I received the following email today from a Christian woman named Teresa:
With all respect, I commend you and your blog. At first I was taken aback, but as I read through your words, I realized how serious you are about “religion” and how you do not want to hear about it. So be it. I wish you well as you move forward in life. I so wish there was a way you could tell us how it worked out, on your last day. Take care.
Christians are quite adept at passive-aggressive behavior. It’s part of their DNA. Note what Teresa says:
- With all “respect,” she commends (expresses approval or expresses a good opinion of) me and my blog. Does anyone believe she thinks well of me and this blog? I am an apostate. I have committed the unpardonable sin. I am a tool of Satan. I actively work to lead Christians away from Jesus. I can’t think of one thing that I do that should lead Teresa to give her approval or think well of me.
- Next, Teresa tells me that she can see that I am serious about religion. Note that she puts “religion” in scare quotes. I suspect she makes a distinction between “religion” and True Christianity®. I suspect she thinks that what I need is her super-duper Jesus ice cream.
- Teresa says she knows I don’t want to hear about “it,” yet she ignores this fact and emails me anyway. Why? She wanted to threaten me with Hell.
- Teresa wishes me “well” as I move through this life, whatever the heaven that means. She concludes her unwanted email with this: “I so wish there was a way you could tell us how it worked out, on your last day.” In other words, “Bruce, you are headed for Hell after you die. I wish you could come back from the dead and tell us how that worked out for YOU!”
Teresa likely thinks she was being polite. Or, maybe not. After thousands of such emails and comments, I am convinced that many Christian apologists and evangelizers are judgmental assholes who dream of atheists like me getting their just desserts on judgment day. “See, Bruce, I was right, and you were wrong. Burn forever, dude!” Not wanting to be viewed in a negative light, such people develop passive-aggressive ways to say, “God is going to torture you in the Lake of Fire for eternity.” Sorry, Teresa, I see through your “sweet” words.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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you are much more patient than i am. 😉👍🏽
I think the “Take Care” is the passive-aggressive’s way of saying “drop dead.”
Do you ever find yourself thinking: Father forgive them for they know not what they say.
I utterly despise people who threaten other people with hell. When I was a Crazy Cat Lady, I used to say that I wouldn’t trust them to clean my cats’ litter boxes.
Teresa, if you’re reading this: You are an utterly pathetic power-tripping busybody hiding behind your imaginary friend. Own your fucking words instead of pretending you have The Truth.
Whenever someone says ‘with all due respect’ (okay the due was missing here), you know that the exact opposite is meant. Actually the ‘due’ is quite important, because they can say they aren’t lying on the basis you aren’t due any. Otherwise it’s pure lying.
Same old fundie threats.
It’s never going to end well when someone starts by saying “with all respect”.
With all respect, Teresa…… deja vu ad infinitum
Thanks for this blog. I literally found it just today, but I have enjoyed everything I’ve read so far. I really appreciate your perspective. FYI I found this when I searched “would evangelicals even recognize jesus if he walked into their church” and several posts from this blog were in the top 10 results.
Well, bless Teresa’s little heart, with all due respect.
LOL! I second Obstaclechick’s comment. I’m in the south, and yes, bless your heart is similar to all due respect. Yes, her email is just dripping with passive aggressiveness. I especially like, “So be it”. Also, “her super-duper Jesus ice cream” did make me laugh out loud! 🙂
The revenge wish is strong with so many of them. . ‘Love thy neighbour’, not so much.
Pseudo-Christians who get upset at someone else’s lack of faith only reveal their own insecurity and lack of faith.