# I need to vent about my proselytizing FIL **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 14, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625 "2021-09-14T00:16:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/41 "2021-09-15T20:29:23Z")
Oh lordy. Now I get the email: It’s a weekly discussion. This is what I get for being a nice guy. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/42 "2021-09-15T20:30:16Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > It’s a weekly discussion. The hell you say! ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/43 "2021-09-15T20:37:31Z")
Are you going to go? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/44 "2021-09-15T20:48:33Z")
Any way to get _all of us_ invited ? Or – at least – “**[Wilma from Sweden](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-received-a-rather-lovely-but-strange-email-today/950415)**?” ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/45 "2021-09-15T20:53:59Z")
I am not planning to attend the second one. I’m not in any way troubled by telling my FIL this. The worst part is that I’d be happy to engage in a discussion. But this is terrible. Monday the following question was posed: If you could ask god one question, what would it be? Leaving aside the presumptiveness of that, literally everyone asked “why so much suffering in the world?” Come on. Even I could give a religious answer to that. I asked “why does he wait 2000 years between visits?” I seriously don’t think any of them wanted to discuss that. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/46 "2021-09-15T20:55:07Z")
They’d be happy to have you. They would not appreciate your contributions, I suspect. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/47 "2021-09-15T20:56:24Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > Now I get the email. It’s a weekly discussion. Again, I’ll ask “Just you, and not your wife?” Seems suspicious that _you_ were invited, that _you alone_ are getting the emails, that _you_ are getting put on the spot\*, and not your wife? I mean, if it was “just a discussion”, why exclude her? What would dad’s reason be to not invite his daughter, but to make a point of inviting her husband? One more clue that the plan might be “Let’s all gang up on the heathen, he’ll crack eventually.” \*(with Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego…) ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/48 "2021-09-15T22:51:34Z")
Hey! Hands off she’s mine. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/49 "2021-09-15T23:03:01Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > He invited me to a Zoom “discussion about life’s big questions.” He SWORE it wasn’t going to be proselytizing, It sounded like a trap from the get-go. I would do it with a bottle of Fireball clearly in the video. Every time he said the word “Jesus” I’d do a shot and smack the table and make that face cowboys make in westerns. Any emails from him would be met with an auto generated link to Fireball and sent to a dead letter folder. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/50 "2021-09-15T23:07:06Z")
My oldest brother would talk in front of our kids about how the earth was less than 10000 years old. That was until around 10 years ago, after his second marriage ended. He got into meditation, and became interested in Buddhism. He also became politically much more liberal. So it’s never too late to evolve. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/51 "2021-09-16T00:29:08Z")
Noping out of the weekly calls is the right decision. Good call by you. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/52 "2021-09-16T08:24:39Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > The worst part is that I’d be happy to engage in a discussion. But this is terrible. Ironically, they’re arguing in bad faith. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/53 "2021-09-16T11:11:43Z")
I don’t know why just me. Maybe they think I’m the one that needs saving. My wife doesn’t have a great relationship with her parents (which is part of why I don’t). Initially I took him at his word that this was some sort of debate club and he wanted a non-catholic voice. Clearly he’s full of shit. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/54 "2021-09-27T23:56:32Z")
I don’t know if anyone cares, but there’s an update. I skipped the next meeting. And, of course, I got a call from my FIL. I’ll represent as best I’m able: I’m sorry you couldn’t make it. Was there a reason? _You said it would be a conversation about life’s big questions. And you wanted a variety of views. It seemed like a big commercial for Jesus to me. There was no discussion. You asked one question, it was kinda basic, and there was no actual discussion about the answers._ Well, you know this is important to me. _Well, you know I’m an atheist._ I do. I’d like you to give it another chance. _Look, I’m happy to discuss with you. With anyone. But I don’t need to be preached to._ In the end, I agreed to attend one more. Because he promised a discussion. And, frankly, because while my wife doesn’t LIKE her father, she loves him. And I’m really a pretty nice guy. But here we are 20 minutes in, and its a goddamn fucking jesus commercial. I’m done, it’s obnoxious. And frankly, it’s clearly written from the perspective of someone who presupposes god exists. IF YOU WANT TO CONVERT PEOPLE YOU NEED TO BACK UP A LEVEL, YOU MORONIC GIT! Sorry. I’m annoyed. I have a loooong fuse. But when it goes down, I’m an asshole. Thank you SDMB for listening. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/55 "2021-09-28T00:15:40Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > I agreed to attend one more Aaaaaand there’s your mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/56 "2021-09-28T00:25:01Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > But here we are 20 minutes in, and its a goddamn fucking jesus commercial. I’m done, it’s obnoxious. And frankly, it’s clearly written from the perspective of someone who presupposes god exists. IF YOU WANT TO CONVERT PEOPLE YOU NEED TO BACK UP A LEVEL, YOU MORONIC GIT! Hang up. If he calls and asks why, tell him it’s because you don’t appreciate being lied to; he’s had two chances, he don’t get no more. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/57 "2021-09-28T00:27:59Z")
100% I don’t mind giving him an hour a week. But we’re done here. Fucking stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/58 "2021-09-28T01:11:04Z")
Calling out hypocrisy is a viciously effective move. Use my link with scripture about lying and use it hard. It won’t change your FIL but it will give him sufficient cognitive dissonance that he may well give you a wide berth. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/59 "2021-09-28T03:06:43Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Aaaaaand there’s your mistake. fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, where’s the beer. I went to a religious grade school and am just fine with people who think Jesus is more important than football. But there is no way in hell I would have put up with joining a discussion group as an adult if I wasn’t interested. No sale, not interested, best of luck getting the winning lottery numbers from Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625/60 "2021-09-28T03:40:16Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > And I’m really a pretty nice guy. You are. As a Christian, I’d just like to apologize. We can be idiots, but to outright lie is despicable (or maybe FIL’s got a _massive_ lack-of-self-awareness… to a degree where he should be remanded to mandatory counseling). > [@OldOlds](#): > > _Well, you know I’m an atheist._ > I do. I’d like you to give it another chance. What?!? Imagine saying “I’d like you to give it another chance” to someone who said “I’m a scientist” or “I believe in equality for everyone.” or “Well, you know I’m a heterosexual…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-vent-about-my-proselytizing-fil/950625.md?page=4)