thread derails are probably the most interesting things to happen here.  i feel kinda bad for this topic though because it was a more serious one but like joe said, there's not much you can say to it.

Yeah kay I read the first page and skipped here to post so if I disregard whatever the hell happened in the pages between, it's because I have a life. So back on topic?

I'm not a Christian anymore, and I haven't been for the past 3 years or so. The reason why I left my church is a blur now, but it was mostly because I was tired of the overly elitist attitude most Christians I know have, and the mental laziness and general hypocrisy in their characters. I was kind of in the try-out-new-ideas phase anyway, and I was absolutely sure I could lead a moral life without the need for a religious crutch. At any rate, my grandmother died less than a month ago, and my dad's become extremely religious, to the point where he sees everything as a sign from God/the supernatural.

-He had a near death experience when he was younger. He drowned, claimed to have felt an extremely warm, lifting power and opened his eyes to see his body lying underwater. He 'woke up' from the shore after his cousin did mouth-to-mouth and saved him.
-We had a short conversation about religion in general, which pretty much ended in him saying that he knows it's right because he 'feels' it. After he dropped me off at my mom's place, he claims that a voice said to him, "Well done."
-He was driving down the street and was nearly hit by a speeding car, but a blinding white shadow interceded, causing him to brake before he was hit. He thinks it was an 'angel.'
-He visited grandpa's gravesite recently, and claimed that it was the only marker that was wet, as if it had been mourning the loss of grandma
-A bird flew into the window and dad swore that after seeing it he saw an apparition of Grandma
-She died on Easter Sunday.

All of these cases have their logical explanations, but I don't have the heart to tell him that. Last week, my cousin died of heart problems (aorta ruptured, I don't know the exact disease, but it's what my aunt died of), and I've pretty much felt like trash all week. I just...don't believe in any of this, and I guess it's kinda sick to say that they probably didn't go to heaven, because I don't believe in an afterlife. My grandma was a great woman, and if there's anyone who would go to heaven, it's her. What pisses me off most though is that we've been having these Mormons come in for awhile, basically trying to convert my brothers and me. They bust in with their bullshit claims of godly authority, actually try to "bless" me because they think they're descendants of melkizedek priests or whatever, and make really shitty untimely anecdotes of how their family members died but they believe they're someplace in heaven, and that I should too. Yet they imply that because my grandmother wasn't Mormon, she probably wouldn't go to heaven. Things like this...gah. It's what I hate about religion.

You were praying, to yourself. Inner piece and all that.