Anyone non-religious here? Please be nice!

[deb1]

Quote:
Believe it or not, I have read articles by Christians who believe that the above quote somehow goes against their beliefs. I have never understood such reasoning. Apparently, they believe that if you admit that you help yourself at all, you are not depending fully on God. Of course, most of these same people hold jobs and go to the doctor, so they aren't just sitting around waiting for God to drop assistance into their laps. But getting them to understand that they are helping themselves is impossible.


the quote is by Benjamin Franklin, by the way.

 

[curliet]

I know people like that too. An example is a woman who contacted me about going to one of those seminars where they use self hypnosis to help you quit smoking or to lose weight. We decided to go, both needed help with weight issues. She seemed very uncomfortable during the session, very unsettled and couldn't seem to sit still and absolutely refused to take the suggestions that the person asked us to do. Later i asked her what was wrong, and her answer was that she was feeling very guilty, should never have gone there. Her religious background says that you are supposed to take all your problems to God, and she felt that she was being 'unfaithful' by going to a hypnotist. We had paid a large fee for the session, and she then wasted all the help that she may have gotten from it. Even more, she was so fidgety and restless that she kept me distracted too, and I felt kind of like she ruined it for me too. When I tried to tell her that I felt that God gives the people who do this the talent to help us, and that she was actually doing what the creator had asked her to do. She came back with, "That's what the devil wants us to think." I give up.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

I think my favorite quote along those lines is "The best helping hand you will ever find is at the end of your own arm." I wish I knew who said it.

 

[deb1]

Quote:
According to this site, it is a Swedish proverb. http://thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/helping_hand/

 

[deb1]

Quote:
Once I attended a bible study with a friend. The woman who owned the house where we were visiting told us that she never locked her doors because she knew that God would keep her safe. I don't know if she assumed that any rape or murder victim was not a Christian or if she thought that she had special protection.

 

[OccamsTazer]

Yikes!
My grandmother would snork at that and say "God gave us free will. He helps those who help themselves!"

 

[SunnyDawn]

Quote:
Well not here in Reno anyway!

I had a lot of great political discussions with other teachers when I taught...

I guess that's not exactly the same thing.

 

[mom'sfolly]

Yikes....that's like saying every person ever robbed, murdered or raped deserves it because if they were a good person God wouldn't allow that to happen to them. What happened to the god that gives you trials to test you? I think Forrest Gump might say "stupid is as stupid does".

 

[SunnyDawn]

Yes it is scary that some people think that way! When my grandmother (a devout christian) was killed by a drunk driver, my Mother (as the pastor's wife) had to call the congregation to inform them of her death. One parishioner responded with "Well she must have done something wrong to deserve that!". Can you imagine grieving the recent loss of your beloved Mother and having to hear that load of bleep?!!!

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

Quote:
According to this site, it is a Swedish proverb. http://thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/helping_hand/

Thanks for the link! According to it a version of this is also Yiddish, which would explain how I heard it. Never knew that until today.