Should I comment to this christian status update on facebook?

I would leave no comment .

eh, what’s the point? she and her friends will prob berate you for being an ‘insensitive’ jerk, which you’re not – it’s facebook, let her say whatever, and though you should freely express your opinion, let’s get real…people mostly just want to hear things like ‘oh yes, so sad, god bless’ and so forth and so on after that post…whatever

Are you seriously gonna ask permission to comment on someone’s status?

@MrGeneVan I’m not asking permission just advice, I’ll make the call regardless.

I’d delete her.

Today especially, Let it Be.

Not if you’re Jewish.

Sounds like you have a problem with her that is outside the scope of the actual comment.
That comment in itself doesn’t have anything to do with Christianity or politics.

Why not just ignore it?

Sure, it may hurt your sensitives, but she has the right to believe whatever she wants in her own space. Don’t make drama over something that is really not that big of a deal, it’s not worth it.

And what type of comment would you leave anyway?

Her statement sounds judgmental, isn’t that a no no for Christians?

actually it sounds like the opposite of judgmental. (though I don’t consider “judgmental” a bad thing. or a good thing. just a thing.)

I think the status update from me would result in an eyeroll from me, too. still, like everyone has said, no use telling her that her whole belief system sucks.

Watch the stand-up routine called “It’s Bad For Ya” by George Carlin. It’s on youtube. It was his most recent stand-up before he died. He addresses this topic perfectly. I think you’ll enjoy it.

I’d let it go. She’s family, and you don’t want to be a pissy pot.

@robmandu: come on, no need for rudeness.

You should say nothing to criticize her beliefs. Whether or not you agree with the idea of God Blessing America, it’s not appropriate to critique her beliefs, especially today. Everyone remembers 9/11/01 differently, and if thoughts of God are comforting her don’t make it about you.

Why assume so much? You know what they say about assumptions.

@NaturalMineralWater She and her husband have been going after Obama like crazy lately comparing him to Hitler, ruining America, etc… I think it’s a pretty good assumption. I know what they say, but I’m pretty sure on this one. :)

Her statement doesn’t implicitly exclude all those other things. It simply reflects the focus of her thinking.

If you feel so moved, why not make a statement about your concerns or focus on your status?

@limeaide I’m just not sure why you would want to nitpick at a such a benevolent statement. You don’t have to believe in God for your sister-in-law to want good things to happen to the country. Why not support your sister-in-law whilst disagreeing with her?

She isn’t saying “damn the rest of the world and only be nice to us”.

@NaturalMineralWater because to the poster this statement is offensive and I can see why

@NaturalMineralWater but she was saying we don’t deserve god’s blessing. I didn’t take that as a benevolent statement. Excluding that I totally agree, I would have not thought anything about it and moved on.

I am not the biggest fan of Christians (mainly because they often don’t live the principles they espouse), but I have never taken the statement “God Bless America” to mean “bless us, but forget everyone else”. Even if they did mean that, you think God would listen?

@robmandu I’m fine with other peoples opinions, part of the reason I asked the question was to see if I was wrong. It does bother me when people treat their opinions as fact, but other than that I have not problem with others opinions. I was thinking maybe I could discuss and get to understand her position better. Has no ones opinions ever bothered you? I thought that was a normal part of being human. I don’t need anyone to get on board with my feelings or opinions just wanted some advice and insight. I don’t believe I’m better than anyone else, I believe that we all have our unique strengths and weaknesses. I don’t think my sister-in-law is stupid, hypocritical at times maybe but who isn’t that is human as well.

I don’t think I need to get over myself for asking for the wisdom of others. Thank you for you answer it did help me think and review my feelings on the subject more.

One other thing I just thought to mention. Doesn’t a facebook status update beg to have comments and if you are posting something to many different people with differing opinions I’d think you’d expect differing views from time to time. I know personally I post things about politics some times and like the conversations that get started. I like hearing differing views and learn a lot. I’m assuming like @Simone_De_Beauvoir said some people just want confirmations and not discussion. So maybe someone can help determine how to tell the difference.

@AlenaD True, I agree.

@limeaide Your sister-in-law is being humble and patriotic.. qualities largely lost in time. Howbeit, your perspective is different. I wish you luck with this squabble.

Sometimes you have to let the little things in life go. Facebook statuses are a little thing.

As a Christian (and there’s many flavors, so I’m guessing here), your sister likely believes “we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

That is, we don’t deserve any good things in life because of the sins we’ve all (including her, she’s not claiming special status) committed. As a Christian, that’s what makes God’s grace so fundamental to the mindset. Grace is not given on merit but out of mercy.

So… in that regard, she’s not being overtly judgmental of you, this country, or anyone else. She’s simply stating a foundational belief to reiterate the value of God’s grace.

—

And yah, she’s hypocritical. Who isn’t at some level? I know I am.

—

So, do you reply to her status with a challenge directly? You can… but I suggest calling her up (she is family after all) and talking to her in person.

@limeaide: Doesn’t a facebook status update beg to have comments and if you are posting something to many different people with differing opinions I’d think you’d expect differing views from time to time.

at a social gathering: “thank you all for coming! God has blessed us with so much today…”

“arrr! fuck you! your pitiful God doesn’t exist and this potato salad tastes like shit, too!”

@robmandu Ok, thank you I think you may have explained something I misunderstood, with her statement, “even when we don’t deserve it” I was assuming it was because of recent political issues she was dealing with, but are you saying it’s not that at all but that we all are not deserving of gods blessings. I’m still confused about the “even when” part, I’m guessing we do deserve it sometimes? That’s OK. Thank you for your time, because of you answer I do feel better, seriously thank you.

@Ria777 “arrr! fuck you! your pitiful God doesn’t exist and this potato salad tastes like shit, too!”

^^^ that almost made me piss my pants! So funny! Haha, I kinda want to put it up as my facebook status!

@limeaide, yah I saw the “even when” part, too. Like I said, many “flavors” of Christianity and then there’s personal understanding of the various concepts, too.

And also, it’s just a facebook status… probably not a whole lot of thought other than well wishes were put into it.

@Ria777 Gave you a great answer for that one because it made me laugh so hard. :) Genius! That clears a lot up for me. I will now think of the status update as a family/friend gathering and use this as my guide. :)

BTW – just to make sure everyone knows I wouldn’t have a problem with the statement, “thank you all for coming! God has blessed us with so much today…”, it was the we don’t deserve it part that I wasn’t sure about.

@limeaide you sure make a lot of references to “god” for an agnostic. ;-)

but in all seriousness I think you should post something, sarcastic or witty. Something along the lines of “we’re all in this together” or “God is neither right nor left”
thats what i would do.

Agnostic ≠ Atheist.

Leave it be. You will never change her beliefs via Facebook and she will never change yours and after all, she can put what she wants on her Facebook just as you can on yours. What she said really doesn’t sound that offensive to me (and I’m not religious either) but you know her better.

Is it worth being awkward just for the sake of it.

If none of my above advice works you could always change your own status in response and see if she can get the hint that way!!!

@robmandu I understand this, i was simply referencing the amount of interest the asker seems to have about God and her interaction with us, in forms of taking sides etc, enough to be offended.

The asker sounds like a believer if you ask me.

Depends on her and how you think she will react, and also how your relationship is. If you don’t like each other, a forceful comment might be okay, but your best bet would probably be to nicely say “please don’t make posts relating to your religion,” or don’t post at all.

@patg7590, the querent stated, “I’m agnostic” in the question’s description.

The offense was that, as an agnostic, the querent doesn’t like someone else ascribing motives and definitions to God, or whatever super entity(ies) may or may not exist.

@robmandu ah, I see. I was under the impression that as an agnostic, the focus was more towards “we cannot know if God is” not so much “we cannot know what God is like”

thank you for correcting me.

There are lots of flavors of agnostics, too. And variances on their understandings as well. ツ

@Ria777 – Oh, wow.. that was hilarious.

No comment would be the best comment from you in this situation.

Limeade, I’m afraid you would fit the definition of a ‘jerk’ if you did this. And since you generally don’t seem to be one, please try to avoid it.

@StephK The deserving part is what gave me some anxiety and I didn’t think it would be wise to comment. I did want to get others input. I’m assuming you are referencing @ragingloli comments? If so, I definitely wouldn’t comment his recommendation. Although, I do see and understand @ragingloli‘s point and it’s very confusing to understand the rationale of who get’s blessed and why. But I guess it’s not necessarily rationally based. As I said before I don’t claim to know.

@limeaide, I think you should feel free to comment if she is commenting publicly.

If people want to post stupid religious shit on their public facebook profiles, people who then respond to that stupid shit aren’t “jerks.” The person opens themselves up for debate.

I really get annoyed at this attitude where any discussion—especially of religion—is off-limits and means you’re a “jerk” if you engage in it. If people don’t want to debate religion that’s fine, but then you shouldn’t post things like “God bless America even though we don’t deserve it” on your damn facebook page.

Frankly, I wish more people would hold religious people accountable for spewing their idiocy.

Ignore her. There is no reasoning with someone like that. If you comment, it will mean nothing to her, because if she knows you are agnostic, she probably thinks your words about religion and God mean little. She will not see the hipocrisy in her statements.

I would write back: “How ironic and sad that you voted for the very people who organized the attacks on America. God Bless you, despite the fact you don’t deserve it.”

Okay, actually JLeslie’s answer is better. But if you prefer the snarky route, then I think what I said was pretty good.

It would be difficult for me to take my own advice lol. But, I think it is the better way.

@Kraigmo, saying that would also be stupid because Bush didn’t orchestrate 9/11 and such conspiracy theories are dumb in the same way that religious zealotry is dumb. In fact, I would say that such a comment would also deserve a comment pointing out its stupidity on Facebook.

@Qingu, People thought the Gulf of Tonkin Incident occurred, for 30 years after, as well. Its comforting to trust our government’s stories. Keeps the pride going.
But anyway, if limeade’s aunt might have the same reaction as you did to me, then that’s yet another reason for limeade to not write what i suggested.

@Qingu I’m going to have to go with @Kraigmo on this one, I’m sorry but just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean you can simply label it “dumb” and therefore “untrue”. Gulf of Tonkin, Reichstag Fire, etc.
The official story is not always the actual story.

What the fuck does the Gulf of Tonkin incident(s) have to do with 9/11.

Do you seriously think that “The government has exaggerated and lied before, therefore 9/11 was an inside job” counts as an argument?

@Qingu the Gulf of Tonkin was a lie. I believe @Kraigmo and I were simply suggesting that it was a lie that had ultierior motives, and were alluding to 9/11 being along those same lines.

@patg7590, it’s important that you understand why what you are writing is stupid.

If X lies, that does not mean that every statement X makes is a lie.

More importantly, it does not mean that any claim made about X is true.

Bush is a liar. He deceived America to start a war. And America’s government has lied to us in the past.

These facts are not evidence in support of the claim that 9/11 was an inside job. That is not how evidence works.

wow. this thread has come a long ways.

Happy 9/11.

@Qingu I don’t believe I was referring to the Gulf of Tonkin as “evidence” for anything, other than that our government has, in the past, lied to us, for its own gains.

thats all.

happy 9/11 everyone….lol

@robmandu I’ve been staying after at work just to watch the debate. Totally off thread but fun, at least for me. :) I’m going to go have dinner but I can’t wait to check back later.

@patg7590,

Premise: the government has lied to us for its own gains.

Conclusion 1: Therefore, we should be skeptical of government claims.

Conclusion 2: Therefore, any conspiracy theory where the government lies for its own gain should be believed.

I agree with conclusion #1.

Tell me how you get to conclusion #2 from the premise. Tell me what in the name of hell the premise even has to do with conclusion 2.

We all agree with Conclusion 1, do we not?

Yes.

My point is that going from there to Conclusion 2 is a fallacy. It is no different in structure than the fallacy that, “evolutionary biologists cannot explain every single step in the development of the flagellum motor, therefore, God created the flagellum motor.”

A more generalized form: just because you have reason to doubt something does not mean any shit you make up to explain it is true.

And in any case, we don’t have any good reasons to doubt this specific “mainstream” claim, aside from the possibility that flight 93 was shot down. Being skeptical doesn’t mean not believing anything you hear.

@Qingu what allows you to flag one instance: “Flight 93 was shot down” (which I don’t happen to subscribe to) as “possible” and anything else as blatantly false? Were you on the 9/11 comminsion report? Telling us what we can and cannot question?

“we don’t have any good reasons to doubt this specific “mainstream” claim”

well maybe some people…do

this part in particular:

We have endured a lot of negative remarks and hostility, all for simply wanting to understand more about a terrible tragedy that not only took the lives of thousands of people in the United States, but also took endless more in its name during the wars that followed. We want a new investigation into the events of 9/11, not only because the first one was demonstrably inadequate but also because there has been ample testimony made by enough experts from around the world to bring the findings of the 9/11 Commission into question.

We are not dealing with conspiracy theories. We are dealing with facts. We are asking for the Truth and our requests will not cease until they are legitimately met. Until then, we must continue to ask questions and demand answers.

With warm regards and best wishes to you all, and our sincere condolences to all of those who were affected that day. It is because of you that we continue to demand accountability.

try to enter things with an open mind, not everyone who thinks differently than you is attacking your ego, country, political party, way of life, etc.

You guys are cracking me up.

@patg7590, you are seriously asking me how I differentiate probabilities of different claims? Do you actually understand what you are asking me?

Let’s do a thought experiment: Let’s say you think I’m a liar. I make two claims.

1. I am wearing a green shirt.
2. I am the leader of an international conspiracy.

Tell me if you think one claim is more likely than the other. And if so, tell me why you flagged one claim as less likely than the other.

Let me put that another way.

If you believe someone is a liar—does that imply that any claim they make (or, more relevant, any claim made about them) is equally improbable? That is what you are saying.

It’s nonsense.

@Qingu
since i know nothing about you, both are equally likely

You think

“Random liar on Fluther is wearing a green shirt”

is just as likely to be true as

“Random liar on Fluther is the leader of an international conspiracy”

?

The point here is that certain claims are more believable than others.

given the lack of information, mathematically yes

You have information. Namely that green shirts exist and someone wearing one is a mundane claim that requires no further explanation.

Whereas there’s no evidence that an international conspiracy exists and if there was one, why the hell would its leader be posting on Fluther.

One claim instrinsically makes more sense than the other.

@limeaide Nope, not referencing ragingloli – I’m talking about the original question. :)

What do you mean God wouldn’t pick sides? If there is a Christian God, I bet he has an idea of what is right and what is wrong, and isn’t some “thing” in the sky who says murder, eh, who cares. I don’t know your friend but regarding her statement, “even though we don’t deserve it”, may not have anything to do with Obama. It may be something along the lines of we all sin against God and we don’t deserve God’s grace? Just MHO

God bless America has both a religious meaning and a secular meaning. Another example for the latter would be “Oh God, leave me alone.” The religious meaning is not tied to just one faith. Christians, Jews, Muslims, refer to one God who might or might not bless America.

@mattbrowne yeah but the only way that was meant as secular is if America just sneezed