I’m kind of surprised that they don’t make Jesus piñatas for Easter. They could hang it on a cross and let the kids stab it with spears until the candy comes out.
I had a recurring nightmare as a kid for years that I was in Hell and had to climb the hill at Golgotha and pray for mercy every day for eternity. I can still picture it clear as day some 30 years later.
Religion is staying the fuck away from my kids.
Edit: to be clear, I don’t indoctrinate them, they’ve always been free to make their own choices. The oldest went to church with Nana more than once. The youngest probably won’t, but they’ve got different mothers and those grandparents aren’t nearby. But as the oldest grew and developed their own strong critical mind, I felt free to voice my opinions on subjects when they came up organically. And I’m deeply critical of magical thinking.
If you think Christianity is unique in this regard look towards Buddhism, specifically the Vajrayana branches (often associated with Tibet) and you’ll see even more gruesome imagery than any Christian symbolism. Buddhas drinking blood out of the skulls of their enemies, stomping on corpses, and having sex all at the same time, and even more shocking things. These"fearsome" or “wrathful” manifestation of Buddhist deities that display raw power and the trappings of demons to destroy said demons are relatively common. Religion is weird and powerful symbolism is often shocking.
When I was a little boy my mother left me at my great grandmas house while she went out with some friends.
This was the only night I stayed there my whole life.
I had been raised Jewish at that point and didn’t know a lot about Christianity.
Great grandma was Catholic. Like irish Catholic.
She was almost 100 and of course went to bed at like 7pm.
Consequently so did I.
She gave me the guest room. I remember the lace curtains and the streetlight unfettered lighting up the wall.
On that wall? A cross. No big deal. I’d seen the big “t” before.
But on that cross?
A dude was nailed to it. He was bleeding and mostly naked and in agony.
And staring at me while I tried to sleep.
It was terrifying. I am still traumatized.
Why was my nice great grandma who gave me. A pack of baseball cards when I visited keeping a horror movie sigil on her wall?
I did not sleep at all that night.
I still think about the yellow light spilling through those curtains and illuminating the victim Christ.
Look all religions are weird and stupid.
But Christianity is twisted af.
That shit is not appropriate for kids. Or normal people.
I’m kind of surprised that they don’t make Jesus piñatas for Easter. They could hang it on a cross and let the kids stab it with spears until the candy comes out.
I had a recurring nightmare as a kid for years that I was in Hell and had to climb the hill at Golgotha and pray for mercy every day for eternity. I can still picture it clear as day some 30 years later.
Religion is staying the fuck away from my kids.
Edit: to be clear, I don’t indoctrinate them, they’ve always been free to make their own choices. The oldest went to church with Nana more than once. The youngest probably won’t, but they’ve got different mothers and those grandparents aren’t nearby. But as the oldest grew and developed their own strong critical mind, I felt free to voice my opinions on subjects when they came up organically. And I’m deeply critical of magical thinking.
My proudest achievement was asking my daughter if she wanted to participate in a religion and seeing the look on her face.
That’s a negative, ghost rider.
One good thing Judaism trained me for is to be aware of fascism.
Kristelnacht memorials traumatized me enough that I made up my mind a loooong time ago:
If they come to take me I’m dragging one to my grave.
My kids know their heritage but don’t have any of the superstitious or misogynistic hangups that come from their ancestors religions.
✊️🤘
If you think Christianity is unique in this regard look towards Buddhism, specifically the Vajrayana branches (often associated with Tibet) and you’ll see even more gruesome imagery than any Christian symbolism. Buddhas drinking blood out of the skulls of their enemies, stomping on corpses, and having sex all at the same time, and even more shocking things. These"fearsome" or “wrathful” manifestation of Buddhist deities that display raw power and the trappings of demons to destroy said demons are relatively common. Religion is weird and powerful symbolism is often shocking.