My mother has lost it

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

It breaks my heart. I always knew she leaned a little to the right, but she used to be one of the most intelligent people I know. Slowly she started going to church more often (we are Catholic) and she started watching Jack Van Impe. Over the course of years she started to talk a little bit more about religion. She wanted me to read the Left Behind series, because Jesus is coming. I started to have to cut her off when she started talking about religion. We used to be able to have lively two sided discussions. Not anymore.

Today she saw my Obama button, and literally yelled that she feels sorry for me, and that she hopes I don’t come crying to her in four years or less when the world has gone to shit. Don"t I know he is the Antichrist, and did I know that 666 came up in the Illinois Lottery the day he was elected. I tried to argue, I tried to shut her up. I had to walk away. She cornered my son and his new girlfriend and kept spewing. Unfortunately I was still trying to get dinner on the table. My son told me not to worry about it, he told his girlfriend ahead of time grandma was a fruitcake.

She used to be so smart. What happened and why didn’t I see it had gotten so bad until today? Religion is no excuse for ignorance.

2

Sis?
Other than my mom reading some psychic from the 70’s who predicted the world will end when a Muslin is elected, that sounds fairly similar to my mom.
And she’s Lutheran.
And it was at election time.

Today she just left the room when we started talking politics.

3

You should tell her that she should be stoned to death for her heathen ways. How can she believe in God and listen to a false prophet (the “psychic”)?
Otherwise, it’s all “Old person goes batshit insane, film at 11” to me. Of course, that’s unfair to all old people. Og knows we’ve had enough threads lately about younger relatives, friends and neighbors going off the deep end.

4

Surely she noticed how very anti-Catholic Left Behind is? And since when do Catholics have Rapture theology?

5

I’m personally nervous of a chiffon being elected. They’re so…slippery.

6

Happy Birthday Qwisp. :slight_smile:

My mother has been changing a lot too. She is 75. But I am very excited! She voted for Obama, after a being a lifelong Republican. I don’t think she is smarter for voting for Obama, even though he was my choice too. It was just nice to see that people can still change their views in their later years.

p.s. I read the Left Behind series and really enjoyed it. The first couple books were really action packed and pretty good. I also know they are total fiction. :smiley:

7

I hear ya. As my MIL has gotten older, she depends more and more on right wing radio as her primary (and sometimes only) source of news concerning controversial topics. She can say some pretty outlandish things at the dinner table, thinking that what she is saying is based in fact or that it reflects common views. I have been ordered by my wife to stand down and let her deal with her mom in her own, gentle way.

8

You’re a better person than I am. At that point, I’d have made the announcement “Okay, dinner is ready! Here’s some food for everyone who isn’t a batshit crazy old harridan who YELLED AT ME IN MY OWN HOUSE.”

I have a brother in law with similar views. I don’t mind a discussion, but this is **my **house, so you will address everyone respectfully, or you will drop it when asked, or you will get the hell out. He knows from hard experience that I mean it.

I know it’s your mom, and it’s different, and I’m not suggesting that you put her out, but maybe a firm “Anyone who wants to spew abusive bile should consider hosting, because it’s not welcome in MY home.” is in order.

9

98% of the people I know have no clue what the Rapture is. (All are escaped or lasped Christians from various forms of Christianity.) When I explain to them what it is you should see the looks I get.

10

Left Behind. Isn’t that when Og will free the world of all the 700 Club type Radical Clerics and finally allow humanity to build a faerie-tale free world based on the best and brightest we have to offer?

"Ejector seat!? You’re joking, Q…"

11

Exactly. God only wants puritan, hypocritical sheep.

Which is why I prefer Hell. There will be beer.

12

No, Left Behind is when we all finally stop laughing at Kirk Cameron because he’s in charge now.

13

My sister and I had a long conversation yesterday about how my mom – who’s been dead more than 20 years – would have voted this election. I think she would have been a Hillary supporter who would have jumped on the Obama bandwagon enthusiastically once he locked up the nomination – my sister thinks she would have been pro-Obama early on.

Sorry – that’s not helping, is it?

:smiley:

14

Well, it’s a pretty minority view, really. People who believe it are vocal, but not as many as it seems. I remember when I first heard of it, I saw a bumpersticker and had to have it explained to me.

15

Where’s the fun in that? My sibling and I just had a very enjoyable 24 hours arguing vigorously over everything that came up; politics, economics, painting, and how to taste a sauce.

And we agree.

16

Go to the Illinois Lottery page for the day of the election (November 4th) and show her that 666 was not a winning number on that date.

17

What, you don’t think Satan’s minion’s can hide the evidence of what they did?

18

I don’t bother, but I can’t speak for all of us.

19

Oh dear, Quisp, that must be difficult for you.

I think what’s happening is that as people age, they lose their ability for critical thinking, by that, I mean their ability to question the truth or honesty of what they hear on the media. My 82 yr old mother believes every commercial on CNN to be gospel truth. I think the problem she is experiencing is mostly stemming from her listening to AM radio with no other sources of info. I was down in Nevada recently, and while hunting for traffic reports, I came across some of this stuff. Now I will admit to being right of center, and that I would have preferred McCain to win the elections, even if I am a Canadian. That being said, I was surprised at how truly vile some of the things I heard were. It really goes beyond rational discourse into the worse form of trolling and provocation for the sake of generating a response. To my opinion, it made Rush Limbaugh sound like Jane Fonda.

So perhaps you can suggest to her that she isn’t getting an accurate picture from this radio alone. Maybe you can suggest she listen to CNN or even FOX News for current events. The idea is to broaden the media mix that goes into her mind.

Another idea is that perhaps you could consider a subscription to EWTN, which is a Catholic cable channel, as a Christmas gift (The also have a radio channel). She will likely appreciate it, and the theology coming our of it is likely to be a lot more moderate. There is certainly none of this antichrist / rapture / 666 stuff, and perhaps more emphasis on humility, forgiveness, and charity.

Oh, and speaking of humility and forgiveness, maybe you can express to her how much she is hurting you, and that perhaps you can help her remember that:

-Christ commanded not to judge, less you be equally judged.
-Christ hung out happily with a bunch of sinners, prostitutes and corrupt bureaucrats, so maybe she can follow his example and show some courtesy and civility to you & your family.
-The Pharisee who was all smug about his own righteousness was in deeper trouble than the repentant sinner.

Good luck, and I hope you manage to have a good Christmas.

20

Oddly enough we did have a Pick 3 game in the not to distant past that did have the winning numbers of 666, but indeed it was not on the day of election.

I do like to think that some metalhead dude out there just won a shitload of money though.