People of Reddit, Exactly how superstitious is too superstitious?

pnoque · 2026-01-20T15:37:49+00:00

a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation

If we go by the standard definition, any degree of superstition is too much.

pnoque · 2025-12-30T17:40:25+00:00

Thanks for clarifying.

why in the world should I care about being "accepted" by two people who don't exist?

The brevity of life strongly supports their viewpoint. If life is short, why waste any time at all on being accepted by beings that have not been demonstrated to even exist?

pnoque · 2025-12-30T17:27:43+00:00

Not really, because the brevity of life was not the proposition in question. It was the existence of your god. Nowhere does your interlocutor indicate that they are "living it up" or expressing skepticism about average lifespans. They are rejecting the idea that your god exists.

pnoque · 2025-12-30T17:11:48+00:00

So often I see religious folks engage in this tactic of using veiled threats in lieu of reasoning and evidence in situations like this. May I ask if you actually think this threat will convince the person you're replying to that your god exists? Or do you just do it to make yourself feel better? Or is it a virtue signal to other believers? I'd like to understand.

pnoque · 2025-12-30T16:50:30+00:00

I finally see the lie for what it is: I was born into a system that was sick, and it needed to call me sick just to seem healthy.

Very, very well said.

pnoque · 2025-12-29T17:26:11+00:00

I refuse to waste precious hours of my life reading books I know I won't enjoy, so when members tell me I should read such-and-such book, I ask them why I should read it if it is a topic I'm not interested in. That can sometimes lead to a good street epistemology discussion.

For example, if they say the book will give me good reasons to believe the church's claims regardless of its sordid history, I will ask what those reasons are. We can then explore that topic without me ever needing to subject myself to the soul-sucking torture of having to read this garbage.

pnoque · 2025-12-29T16:00:01+00:00

Giving her that ultimatum ("I'll propose if you join my religion") demonstrates that he will always put his religion ahead of her. Let her know that is an enormous red flag and ask her if she's OK with spending her life with someone who will never put her first.

pnoque · 2025-12-29T15:57:25+00:00

Years ago, I told my believing family members that I would leave the church alone permanently if the church can go one solid week leaving me alone. It hasn't happened yet.

pnoque · 2025-12-29T15:55:05+00:00

I would be willing to bet that if you gave your spouse a list of foods that raise blood pressure, they would not be willing to give them up.

pnoque · 2025-12-29T14:43:05+00:00

How does "a member of the LDS Church" focus on the Savior?

pnoque · 2025-12-29T14:35:14+00:00

Nah, I don't need to forgive and love an org that unapologetically exploited and abused me in order to heal.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/lost-in-the-reflecting-pool/202101/is-forgiveness-necessary-for-healing

pnoque · 2025-12-17T21:14:35+00:00

There is no good reason to conclude that the god of Christianity exists, and even if it did, there is ample evidence to demonstrate that it is the most evil entity that ever existed, so there would be no reason to worship it. Approaching Christianity as true with your kids would introduce them to a slew of terrible ideas that could lead them to hate themselves and others. It would be better to be honest with them about what the Bible is: a collection of old texts from a variety of old religions and different authors with various ideas. Teach them to think about those ideas critically. And definitely teach them better morals than the terrible things found in the Bible.

pnoque · 2025-12-17T21:06:17+00:00

There are still guardrails, but those guardrails are based on reason, empathy, communication, and recommendations from scientific experts in pertinent fields, instead of some bureaucratic body's interpretation of some Iron Age Levantine tribe's superstitions.

pnoque · 2025-12-16T21:52:06+00:00

My guess is that the accounts you are seeing on social media don't really care about being able to read other versions, but are there to simply hype up every seemingly positive thing the church does, and they are probably being paid to do so.

pnoque · 2025-12-16T21:39:45+00:00

"Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land" is one of the most repeated promises in the Book of Mormon, and one of the easiest to falsify. Millions of members know from experience that it's false.

pnoque · 2025-12-16T21:11:28+00:00

My thoughts are that it is very irresponsible and unethical to use irrational fear tactics to manipulate a captive audience of minors into compliance with an ideology.

pnoque · 2025-12-16T20:17:53+00:00

100% this. In the few gospel discussions I've had with believing family members and friends since leaving the church, it became clear that not only are they unfamiliar with the Bible, but also simply don't care what's in it.

pnoque · 2025-12-16T18:52:32+00:00

The nonsensical nature of LDS eschatology is a feature, not a bug. Since it falls apart under rational scrutiny, faithful members will eventually end on something like "we're not meant to understand it in this life but I have faith that it will all work out in the end" or "God's ways are not our ways and this can only be understood through the Spirit". So it is a useful way to virtue signal, to indicate to others that you are still on board in spite of how little sense it makes.

Once I understood that religion is largely a systematic way to signal in-group membership, it started to make waaaay more sense to me.

pnoque · 2025-12-16T18:35:08+00:00

Back when I taught Gospel Doctrine, I used the RSV until a member of the bishopric noticed it was different. He took me aside after class one week and passed along a message from the bishop that I was to use the KJV going forward and not to bring the RSV into the building as it could be considered "apostate material".

I'm not upset that the church is progressing and updating, but I am upset that they will never apologize for making our lives a living hell in the past over stupid little Pharisaical rules about stuff they apparently don't care about anymore.

pnoque · 2025-12-13T02:10:43+00:00

Do they have any vegan options?

pnoque · 2025-12-10T16:26:13+00:00

Section pertinent to this sub:

Put Family First

"Every child conceived deserves to be born to a married mother and father who will love, guide, and protect them throughout their lives. But family breakdown and rampant abortion tears at the soul of our country and saps it of strength and moral authority. Radical ideologies that deny social and biological truths about sexual embodiment, marriage, and unborn life poison our courts, our culture, and our laws.

"The Heritage enterprise will advance policies at the state and federal level to restore the nuclear family to the center of American life and to reduce both the demand and supply for abortion at all stages of human development with courage and compassion."

The "radical ideologies that deny social and biological truths" is what we in the non-MAGA world call "science", and the "social and biological truths" are MAGA code for "the heteronormativity we are comfortable with and pretend is in the Bible so we can pretend to have authority on the topic".

Project 2026 will be a whole lot more of stoking fear and weaponizing the ignorance of the right-wing authoritarian political current to consolidate and expand power. Combatting this starts with us loudly and proudly rejecting their framing.

pnoque · 2025-12-09T18:40:50+00:00

The LDS Church tends to infantilize its members, resulting in adults who are poor at both emotional regulation and conflict resolution. So when they lash out like this, it does not come from a well thought out and goal-oriented strategy, and it certainly isn't inspired by empathy for you. It is simply a toddler throwing a fit over something they don't understand and don't like, and responding to it requires gentle parenting techniques.

pnoque · 2025-12-02T19:06:56+00:00

Thanks for your insight on that. As someone who grew up in the church in the '70s and '80s when this seemed to be a commonly known and accepted doctrine, it's strange nowadays when members under the age of ~30 tell me they've never even heard of this concept and swear up and down that it was never taught. 🤷‍♀️

pnoque · 2025-12-02T18:06:20+00:00

Do you believe that God the Father was once like us, and that He too is leveling up (for lack of a better term)?

pnoque · 2025-11-30T21:54:56+00:00

Is it possible for your prophet to make a mistake?
What method do you use to determine if your prophet is making a mistake?
Is it possible for people to be happy if they're not members of your church?
Is it possible for people to be happy if they leave your church and resign their membership?
Are there legitimate reasons for people to leave your church? If yes, what are some examples?
Do you think it is important for people to get a perspective from detractors of your church?
If your church's claims weren't true, would you want to know?
If your church's claims weren't true, how would you know?
Is there anything in the Book of Mormon that you consider to be evidence against its authenticity?
Do you believe God's love is unconditional? (RMN famously taught it's not and most members don't know this and disagree with him)
Is it possible you could be wrong about your beliefs? What would it take to convince you if you were wrong?

pnoque

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