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.
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 ?
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.
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.