“Satan is attacking the great institutions of America, using those great vices of pride, vanity, and sensuality as the root to attack all of the strong plants that has so deeply rooted in the American tradition…This is a spiritual war. And the Father of Lies has his sights on: a good, decent, powerful, influential country–the United States of America.”
Penn Jilette of Penn & Teller and vehement atheist had an interesting take that I tend to agree with. If a person truly believes in a doctrine that only Christians (and in your MIL’s case baptised) can be saved, then for them to NOT try and convert you is an evil act since by their theology, they are allowing you to make decisions that condemn your soul to Hell for eternity.
And you have yet to cite a policy position from any of these candidates that is “forcing one’s beliefs on another”. The best you can come up with is doma. And that isn’t forcing anything, it’s simply maintaining the status quo. With a few exceptions, gay marriage is illegal now.
Citation was given. But seeing that they wrote it with disappearing ink on invisible paper, I can see why you didn’t notice it. I myself had to complete a 2 hour quest to obtain the necessary skill of SecretSight in order to read it, and I don’t think you’re strong enough to defeat the Orc guarding the Glasses of All-Seeing
No, I don’t find it helpful to talk negatively about anyone behind their back, nor is it helpful to infer your child’s choice in spouse was poor or unacceptable.
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The praying is harmless, but really what is the point of her telling his wife?
What good does she think will come of it?
The MIL is just being a stereotypical MIL but causing conflict in a family unit is quite a valid reason to post a question/rant on the interweb.
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Didn’t I say the praying was harmless?
His MIL telling his wife was destructive, it puts her on the spot, she has to defend him, tell him etc…
Her saying “I"m praying for him” is indicating disapproval.
It isn’t, but I seem to recall some impertinent chap saying to pray in private rather than in public and only to inform someone to their face if they’ve been sinning.
I think the majority, but not all, of those thinking of themselves as Christians agree with me that we are saved by our faith and accepting Jesus’ dying on the cross to atone for our sins. Others see things differently. None of us should want anybody to burn in Hell. Any of us failing to forgive others and wanting to see them burn in Hell are endangering our own salvation. See the Lord’s Prayer.
So for most of us we need to pray for Jesus to enter into the unbelievers hearts and for them to accept the grace. Your aunt may be of a tradition that thinks they can affect your salvation by praying for you.
As for baptism, I don’t feel it necessary to have somebody else sprinkle you or dunk you in water. I struggled with the Bible’s clear message that you must be baptized when it is a work by another. The only work that counts is Jesus’ death on the cross. When I became part of the Friends church, their explanation that baptism is being immersed in the Holy Spirit made a lot of sense to me.
Even if you find her misguided, and she is at odds to the Bible’s teaching, she means well. Quietly thank her and quickly bring up something else.
Why does a law have to prevent somebody from doing something they’re doing right now to qualify as religious oppression? In any event, DOMA prevents two people who are lawfully married in one state from enjoying the benefits of marriage in another.
Anyway, DOMA-type legislation has nothing to do with “keeping marriage traditionally defined”. In a traditional marriage, the male was the head of the household and the female had few or no rights. Traditional marriage was effectively abolished in the US by the Married Womens’ Property Acts in the late nineteenth century and marital rape laws in the 1970s.
Adding creationism to science curricula unambiguously does reduce the amount or quality of knowledge that students receive. I assume you will accept the premises that the amount of time schools devote to science classes is limited, yes? Creationism isn’t science. If students are learning it in science classes, they have less time to learn the things science class is for.
I’ve had similar experiences with my in-laws (Episcopaleans). The understand that I am not religious; I used to attend church with them when I visited on a Sunday because it’s important to the family, but that faded over time. I think they finally get it.
Even so, they sometimes make comments to me or to others, along the lines that I’m really a Christian but don’t know it. This is in the context of situations when I’ve been helpful in unexpected ways (picking up a pile of gifts that had been gathered at the church for distribution to the poor, going on a service trip to post-Katrina New Orleans, offering to donate part of my liver).
At first I bristled…I’m NOT Christian, and I DO know it. I eventually decided to take it in the spirit it’s meant. They’re just saying that I’m a good guy, and that’s the filter they see it through. Oddly, my wife gets more ornery about it these days.