So my mama is a crazy Christian. My Father is a Catholic but I think he doesn't care about religion. My mama always brings up Jesus in everything. She knows I'm agnostic and I blatantly tell her sometimes to not read the Bible cause it's stupid. Bible is the only thing she reads all day. I love my mama and now I'm 24 and she still treats me like a baby. You know Filipinos are doting parents.
So one time I told her, mama put that archaic middle-eastern sci-fi down, It doesn't help with your constipation. Here take your meds. Suddenly she cried and told me she been thinking about what if she won't see me in the clouds with sky dad. I told her if there is an afterlife, sky dad would high five me for being real and not "faithful" and actually use my brain and reasoning. She said with watery eyes, "I'm serious, what if you'd burn in hell?! Jesus is a jealous God, repent and thou shal be forgiven." She went all out religitard on me haha. So I asked her what's he jealous about?
Everything?!
Well envy, is an attribute of the weak, a spoiled brat. What's he bitchin' about?
D'you mean he's upset if you love your sons and daughters more than him who don't show up ever? Or do you love your imaginary friend more than us, your family?
She went silent, contemplating..
Imagine god told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac his only son.
"It was just a test of loyalty!"
So would you stab me If you hear someone whisper in your head to stab and burn your own son?
"God will never let that happen. As soon as I raise the knife he would take my hand and defend you"
Defend me? Fuck anyone who suggests murder.
So you would really attempt to do that. That's crazy. I would tell that god to fuck off. What if god really wants you to sacrifice me because he is "angry with firstborn infidels". So you would wait for like 5 minutes holding the knife up in the air expecting a voice to say "hold on, it's just a prank you have proven your loyalty. Here, take this greencard to VIP in life after death."
Instead you hear a voice, "What you waiting for honey, stab the fucking kid on the throat. Prepare his ashes and bake it on Christmas on my 6000th birthday. Mmmmm nothing tastes better than infidels burnt ash cake. You will be rewarded in heaven my child."
She lost that argument. But guess what she said? "My poor son, I will pray for you more than ever."
There is some good stuff in the Bible,it addresses just about every human problem you can experience ,since time began, so you can't say its all stupid..ok bits of it are... but it was written by ancient scribes who had little modern understanding of how things work,but humans have not changed much at all. You can out of it what you like, it can be useful.
We know about "doing unto others as we would have done to oursleves" ,which being the general Golden Rule does not stand to be corrected in any religion/culture/soceity,as long as you follow that little else matters.Even Jesus is quoted in the NT saying exactly that when he was pressed as to boil down his teachings to its most fundemental essence.
So we can use it as a guidline and everything else is not that important ,of course some take it more literally than others. But those tend to be a more dogmatic religous interpretations which tend to involve a whole host of added rules to ensure those controlling the religion hold sway over the rest.eg how to pray,what to eat,holy days,what to wear etc etc....God could care less about all that : )
You are right to think for yourself but we all have to deal with life as best we can.So take a bit of pity on your poor mother ,allow her her crutch of religion and don't argue with her, it's not important as long as you follow your conscience. If she wants to pray for you, so what? it makes her feel she is doing something to help and it certainly won't hurt you,take it as a sign of her love and in the spirit of her wishing the best for you.
That "I'll pray for you" line is almost always the last trope of a defeated Christian Theist, right after you dismantle their Hellfire and Damnation threats. I don't really know if it's meant more to try to guilt trip you into sharing her delusion or to reinforce her own.