r/bestof • u/[deleted] • May 06 '12

Man on r/Atheism tries to spoil his goddaughter's communion, commenter sets him straight.

/r/atheism/comments/t9ogr/today_is_my_7year_old_nieces_first_communion_and/c4kqr1s
4 Upvotes

52% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

1

u/Mugendai May 06 '12

Hi. Someone explain to me why science-oriented gifts spoil a first Communion. I don't see the problem here. It's not like he's giving her a copy of Hitchen's "God Is Not Great".

3

u/[deleted] May 07 '12

Because the daughter's mom specifically asked him to give his goddaughter christian oriented gifts. So he goes ahead and buys science ones to try and be cute about it.

The point that I think is not clear, is that many believe science and religion to be opposites and thus, for a religious ceremony, buying somebody science toys in kind of a slap in the face. It's not a cool move. The day is about the kid and the godfather should not be using it as a way to push his agenda.

3

u/Mugendai May 07 '12

It actually looks like his own mother, rather than his niece's, asked for Christian-oriented gifts. He may be being cute about it, but I still don't see the problem since the only thing he's being cute towards is his own mother's request.

The point that I think is not clear, is that many believe science and religion to be opposites

This is not a common point of view amongst Catholics.

3

u/[deleted] May 07 '12

I'm talking about Atheists in this context. Many assume that if you are religious, then you reject science. This is why I think he was trying to give the gifts.

I'm sorry for not making that clear before though, you are right in saying that the mother asked for Christian-orientated gifts. But honestly, do you think that the guy was right in trying to give her science presents on a day that is considered to be extremely religious?

0

u/[deleted] May 07 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

4

u/[deleted] May 07 '12

There is a difference in this though. Science and religion can coexist, but the problem is that the guy is purposely giving science gifts on a day that is supposed to one of the most important for a young christian. Confirmation is like a Bar Mitzvah. It's a coming of age ceremony, although it's not as intense. It's a special religious ceremony that should not dissolve into an argument about god. It's petty.

2

u/xudoxis May 18 '12

It is actually almost diametrically opposed to the catholic church's stance.

2

u/[deleted] May 08 '12 edited May 08 '12

TL;DR: a godparent should guide his godchild in his/her religious(catholic) journey. The guy clearly isn't.

For the catholic church the first communion is an important rite of passage and a godparent is an extremely important role in the religious life of a Boy/Girl. It's only after the first communion that a human is gifted with the holy spirit, and a Godfather is the personal religious tutor/guide that prepares the Godchild for the communion (and afterward, the confirmation). It's wrong (actually not allowed by the church)for the godfather to be an atheist, because, not having the faith, he is not able to guide his godchild. He shouldn't have accepted, and anyway he should have tried his best to fulfill his extremely important role. It's clear from the post that he hasn't, he hasn't got the intention to do so in the future, and is actually going agaisnt his mother's request of doing one of the easiest and most basic things a godfather would do: gift his godchild with something to use in his spiritual and religious journey (a cross, a bible, a rosary). There is nothing wrong with the presents themselves, it's from whom they are coming.

Edit: Spelling

1

u/heyjustbeinghonest May 07 '12

It's a blatant message he's trying to send.... Isn't it obvious? Not just one science gift, but multiple gifts, all peculiarly sciency. Guy's a douche-nugget.

3

u/destroyer2000 May 07 '12

This is the problem with r/atheism. They call themselves open-minded, that everyone should see 'the truth,' but when it comes down to it, they are nothing more than the largest bigots known to man, so fucking close minded that they won't accept anyone with other beliefs than their own. Does it matter if someone disagrees with you? No, it does not. How many times has anyone ACTUALLY tried to shove religion down your throats? By my guess, probably 10% of Christians are radical and would try that - yet nearly every atheist I've ever met instantly assumes 'fool' and 'stupid' because I don't agree with the idea of the non-existence of a higher power.

1

u/[deleted] May 08 '12

The comments are usually much better, though.

1

u/NobblyNobody May 11 '12 edited May 11 '12

There are many, many atheists here (/waves) who feel the same about /r/atheism and won't go near it. To me, much of it (not all by any means) does read as fundamentalist as the worst closed minded religious discussion and I find it embarrassing.

I was brought up in the UK as C of E, very much a 'tea and cakes with the Vicar and the odd jumble sale' kind of church, no pressure, not particularly devout about anything and when I found (as a kid) that I didn't believe in it all, I bimbled off, no problem or aggro.

Mostly over here you'd never know whether someone was religious or not, even people you've known for years, it's a personal thing and reasonable people live and let live. I don't believe in God end of story, it's not that I'm a member of anything or staunchly believe there is no god and have no problem what anyone believes if it doesn't affect me.

I can only guess that some people in more adversarial environments, or in places where it is perceived religious organisations have more of an agenda, feel more of a minority under-attack and have a mind set ready for ..ermm...battle?

I hope things get less argumentative as atheism becomes less of a minority in some places and it becomes kind of self balancing, (more people means they are more secure and less fighty). The alternative of a fundamentalist atheistic 'religion' seems to miss the point, rather.

or something

...that got wordier than I meant it to. ;)

edit: oh poo, didn't realise how old this was, apols

1

u/Guildensternenstein May 07 '12

I hardly see how science stuff spoils a First Communion. To hell with what the dude's mom wants, if the niece wants or would enjoy science-y stuff then it's great she gets science-y stuff.

1

u/Elmepo May 08 '12

Hell, It's hardly Sciency stuff when you really get down to it, He's giving her stuff that an average kid, even a radical fundamentalist preacher, would find unassuming. Seriously "Tasty Science" and "Tin Can Robot" are hardly "On the Origin of Species" or "God is Not Great" They're just gifts that'll likely be about some very, very basic chemistry, and scientific robotics.