Religious fanatics

[Geek King]

Hmmm....I know a lot of my relatives, and I assume many other orthodox Jews, would consider that "cheating," just as taking a bus, while not operating machinery, would be "cheating." I would think most would take the stairs. Then again, not sure what they would do in very tall buildings. As should be obvious by many of my posts, while I am related to Jews, I am not exactly a practitioner of that particular religon!

Interestingly, when I was living near Amish county, it was not unusual to see an Amish family catching a ride in the back of a pickup, or riding the bus. I guess they could use technology as long as they were not operating or owning it. Curiously, I saw a group of Amish men chuckling along with a radio broadcast of the parody band, "The Electric Amish." (http://www.electricamish.com/)

[Hobgoblin]

I love this lady and people like her. "It's disrespectful for you to try to collect the bills I owe you."

Um, lady? Christianity actually teaches that you should PAY YOUR DEBTS.

Of course, in that same vein, the Bible also says you should forgive my debts every seven years.....

At any rate, people who hide behind anything to not pay bills suck.

[aurelemsrealm]

The simple solution to not being bothered by unwanted calls is not to answer them. Of course, having an answering machine, caller ID, or both to screen calls is a big help. If you're too cheap to invest in one or both of those options, that's your problem, not the caller's fault. I have caller ID and voice mail on my cell phone, so I ignore calls from unknown numbers. If it's important, they'll leave me a message, and I'll get back to them. If you find unwanted calls to be that big of a problem, then get rid of the phone.

As for religion, not all of us are of the same faith. It's called diversity.

[gunsage]

Never had a situation like that, fortunately. However, the following occurred a few years ago when me and a couple of my friends were hanging out at a restaurant after a long night of mischief, mayhem, and what have you...

Me:
WF: Currently, my wife. In this scenario, my girlfriend.
SS: Currently, my sister-in-law.
SB: A former boyfriend of my sister-in-law's.
GB: THE AMAZING GOD BOY!

Disclaimer: I have nothing against religion. That's not to say that I'm an avid church-goer, but I don't go around bashing religion just for the hell of it. That said...

* Me, WF, SS, and SB are enjoying ourselves when a van...yes, a VAN of churchie McChuchiesons pulls up and begin accosting random people at table to SPREAD THE GOOD WORD! *

GB: *Right in the middle of our conversation and as awkwardly as possible* "How ya'll doin' tonight?"
Me: "...We're alright." *Continue sipping my root beer and eating*
GB: "Have ya'll accepted our Lord and savior Jesus into your hearts?"
Me: *Groan* "Uh...sure."
SB: "Not really, no. But then, I don't believe in fairy tales."
GB: *He is staggered! Oh, but he's getting up!* "Well, the Lord loves each and every one of you."
SB: "But see, who's to say 'he's' real? I mean, come on, have you seen him?"

* Obviously this just goes on and on and on...and it's not like we were having a "relevant" conversation, but in any case... *

WF: "Well, I guess I'm going to hell, because I want to enjoy my coffee." *Takes a sip* "Goddamn...that is some goooood coffee."
GB: *He's down, folks! He's doooooowwwwn!*
Me, SS, SB:
GB: "Uh, well, uh, you all have a good night."

*Cue Final Fantasy fanfare.*

[smileyeagle1021]

*Cue Final Fantasy fanfare.*

now i've got that song stuck in my head.

[ArenaBoy]

Back in a day when I was 17 (Holy crap I still can't get over the fact that I'm 20!) I worked a religious conference called Women of Faith.

At the time, there is a 17 year old me standing on a drive taking money for parking. A woman pulls up and freaks out when I tell her the parking fee.

"$10!?!? I PRAYED TO THE GOOD LORD FOR A SAFE TRIP! Then I run into Satan's Spawn like you! I'm not paying!"

"Ma'am, it's $10. Everyone has to pay it."

She got the point and paid.

[smileyeagle1021]

Back in a day when I was 17 (Holy crap I still can't get over the fact that I'm 20!) I worked a religious conference called Women of Faith.

At the time, there is a 17 year old me standing on a drive taking money for parking. A woman pulls up and freaks out when I tell her the parking fee.

"$10!?!? I PRAYED TO THE GOOD LORD FOR A SAFE TRIP! Then I run into Satan's Spawn like you! I'm not paying!"

"Ma'am, it's $10. Everyone has to pay it."

She got the point and paid.

yeah, women of faith was in st paul this year... oh and telling one of them that a hotel was sold out and all hell would break loose.

oh, and just wait until your 21st...

[PhotoChick]

Hmmm....I know a lot of my relatives, and I assume many other orthodox Jews, would consider that "cheating," just as taking a bus, while not operating machinery, would be "cheating." I would think most would take the stairs. Then again, not sure what they would do in very tall buildings.

While I beileve you are right, most would take the stairs, there is a very large orthodox Jewish community near the photography supply store I frequent. An employee friend of mine lives a few blocks away in a mostly Jewish apartment building (a new york city high rise) While I've never been there on a Saturday I would assume there are many people on the top floors that can't walk up and down that many flights of stairs. Thought people on the lower floors would probably use them

[Saydrah]

I loled at ArenaBoy's story. "But God said I got free parking!"

I once volunteered at an animal rescue with a woman who was so religious that it frightened me. I am not personally religious, but I don't bother anyone about it- my personal beliefs are that if I just live a good life, any God worth believing in will recognize that, so why bother worrying about religion- but anyway, this lady scared me. I will never start religious discussions with others, and I respect all religions whether I'm particularly fond of them or not- however, this one was just over the top. Some actual word for word quotes.

"Jesus made a hole in my head so that I could see an opening from Sam (name changed- ex husband of this woman) to come back to me."

"Allergies are what people get when they have sins they haven't yet confessed."

"God removed a cyst from my uterus. I woke up in pain and bleeding from my private areas, and when I prayed, God told me that I had a cyst in my uterus and that he had burst it so it would not turn into cancer."

"I looked at Sam's new house the other day and God showed me that the back door was open and told me that this means the other woman will be leaving him soon."

"Jesus told me that my dog has Lyme Disease."

"I can't get a job- God told me after the car accident that I would never again be well enough to work."

"You can't ban me from the property (she was caught lying and threatening other volunteers)- GOD IS WATCHING and I am a pious woman!"

[Jacen]

God? Godfrey Bear? (Sorry, I couldn't resist. The SC sounds about that age )

In all serious, he sounded like he believed himself to be a representive of god. If god existed*(and used telephones), I don't think he'd have a mere mortal as his receptionist.

Further more, why does "the lord" get a day all to himself? I want a day too!

* I'm not trying to offend or piss off religious people so don't take that the wrong way.

[Misanthropical]

One part of my job is collections, and, in my almost-twenty years of calling past-due accounts, one thing's almost 99% of the time been true. The ones with the sermons on their voicemail/answering machines, or who put "have a blessed day" at the end of it are the ones you'll about have to drag every dime out of, kicking and screaming.

When I was doing collections, these people were the ones who would call you every filthy name in the book and curse a blue streak.

It made me want to run right out and join their church. /sarcasm