Thumper
02-05-2015, 09:42 AM
I haven't been around much this week and won't be here the rest of the day after I make this post. My Mom's 83rd birthday was Tuesday and my sis & BIL have been in town all week from Texas. I rescue my BIL every morning and we take off for the day just to get away from the drama. But, now to the real reason for this post.
You all know my stance when it comes to religion, so I don't even need to go there, but I have never discussed Lynn's feelings here. Believe it or not, we never ... or very, VERY seldom discuss religion, because it usually doesn't end well ... just like this place ... or anywhere else for that matter when two opposing views on religion are discussed. Much like politics in a lot of ways.
For a little background, Lynns great-grandparents were Buddhist. Frankly, if I were ever FORCED to make a decision on my beliefs, I'd lean that way myself as I've studied it and consider it more of a "way of life" than an actual "religion". But, again, this is NOT about me. Lynn's grand-parents came over here in the 30's or 40's and were actually Catholic. I'm not sure if they "converted" in Japan or after they arrived in the U.S. They were not "church goers", but were "believers" and followed the basic church doctrines for the most part. But ... from MY personal observations, I could see Catholicism mixed in with a bit of Buddhism ... but, that said, they didn't eat meat on Fridays! ;)
Lynn's mom (I never knew her dad) grew up Catholic ... again, not a "church goer" ... but it is the religion she grew up with. Lynn prays in a whisper anytime there's a crisis of some sort ... I mean, if someone is "hurting", she whispers a little "prayer" for them. If we so much as see road kill on the side of the highway ... I don't care if it's a skunk ... she whispers a little prayer. She believes in God ... or DID anyway ... until last night. (that's the subject of this post, I'll elaborate later) To be honest, I've never described her as "religious" ... I've always looked at her as "spiritual". I don't want to get into a tired old argument on the difference ... it would be like the years I've spent here arguing the difference between "Atheist" and "Agnostic". You're going to think what you want and it's not going to change, so take it for what it's worth.
Ok, with that brief background out of the way, here's the subject of this post. Last night Lynn got out of the shower and was crying like a baby. I don't mean minor whimpering, she was BAWLING ... almost uncontrollably ... actually shaking. I had no frigging clue what was going on. Did she get news her mom passed away and she didn't tell me? It seemed that serious. I held her and finally calmed her down a bit, then her sadness turned to bitterness. (I'm still at a loss and totally clueless, but thought she was having some sort of emotional meltdown). Then she blurted out, "You've been right all along ... there is no f'ing God!" .... then returned to crying uncontrollably. Ok, by now I'm ready to call the men in the white coats, but sat and held her until she calmed down again.
After the dust settled, I asked her WTF was going on? Evidently this Middle East b/s has been eating at her. Note: We NEVER discuss politics ... remember, she was born and raised in California! So basically, we avoid the two major no-no's ... religion and politics. After some discussion and my questioning about the God comment, we got to the bottom of what sent her off the deep end. When those ISIS a-holes burned that Jordanian pilot ... it was evidently "the straw that broke the camel's back". When that happened, she cracked ... she'd had her fill and lost all faith in God. In her words, God would never let this happen ... He allows so much evil ... why? Heck, I had no answers ... I've been seeking an answer to questions like that all my life. We didn't really discuss religion or God after that, I simply tried to calm her down a bit so she could get some sleep ... but she cried herself to sleep.
She just left for work after trying to hide her puffy eyes with make-up. This morning, we didn't discuss much ... she awoke pissed off. Her sadness has turned to anger ... with God and the world in general. I've been with her for 30 years and this is only the second time I've ever seen her this distraught. She lost her God last night.
I'm not really asking advice ... the tired old "God works in mysterious ways" b/s has never helped. I just don't know where this is leading. To be honest, she's almost so far over the edge I'm thinking seriously about taking her to a doctor if she doesn't calm down today. This is SOOOO NOT like her. She used to find "peace in God" ... I honestly hate to see that go away, but she seems to have her mind made up. I'm not sure what to do. Hopefully things will better by tonight.
The odd thing is, what pushed her over the edge is just the news reports ... simply words. She has never seen ... and I hope she never does, (she would never watch it anyway) the video. This is extremely graphic, but if you're so inclined (and want to get pissed off) you can watch this. If you don't want to sit through all the un-translated b/s ... you can scan up to about the 17 minute mark for the "execution". These people are worse than animals ... the scum of the earth.
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4030583977001/warning-extremely-graphic-video-isis-burns-hostage-alive/#sp=show-clips
You all know my stance when it comes to religion, so I don't even need to go there, but I have never discussed Lynn's feelings here. Believe it or not, we never ... or very, VERY seldom discuss religion, because it usually doesn't end well ... just like this place ... or anywhere else for that matter when two opposing views on religion are discussed. Much like politics in a lot of ways.
For a little background, Lynns great-grandparents were Buddhist. Frankly, if I were ever FORCED to make a decision on my beliefs, I'd lean that way myself as I've studied it and consider it more of a "way of life" than an actual "religion". But, again, this is NOT about me. Lynn's grand-parents came over here in the 30's or 40's and were actually Catholic. I'm not sure if they "converted" in Japan or after they arrived in the U.S. They were not "church goers", but were "believers" and followed the basic church doctrines for the most part. But ... from MY personal observations, I could see Catholicism mixed in with a bit of Buddhism ... but, that said, they didn't eat meat on Fridays! ;)
Lynn's mom (I never knew her dad) grew up Catholic ... again, not a "church goer" ... but it is the religion she grew up with. Lynn prays in a whisper anytime there's a crisis of some sort ... I mean, if someone is "hurting", she whispers a little "prayer" for them. If we so much as see road kill on the side of the highway ... I don't care if it's a skunk ... she whispers a little prayer. She believes in God ... or DID anyway ... until last night. (that's the subject of this post, I'll elaborate later) To be honest, I've never described her as "religious" ... I've always looked at her as "spiritual". I don't want to get into a tired old argument on the difference ... it would be like the years I've spent here arguing the difference between "Atheist" and "Agnostic". You're going to think what you want and it's not going to change, so take it for what it's worth.
Ok, with that brief background out of the way, here's the subject of this post. Last night Lynn got out of the shower and was crying like a baby. I don't mean minor whimpering, she was BAWLING ... almost uncontrollably ... actually shaking. I had no frigging clue what was going on. Did she get news her mom passed away and she didn't tell me? It seemed that serious. I held her and finally calmed her down a bit, then her sadness turned to bitterness. (I'm still at a loss and totally clueless, but thought she was having some sort of emotional meltdown). Then she blurted out, "You've been right all along ... there is no f'ing God!" .... then returned to crying uncontrollably. Ok, by now I'm ready to call the men in the white coats, but sat and held her until she calmed down again.
After the dust settled, I asked her WTF was going on? Evidently this Middle East b/s has been eating at her. Note: We NEVER discuss politics ... remember, she was born and raised in California! So basically, we avoid the two major no-no's ... religion and politics. After some discussion and my questioning about the God comment, we got to the bottom of what sent her off the deep end. When those ISIS a-holes burned that Jordanian pilot ... it was evidently "the straw that broke the camel's back". When that happened, she cracked ... she'd had her fill and lost all faith in God. In her words, God would never let this happen ... He allows so much evil ... why? Heck, I had no answers ... I've been seeking an answer to questions like that all my life. We didn't really discuss religion or God after that, I simply tried to calm her down a bit so she could get some sleep ... but she cried herself to sleep.
She just left for work after trying to hide her puffy eyes with make-up. This morning, we didn't discuss much ... she awoke pissed off. Her sadness has turned to anger ... with God and the world in general. I've been with her for 30 years and this is only the second time I've ever seen her this distraught. She lost her God last night.
I'm not really asking advice ... the tired old "God works in mysterious ways" b/s has never helped. I just don't know where this is leading. To be honest, she's almost so far over the edge I'm thinking seriously about taking her to a doctor if she doesn't calm down today. This is SOOOO NOT like her. She used to find "peace in God" ... I honestly hate to see that go away, but she seems to have her mind made up. I'm not sure what to do. Hopefully things will better by tonight.
The odd thing is, what pushed her over the edge is just the news reports ... simply words. She has never seen ... and I hope she never does, (she would never watch it anyway) the video. This is extremely graphic, but if you're so inclined (and want to get pissed off) you can watch this. If you don't want to sit through all the un-translated b/s ... you can scan up to about the 17 minute mark for the "execution". These people are worse than animals ... the scum of the earth.
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4030583977001/warning-extremely-graphic-video-isis-burns-hostage-alive/#sp=show-clips