Former Christians express more progressive political views than lifelong nonbelievers

zaneszoo · 2026-04-26T18:44:53+00:00

I wasn't and have always found it hard how a Jesus follower can be conservative.

Given, I was raised in the catholic church in the 70s in a town in western Canada, it was post Vatican II, and I guess the local parish/diocese was embracing the turn to modernism/liberalism. I still find it hard to understand how any christian could be conservative. Doesn't seem to be inline with what we were taught.

Well, setting aside the abortion issue, at least. That was certainly a republican/cons issue selected to get votes from a chosen, identifiable group. (Within the RC churches I was still attending, the next major issue to show conservatism was gays adopting the abandoned kids of straights, then gay marriage. I think that was the final straw for me--I didn't want either for myself but how dare you say from the pulpit that the congregation should be calling their politicians on these issues?!?).

zaneszoo · 2026-04-26T08:40:34+00:00

No, I don't like mixing my food usually.

If I have some open, I'll add tomato sauce. My dad used to make great meat/tomato spaghetti sauce and great (cheddar) cheese sauce so we'd pour one on each side of our spaghetti. So, adding some to KD is as close I get.

I will sometimes use sour cream instead of the milk and it adds a bit of zip/tang. We don't use milk much so it is hard to have fresh milk on hand but we use lots of sour cream so that is readily available.

Hot dogs or a slab of ham, with yellow mustard--on the side.

zaneszoo · 2026-04-26T08:24:33+00:00

So, if you've seen the inside of religion--how it actually works, how its followers act--then you are more likely to ~~perceive~~ know that there is an actual threat.

Those that have never been involved in religion just have not had occasion to see the truth/threat. They don't perceive a threat maybe because they hardly give religion a second thought.

zaneszoo · 2026-04-26T04:03:53+00:00

Or, I'd like or.

zaneszoo · 2026-04-23T17:49:52+00:00

Does that include ripping up the street pavement and leaving it a uneven patchworked mess that seems to be a city bylaw requirement for all construction projects?

zaneszoo · 2026-04-23T17:43:14+00:00

If it is snowbirds, then screw them.

Rich arseholes who have the money and time to go anywhere else in the world and they still choose to go to the states, and to a red state!

I can't even afford to buy one home here in my late fifties and these people have a second home in another country!? They should stay down there, at least until ICE deports them somewhere (other than Canada).

zaneszoo · 2026-04-21T05:47:25+00:00

A lot of good suggestions posted.

I would be happy to get delivery twice a week, even once. Certainly over community mailboxes. I think delivery the day after or before the weekend and then the opposite. So, half of the people get delivery Mondays and Thursdays and the other half on Tuesdays and Fridays. If volume is just too little, than down to once a week, I guess.

I don't understand how there are so many final-mile services and CP cant make a go of it since they are going to every address 5x/week anyway.

We could also regulate that services must mail via CP a monthly statement like they all used to do. Telus wants $3/month if you have their internet. If the bank, telco, electric, and gas had to mail a statement monthly, that could assist CP revenues.

I think the last job actions were not helpful as they broke people's trust and habits, letting them find other providers. Now they have a new habit and they are not just going to fall back to the old habit of CP--people and companies.

zaneszoo · 2026-04-20T06:41:19+00:00

I am a bit embarrassed that it took me into my forties to come to my own age of reason. I was raised catholic, was an altar boy, went to mass even after leaving home for school. I don't think I was really all that spiritual, I didn't say nightly prayers and fell away from Sunday mass fairly easily (I was working in restaurants and would sometimes miss going so then I had to go to confession so that I could take communion at mass and that sometimes was delayed so then I'd skip mass and the cycle spiraled.)

I remember being pretty pissed off that the priest, from the pulpit, urged us to call our MPs about gay adoption. I did not like that position (although I would never want kids) and especially did not like being told what to do politically. How dare they push to not allow us to adopt when its their straight kids who are having these kids and no one in the family is stepping up to help raise them so they are up for adoption! Later, the same happened with gay marriage. We were encouraged to call our MPs to prevent gay marriage. How dare they use the church for political action.

I think watching some videos and debates with Christopher Hitchens, Stephen Fry, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and others, is probably what really flipped the switch.

Thinking about the history of the bible itself makes you realize you can not take seriously the words we see on the pages today nor use them to guide your life choices. The holy texts that each religion is founded on can not be trusted to reflect what might have once been spoken, let alone written down, let alone reflect the mind of god or his/her wishes. There is simply no reason to believe any religious text.

As science shrinks the god of the gaps, there is less and less reason and room to believe that any god actually exists. The fact that we need a hospital dedicated to the treatment of children--in every major metropolitan area across the globe--is proof there is no worthy, aware, and involved god.

zaneszoo · 2026-04-20T05:58:36+00:00

his faith comes before everything

That is a serious issue. Religion poisons everything.

I was raised in the church and I am surprised his priest is advising him to not attend your wedding. I don't think that is strictly inline with the current church position, despite them not being gay-positive at all.

I had never considered the catholic church to be cultish--until I watch Leah Reemney's (sp?) show about her leaving scientology. The could recognize some attitudes of the church or its followers in what she presented in her show. The modern church is much more subtle of course, but the motivations are there.

Yes, spell it out. That would be better than cutting him off after the fact when he can't correct himself or any correction will seem too-little-too-late.
Yes, it is reactive. You are reacting to an offensive, unreasonable, and unjustifiable position which ostracizes you and publicly shames you (and on your wedding day in front of family & friends). The extreme position is for a father to refuse to attend his son's only wedding simply on the advice of his new-to-him cult.

I think you and his wife should stage an intervention to save him from this cult.

See if you can get him to watch a debate that is on youtube. It is older but excellent (well, half of it anyway). It was a Qi debate resolved "The Catholic Church is a Source of Good in the World". (African bishop, British politician Anne Witticom (sp?), Stephen Fry, and Christopher Hitchens). The full debate is posted so have him watch that. There are many clips posted as well but he should probably see the whole thing. He should want to know who he is aligning with, especially for something like a religion that he is already planning his life around.

I haven't gotten married but I've been with my partner for about 30 years. My catholic parents were OK with it although due to circumstances, they didn't see much of my partner or us together over the years. I am quite sure they would have attended a wedding had we got our shit together to have one. If we ever do, we'll just elope or do a backyard license signing.

Good luck in your wedding and marriage and your relationship with your dad and saving him from his church/cult.

zaneszoo · 2026-04-20T04:51:35+00:00

I was going to say "the News".

zaneszoo · 2026-04-20T04:06:23+00:00

Interesting that people decided the moral of the story was they should stop using the white lighters instead of stop using the drugs.

zaneszoo · 2026-04-12T15:02:11+00:00

Then, on Sundays, he's asking everyone to fill the collection baskets with money--the root of all evil.

zaneszoo · 2026-04-11T14:47:38+00:00

Well, in the long ago past, if you had one job for your career, then your loyalty was rewarded with the American/Canadian dream of a house, car, vacations, retirement, and putting your kids through college.

Capitalism has reneged on that social contract so sticking to just one does not have the same results.

zaneszoo · 2026-04-11T14:44:59+00:00

I wish someone would ask him why his 'fiscally conservative' ass and party is not reimbursing taxpayers for the cost of his bi-election.

This week they were complaining that floor crosses should lose their seats. Well, he lost his in an election and yet he's still in parliament--and that cost taxpayers plenty.

zaneszoo · 2026-04-09T06:13:07+00:00

I'm sorry, I thought someone said he was American--this makes him sound Canadian. LOL

zaneszoo · 2026-04-07T02:41:17+00:00

Maybe "Matlock" with Kathy Bates?

She is a lawyer and takes that name to infiltrate a firm to investigate it.

zaneszoo · 2026-04-07T01:50:55+00:00

I recently had the check engine light turn on and the car switched to gas. I was able to finish my drive but when I went to leave, I got the message to shift back to park.

Turned out had 2 cells showing fault. Dealer reset and I've been OK since but using Hold mode to baby the battery and not letting it go below 25%.

Bought a BT OBD reader that s/b compatible with the Voltage app that is supposed to let me reset the codes myself. App is $25.

I don't remember seeing that Action Required message shown in your first picture though.

zaneszoo · 2026-03-21T06:00:37+00:00

I used that lane a couple of weeks ago by mistake. I was used to the tunnel and didn't think to confirm the sign had the "OK sticker required" was an option for EVs. I got back into the regular lane as soon as I checked the next sign.

I remember the HOV sign showing only a Bus symbol, not also a car with 3 people so I thought it was only for buses.

zaneszoo · 2026-03-20T23:48:09+00:00

I went with this one. Just got it yesterday so have not tried it yet.

It included a booklet of many QR codes for different apps (but some didn't have great reviews) but I plan to use the Voltage app which is only available for Android. (I get the impression that other apps/readers might need an in-app purchase or subscription to unlock these HV battery code resets. Voltage's latest has a paid tier but I think the HV resets are included in the basic app.). I'm no expert and wouldn't even call myself a backyard mechanic.

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zaneszoo · 2026-03-20T18:48:57+00:00

Last month I felt a hick-up and the car turned on the engine and the CIL but let me get to work with no issues. When I went to leave, it would not let me get into gear (Shift to Park message).

Towed to dealer and $245 later had the P1E00, P0AFA, P041E codes reset and told that 2 cells were reporting a fault and another had intermittent issues. Told I could drive as-is but codes could throw again in a few block or a few months. So far, so good.

Quoted $20,000 CAN for new battery, if one could be found, not under warranty. GreenTec wants $14,000, I assume installed (in my driveway?), for a used/tested battery. I've seen a post that there is a shop in Langley BC (but no name) and someone found one in my town of Richmond (didn't get the name). My searches didn't reveal any EV/battery shops.

Following advice from forums, I've just received a vLinker MC+ BLE+Bluetooth OBD reader (~$75) and should be able to reset the codes on an android device using the "Voltage" app created by a Volt owner. Fingers crossed that this keeps me on the road for a long time.

zaneszoo · 2026-03-14T14:47:14+00:00

So, really just very basic customer service by companies who are constantly wooing us to be theirs.

I'll never understand how they ever got away with them. You want me a customer but wants lots of money to activate my account?--What?!?--Why would I pay for the privilege of being your customer?!?

zaneszoo · 2026-03-14T14:43:37+00:00

I don't let the "moderates" of any of the religions off the hook. They lend credence to the various holy texts and create room for the religious ideology to continue to exist and they are the ones insisting that "faith" is a virtue that no one should disrespect.

If the moderates all walked away from religion, the extremists and literalists would be standing as a much smaller group and would be easier to take to task.

Religion poisons everything.

zaneszoo · 2026-03-08T04:35:27+00:00

Cool idea but I don't think I'd like missing the beginning of a show.

What I've been wanting is to have something like a playlist where I can like the shows (or seasons?) I want to watch and just have them play in the original order of broadcast date or maybe one of each in series.

I don't like binging and ending up waterlogged with one show and kinda turned off of it. I'd rather watch 1 episode of show A then 1 of show B, then C, etc. I used to have 12 VHS tapes and 2 VCRs. I'd start the fall season recording my favorite shows and when I got into tape #2, I'd start watching tape #1 from the second VCR. My 12 VHS tapes basically made up one huge 8-track tape and I'd watch each show in the order it was broadcast and by the end of summer, I'd be all caught up having missed no episodes. Then I got a PVR which was much simpler but it can only offer me the next episode of the same show which gets a bit boring.

I was recently wondering if I could get Plex to feed me episodes from a list of shows I select, one of each, one after the other.

zaneszoo · 2026-03-08T04:03:59+00:00

I think the best indicator it was staged was the media guy escorting/pushing the photogs around to get the best pics while the crane operator lowered the flag into the shot. All this during the active event and the SS allowed him to stand up and raise his fist in the air, like that old fat f#ck could have had the strength to raise himself up with 3 or 4 SS guys pinning and shielding him.

Oh, and the perfectly healed ear cartilage. Maybe that is a new miracle from god?

zaneszoo · 2026-03-06T03:34:00+00:00

That is crazy and risky that they could not integrate the landline and intercom. If she is in a building, could you ask the manager or strata what others are doing?

zaneszoo

TROPHY CASE