Anyone else get annoyed with declarations of faith conquers all

The title pretty much says it all. Now don't get me wrong, I know God exists. I have seen enough in my life to know with certainty. It isn't just a belief with me. Now on to the debate. I keep seeing quotes, comments, posts on the social media platforms I use that all seem to say the same thing. Faith will get you through. Faith protects you. Etc. The last one I saw that really infuriated me was "You cannot break someone, who has faith in God". My own personal experiences have proven time and time again, that God does not protect us. He does not interfere with the direct or indirect consequences that come with free will for all. At best, religion/scripture/belief is a moral guide that you can interpret for use as your own decision making guide. Anyway, the reason that comment set me off, was because I was a broken shell of my former self for over a decade due to severe trauma throughout my life. And the mere arrogance behind the statement, that if you have faith you can't be broken, just set me off lol. Needless to say, this person did not appreciate my reply that anyone that truly believed that statement, has had a blessed life and has not been truly tested to their limits.

There's a meme that says something like, Those who fear Hell are religious, those who've already been there are spiritual. What got you through and out of your (Complex?) post-traumatic reaction decade, then? What kept you going?

Honestly? My determination that I am a fighter and that I don't quit. Also my wife is a very understanding person, who allowed me the time and space to work through it all, with no real demands placed upon me. I prayed, and received no answers, no help. If anything it was just a way to vent my frustrations, and that could bring me temporary relief. Mostly, I just kept pushing through every day and trying to make life more bare-able. I had a service dog for a while, and that complete love, devotion, understanding and acceptance helped alot. Until she passed away in my arms. That was a massive setback, and was the first time in over a decade that I had held a full time job. I ended up losing that job, and now I look back on it as a blessing. That was a horrible job, that took a lot out of me. It took me 2 more years after that before I was able to hold a full time job again. I now have a pretty good job, with a good boss, and I'm even looking at a pay raise. It has been a long road. From start to finish, over 15 years, since I was diagnosed with PTSD. I am still not who I was back then, but I am doing better.

I don't blame you for being upset. If you are going through a period of time where you feel broken, statements like, "You cannot break someone who has faith in God", insinuate that because you feel broken it means you don't believe in God. Statements like that are judgmental, inaccurate and unfair. People can feel broken and believe in God at the same time. There is a song that says, "God ain't a wishing well." God doesn't give us everything we ask for. Your specific prayers may not have been answered, but you have determination, you're a fighter, you have a very understanding wife, and you kept pushing through.

It's pretty cool seeing someone post on this topic, because lately faith has been bothering me. As an agnostic, I embrace the unknown, and believe in the possibility of both sides. And just like you, I highly doubt divine intervention in the physical world, unless things like psychedelics and strong emotions count as some divine intervention. Anyway, it would for sure annoy me. Simply because it puts false hopes in someone. One good example can be that you rely on God for wiping out pandemics/epidemics rather than vaccines. Such belief can also be discrediting, example being serving someone dinner, only to have him/her thank just God for it. Religious people will tell us that it shouldn't affect us or be a big deal for us. But it is totally normal for us to be annoyed by it. The hypocrisy of some religious people is that they themselves would be bothered by disbelievers for practicing another faith, so there is no way they will understand why we are annoyed by them if they refuse to take things into perspective.

I hear you. I'm a widow. *I* didn't have this experience I'm going to describe, but some people do: The bereaved (or soon-to-be bereaved) hear someone say "Well, when my loved one had _____(fill in with some awful disease) we prayed and G-d healed him." So, the bereaved is left with the implication that her/his family didn't pray correctly, or enough, or weren't deserving of having a prayer answered [in the affirmative] Some refer to that attitude as "Santa in the sky" As for me, I had a Sunday School teacher who told us that G-d answers all prayers, but sometimes the answer is "no." That sort of managed expectations for me - forever.

The hypocrisy of some religious individuals has been mentioned/hinted at enough in this post that I'll commiserate with y'all lol. I have most certainly seen a lot of hypocrisy practiced by people that attend organized religion. The main thing that I see CONSTANTLY is the religious teaching of "if you aren't a member of _______ church, then you aren't going to heaven". This drives me crazy as well, I just can't get behind anyone that preaches intolerance, and I will aggressively shame them if I hear them saying such things. One of the reasons that I no longer believe in organized religion is because of the intolerance that is spread amongst most of them. I've always believed that if you are a good person, and actively try to lead a just and moral life, that you'll do fine.

Most troubling to me is the religious sects (two come to mind) where, if you leave, your family and friends shun you. I know a lovely young woman whose family has pretended for years she doesn't exist because she left the fold. Her siblings, living with their partners without being married and having children out of wedlock are still going to Heaven, I guess.

Luckily I have never experienced anything like that personally. Although, I have heard of some polygamous colonies that act in a similar fashion.