad. But exchanging rational arguments and books I can’t see being bad, because it is an attempt at good faith argumentation most times - if not it is that at least in the very act of doing it.