Cantatus
Lord Nagafen Raider
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Ah yeah, that's what I was getting at as well. If they need to be asleep to help the aliens, how long until that extends to needing to be asleeppermanentlyto save the aliens?
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Ratina
Bronze Knight of the Realm
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Well luckily she aint got shit, reap what you sow results. But even so, I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole. She wants to be taken care of (the whole starving for attention thing) so if I asked for control of her finances I'd have PoA before the sentence was finished being spoken. She hasn't worked in 10+ years, all her bills are taken care of, even things like car repairs. She does food/ gas/ whatever cash with a disability check and still borrows cash once in a while (she does pay back). That's the real danger of doing an intervention. Tell her she needs help and I'm sure she would ask what bedroom was she moving into.
Nother story- About 3 months ago she let us know at brunch that she was getting a roommate out of nowhere. Found out she had met someone half her age on some gaming site (yes I feel the sting of that irony) pogo or some shit. Some 30something lady from a small town 3 hours to the west. I just stopped by there the other day to drop off something as an excuse to make sure there weren't 20 cats living there now too. Place was clean and decorated for xmas, both mom and Mellissa were glued to their computers with bad SyFy reality TV on in the background. So yeah I don't know what her story is, not sure I care. tho I would love to hear the reaction of being thrust into that universe. She does not go to the dinners, or to the ghost club, and at the 2 brunches I've seen her on she rolls her eyes at the nonsense talk and 'will keep an open mind'.
Well it depends on your relationship with her. I understand you don't want to be saddled with her problems, because you shouldn't be. But, it is worth thinking of the alternatives, like, if she was crazy enough and ended up with nothing, would you ultimately feel you need to take her in? Dealing with some shit is better than a whole plate of it, in a worse case sort of situation.
Or tell her to fuck off, that's always an option too.
But reading more, it sounds like she does just want attention. If you have any siblings who don't know what's going on, and who could help you with handling her, you should let them know what's up. And if she wants/needs attention, perhaps there's alternatives in the community; weekly bingo, knitting clubs or, hell, skeet shooting or something you can suggest she gets involved in.
It doesn't have to be a big formal intervention type of thing, just a small, consistent increase in some guidance might be what it takes.
And then again, some people are just weird, and not much can be done.
Or tell her to fuck off, that's always an option too.
But reading more, it sounds like she does just want attention. If you have any siblings who don't know what's going on, and who could help you with handling her, you should let them know what's up. And if she wants/needs attention, perhaps there's alternatives in the community; weekly bingo, knitting clubs or, hell, skeet shooting or something you can suggest she gets involved in.
It doesn't have to be a big formal intervention type of thing, just a small, consistent increase in some guidance might be what it takes.
And then again, some people are just weird, and not much can be done.
The day will come and go and the guys in charge will say they all saved the day and none of the others remember but Jesus told them they have more important work to do blah blah blah blah.
She does sound terribly lonely tbh. More than likely nothing bad will happen but you should really consider trying to help her out in some way.
When people are desperate they will believe anything to just be a part of something instead of nothing.
She does sound terribly lonely tbh. More than likely nothing bad will happen but you should really consider trying to help her out in some way.
When people are desperate they will believe anything to just be a part of something instead of nothing.
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YUP! This is why arguing on the internet is so fucking pointless. Proving someone wrong usually just reinforces their beliefs!
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Actually, in a case like this, where there is a possibility that his mom is a threat to herself or others, it would be reasonable to acutely manage her disease with psychotropic medications and then wean her off them as you try a variety of interventions.
Jim Russel
Lord Nagafen Raider
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Heh, word choice.
Anyway, I would just tell her to call you if she ever feels like she's in too deep or if she feels like she is being asked to do something she is not comfortable with...
Ratina
Bronze Knight of the Realm
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I don't know really, if she wasn't my mother I would have nothing to do with her. I want to think that because I try to see her once a week and buy her brunch, making sure she's leaving the house once in a while, making sure she's got gas in the tank, whatever small things like that. I want to think I do more than most people my age do for their parents. Maybe that's my way of justifying the fact that I am probably not going to step in when she does her next crash and burn, I've got my own issues to deal with I don't need to take on hers as well.
She's one of those people who. fabricates is the wrong word. more like allows bad things to happen. I always envision it like there's a cave with a big sign in front of it saying Beware of Bear. And she would stand in front of the cave 'Oh no, I hope a bear doesn't get me' glance over her shoulder to make sure people were watching and takes a step closer to the mouth of the cave. 'It's really dark in there; I hope someone saves me before the bear gets me!' Then the bear mauls her, and 3 years later she complains how much better her life would be if she didn't have this bear wound.
Don't you have questions to answer about wrinkly balls or something?
I fear something would come up that she was not comfortable with almost immediately. I really want to call her friends out on the bullshit in front of her, but that puts me back at arguing with crazy.
I'm no doctor so I'm just speaking from a similar experience which may or may not be the correct course of action. In my experience, it wasn't anything that meds really helped with. I don't think that his mom is actually a threat but I guess I could look like a real dumb ass for saying that if the cult firebombs a mall.
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I do not want this thread to die as the impending day of aliens and gunshots and jesus is coming up.
Please give us updates as shit goes down.
Please give us updates as shit goes down.
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Ratina
Bronze Knight of the Realm
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Yeah I was hoping for something good today at brunch but instead it was a lot of "Things have changed so it's not going to be like we said it was going to be." Then I was invited to a Ghost Club meeting on the 29th where I pointed out that we were supposed to be on a spaceship before the 29th.
They are much more subdued as D-day arrives, I'm not sure if I am more relieved or disappointed
Pancreas
Vyemm Raider
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I can relate to what you are going through Ratina. I have had more than my share of close family members becoming involved with religious cults. Anyways, as for this particular rapture cult group; They are obviously not balanced in their views and are willing to just pour their beliefs into anything that makes them think Jesus loves them and is going to save them from this world. The key is to show them, well not them, just your mom, that she doesn't have to believe in spaceships running Windows XT to find people who care about her.
If you just attack the ideas as stupid and ridiculous she may become upset or simply pity you for being so blind. The best way is to have patient discussions with her and simply ask her questions, take note of her answers and then point out the inevitable omissions and contradictions in her story. She will eventually be forced back to the God's will answer or faith doesn't need evidence stance which can be frustrating.
However by having these discussions she will have to present a number of absolute positions and claims about these beliefs. And those absolutes should be fairly easy to poke holes in. Also if you look at the behavior of the cult leaders and ask, "If so and so really is the chosen alien hybrid prophet of god, why did he do this, this and this." That can help illustrate why these people fall short of their divine 'heritage'.
And as a last "fight fire with fire" type thing. You can break out some scripture that pretty much destroys any rapture cult. Matthew 24:36
Chapter 24 is where the J-man himself is talking about the end of days and the return of the lord. However, verse 36 specifically states "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." And just before that he was warning about false prophets.
So if these people really believe in the teachings of Jesus and expect to see him on the ship, well then they have to accept the fact that he just called their leaders liars, because no one knows when the "end of the world" is going to occur except God.
I have yet to find a rapture group successfully deal with that one outside of simply denying their belief in the scriptures, at which point they become their own flavor of crazy. But most followers of these groups think Jesus is the greatest thing ever and when you tell them, "Hey look, one of these two are wrong, either it's Jesus the son of God or it's Patrick." they tend to start to doubt themselves.
Anyways, unless things are taking a turn towards looking like they are going to do something foolish, I would stay out of it for the most part. Once the day comes and goes they will invent some new bullshit excuse and keep right on going. And as long as your mom isn't giving them money, then it's really just a social group for some lonely weird people at this point. I mean holding onto false beliefs is not anything you like to see your family do, but never forget who they are and why you are taking an interest in these bizarre dealings in the first place; it's because you care about them.
And if they see that, and see that you are concerned, that might be enough to get them to start questioning what they are doing. Getting mad or upset will just drive them deeper into the batshit.
If you just attack the ideas as stupid and ridiculous she may become upset or simply pity you for being so blind. The best way is to have patient discussions with her and simply ask her questions, take note of her answers and then point out the inevitable omissions and contradictions in her story. She will eventually be forced back to the God's will answer or faith doesn't need evidence stance which can be frustrating.
However by having these discussions she will have to present a number of absolute positions and claims about these beliefs. And those absolutes should be fairly easy to poke holes in. Also if you look at the behavior of the cult leaders and ask, "If so and so really is the chosen alien hybrid prophet of god, why did he do this, this and this." That can help illustrate why these people fall short of their divine 'heritage'.
And as a last "fight fire with fire" type thing. You can break out some scripture that pretty much destroys any rapture cult. Matthew 24:36
Chapter 24 is where the J-man himself is talking about the end of days and the return of the lord. However, verse 36 specifically states "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." And just before that he was warning about false prophets.
So if these people really believe in the teachings of Jesus and expect to see him on the ship, well then they have to accept the fact that he just called their leaders liars, because no one knows when the "end of the world" is going to occur except God.
I have yet to find a rapture group successfully deal with that one outside of simply denying their belief in the scriptures, at which point they become their own flavor of crazy. But most followers of these groups think Jesus is the greatest thing ever and when you tell them, "Hey look, one of these two are wrong, either it's Jesus the son of God or it's Patrick." they tend to start to doubt themselves.
Anyways, unless things are taking a turn towards looking like they are going to do something foolish, I would stay out of it for the most part. Once the day comes and goes they will invent some new bullshit excuse and keep right on going. And as long as your mom isn't giving them money, then it's really just a social group for some lonely weird people at this point. I mean holding onto false beliefs is not anything you like to see your family do, but never forget who they are and why you are taking an interest in these bizarre dealings in the first place; it's because you care about them.
And if they see that, and see that you are concerned, that might be enough to get them to start questioning what they are doing. Getting mad or upset will just drive them deeper into the batshit.
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