My mom finally told me why our crazy Christian grandparents don't talk to me anymore
My mom finally told me why our crazy Christian grandparents don't talk to me anymore
Wed Jan 17 16:55:57 2024 UTC by CrazyPaya234
On an alt because my brother knows about my main, and I don't want this attention to come towards my parents and make it to my grandparents [somehow]
I never had a relationship with my grandparents from either side of my family. On my father's side, they died before I was born, and on my mother's I barely ever saw them. And when I did, it seemed as though they had no intensions of speaking or interacting with me. I was at home for the longer weekend because my parents needed help cleaning out the attic, and in one of the old boxes there was a old picture of my grandmother and my mom when she was younger. The picture got me thinking about why my mother's grandparents always had acted so strange around me, as if they were avoiding me entirely. I brought the subject up to my mother while we were cleaning up the attic, and she told me why. She told me that my grandparents had always been hyper-religious, specifically catholic. This came as no surprise as I had deduced such from various mannerisms they had shown in the little time I had meet them. She finally said that the reason my grandparents didn't want to be around me was because I was left handed.
WHAT.
She explained further that the left-hand had been interpreted as the devil's hand as a catholic superstition. Because of this, my grandparents had always been wary of me, which grew out to them avoiding having a relationship with me entirely. I'm at a loss for words as to how these insane traditions continue to be prevalent in religious circles, especially in older individuals. It saddens me that despite how Christians often claim to be a welcoming community to all people, that many exclusive and elitist traditions continue to be practiced. I hope as time goes on, we open our eyes to realize how absolutely batshit insane these traditions, and maybe religions as a whole, really are.
So much of Catholocism is extra-Biblical it's NUTS.
For example... the whole bit about no meat on Fridays. It had such a cultural impact that this is why restaurants do fish and chowder specials on Fridays.
There is absolutely no Biblical basis for it, but try telling that to a devout Catholic.
I prefer to listen to Aleister Crowley and take the Left Handed Path in life.
"If one were to take the bible seriously one would go mad. But to take the bible seriously, one must be already mad"
My older brother and I are my Mom's Mom's only grandsons (the rest of the grand babies are all girls), she shunned my brother because he is a lefty, she shunned the granddaughters because they're not male, and then there's me being her pride and joy as a tall well-educated right handed male who shunned her for being such a judgemental religious cunt of a woman.
Edit: In addition, I'm sorry you've had to deal with this. Nobody should be treated so poorly by their grandparents because of a crippling birth defect like being born left-handed 😉.
I've said it before; blind faith is just a socially acceptable mental illness.
Grandfather was beaten when he tried to use his left hand in school (Catholic run), father was not beaten but also forced to use right hand in school. I was in kindergarten and the teacher pointed out that 'we need to fix that' referring to my left handed writing. My mother must have given her a stern warning because I never heard anything else about it.
They did you a favor. The alternative would be having to deal with their insane bullshit. Good riddance.
"By excluding all of these groups we're being extra inclusive to those we DO tolerate!"
Hey, Satan. /s
This might be the wrong community to say this in but...
As far as I can tell it has never been official catholic dogma to persecute left-handed children. It's just not a thing.
Now Catholicism does come with a baggage of superstitions inherited from ancient Rome, including the whole "sinistra" thing. However while I strongly believe organized religion is the roots of many evils, this is hardly one of them. Your grandparents were just complete nutjobs. I've heard several stories of "gram-gram was freaked-out when I started showing left-hand dominance" (from people who are now 40+ because this superstition had died off before the war) but they always ended with gram-gram getting over herself.
Cool. I can scare Catholics.
I hope as time goes on, we open our eyes to realize how absolutely batshit insane these traditions, and maybe religions as a whole, really are.
Religion is designed to destroy a person’s ability to think critically. That’s why children are indoctrinated from a very young age and the result is that religious people are completely unable to question their beliefs. It’s really evil stuff.
Looking at the bright side, you end up winning by having them away.
Yeah... This is also partly why the dominant (read in church as "sinful") traits aren't prevalent, like having 6 fingers on one hand, or webbed hands, or a plethora of other indicators that YOU'RE A WITCH!
My grandmother would beat my mother with a ruler if she tried to write left handed. It scarred her for life.
Your grandparents are idiots, and I say this as a theistic Christian that believes in the existence of the devil.
Seriously if your brother finds out that's not on you or your mum. That's 100% your grandparents' fault.
When I was in high school we had a vice principle who referred to weed as "left handed cigarettes" lol
Maaaaaan, I wish I had someone like that in my life right now that I could feel really good about telling off.
weird thing to post if it isnt OC
My uncle was forced to write with his right hand for the same stupid reason. Stupid catholics.
That sucks, sorry. I'm left handed and got (still get) teased,but this is over the top. Glad you seam no worse for the wear. Knowing this I would "kill them with kindness" ,but to others in front of them. You clearly are not the devil they think you are, so show them.
Faith can be a beautiful thing. We all need something to believe in... However, "religion" is toxic and will tear down everything that can bring you joy in service of at best an unprovable hypothesis, and at worst a delusion.
My religious parents and grandparents also told me to not use my left hand for anything sacred. But their reasoning was that left hand is used to wipe shit, which makes sense to me. Fair enough on that one XD
Edit: also forgot to mention, they have no problem with left handed people. Fortunately, I have never met anyone who is superstitious like that.
Next time you see them slide your right hand up into your sleeve and tell them you cut it off. Fight ridiculous with ridiculous
Damn this really tempts a "getting in their face" conversation. But that would just forget cement it.
But they're too ancient to change their ways or pass on their intolerance, so maybe it wouldn't hurt.
I remember my grandma being weirded out a little bit that my daughter is a lefty
And my grandma likes baseball, she should know better
