Inauthenticity Report

Here's a question:

Why do so many religious believers want atheists to lie about our atheism?

Uh, because it perfectly reflects the shallow & substanceless nature of their sad superstitions? That actual beliefs & practices don't matter, because godhead is tyranny & their only interest is in controlling you?

Yep, as fake as can be:

Lauren, who came out as atheist to her Lutheran family and church at age 12, told both her mother and her pastor that she didn't want to be confirmed. When she told her pastor, "I can't get up there and say stuff I don't believe," he replied, "Please stop disrupting class with your questions. This is a special time in everyone's life — don't ruin it."

The upshot was that she was forced to go through with the ceremony, and to lie, in public, about her atheism. Now, here's the thing: Confirmation is one of the most serious rituals in religion. It's the ritual in which children accept adult responsibility for their purported soul, and declare their adult commitment to their religion. The whole point is that they're finally making a free choice about participating in religion, instead of just going along with their family. Yet parents and clergy still pressure kids into this ritual, or even force them into it. Even when they know it's a lie.

For example:

When Judy Komorita's mother died, her Christian evangelical boss "gathered me up with the bookkeeper into a prayer circle. I knew it was stupid (and wrong), and I was shaking with grief. But with his and her arms around me, he said something like 'Lord, even though Judy doesn't believe in you, I know you will take care of her and help her."

Xian evangelical boss: Filled w/ Jesus's groping love, or bullying asshole? Ms. Komorita may well have been too small to resist when her boss dared not only to touch her, but to (g)rope her into a "prayer circle." I would have physically resisted. Pig.

Feel free to read the rest & see if the typist agrees w/ our tossed-off conclusion; I've had a sudden urge to visit some local religious institutions. Let's hear it for diversity & multi-culturalism: An Islamic Center, a Roman Catholic church, a synagogue & too many Korean Protestant churches to count are all w/in walking distance. (Which one first is our biggest problem.) And several gas stations, one of which, I'm sure, will be willing to sell a gallon or two of gas to go.