Presumptions about your religious affiliation

[Lightningman_42]

I'd like to know if any of you have funny/outrageous stories about times when people have made false assumptions about your religious affiliation (or lack thereof), or your (a)theistic stance.

I'll start with an experience of mine from Monday last week (5/23/2016). So I work at a plant nursery, and I often assist customers with finding what they want. An old lady walked up to me and asked me where she could find some impatiens. I showed her where we normally keep the impatiens, but there were only a few left (maybe that's why she had trouble finding them?). I told her (and I'm paraphrasing here; I don't remember my exact words):

Yeah, unfortunately we don't have many in stock. We'll get a new shipment in on Thursday. So that's 1... ...no, 2 days from now. I think? Is today Tuesday or Wednesday?

Today's Monday! Didn't you go to church yesterday?

I've never had someone say something like that to me before, so I didn't know how to reply. I didn't actually answer her question, because I assumed it was a rhetorical question, and a joke. She probably said it half-jokingly.

After a few seconds I felt a little offended (but not much; I'm not so thin-skinned). Why would someone assume that I go to church at all without even knowing my religious affiliation? Doesn't she realize that there are people of many different religious affiliations in the Bay Area? Is California more religious than i thought? Particularly with its Christians?

Then I thought to myself, "Great! Now I have an experience to share on the Vegan Athei... ...oops, sorry... ...I mean, the Philosophical Vegan Forum."

[PsYcHo]

Traveling all over the country, this happens more often with older persons. Living in the deep south, it happens all.the.time.

I worked in retail during the holiday season, back when the whole "Merry Christmas" vs. "Happy Holidays" was a point of contention for some damn reason. "Happy Holidays" makes more sense because it is inclusive, but some Christians saw it as the equivalent of defecating on the baby Jesus. I instructed all my cashiers to say the same thing we used the rest of the year "have a nice day." And some people STILL got offended because they didn't say "Merry Christmas." I get it, you're a Christian and want everyone to know, good for you. I had everything from other Atheists, Christians, Muslims, and god knows what else on staff, and it annoyed the hell out of me when people cared one way or the other. Buy your shit, get out, and if you want to discuss the pros/cons of a particular religion, do it elsewhere. I'm sure the cashier at the Christian book store will tell you "Merry Christmas" if it means so damn much to you.

[DylanTK]

Back when I was doing volunteer work with homebound people, I was talking to this one guy and at some point in the conversation, he mentioned the man upstairs. Considering he lived in a condo, I briefly glanced up at the ceiling and wondered what his neighbor had to do with anything before it dawned on me he was talking about god. Considering I've been non-religious all my life, I've had countless experiences where it becomes apparent to me that the person I am speaking to assumes that I am Christian.

[AlexanderVeganTheist]

When I still believed in the Divine Truth teachings, it would lead to a lot of misunderstandings. In case you don't know, the primary teacher of the Divine Truth is AJ Miller, who claims he is Jesus, remembers being Jesus throughout 2000 years. Many people assumed I was some sort of Christian, where the Divine Truth teachings differ in many aspects. AJ can tell various stories about his life that are not recorded in the Bible or disagree with it, since in the Bible almost only the years past his 30th year are recorded. Also core tenets like the vicarious redemption are completely rejected by AJ.

One time I was discussing the teachings on the discussanything.com forums with a Christian and an anti-religious person (who had some deist sympathies, I think).
The Christian lady told me that AJ Miller was "of the devil" and that through the Bible I should get to know the real story of Jesus. I was flabbergasted when the anti-religious guy told me "Yes, I agree with [the Christian lady], AJ should stick to the story of the Bible."

This is a person that would normally attack Christianity and its tenets and not even believe Jesus historically existed. I don't understand how he came to the conclusion that it would be better for AJ to claim to be the biblical Jesus and claim the Bible is fully flawless rather than the "actual" historical Jesus and state that the Bible is flawed.

[TabbyCat]

The Christian lady told me that AJ Miller was "of the devil" and that through the Bible I should get to know the real story of Jesus. I was flabbergasted when the anti-religious guy told me "Yes, I agree with [the Christian lady], AJ should stick to the story of the Bible."

This is really confusing and funny.

Yes. It happens a lot in Turkey which the majority of population are Muslims. Aside from religious phrases thrown at you daily, this annoys me the most on religious special days like kandils and bairams because I receive countless celebration messages containing prayers and passages from Qur'an. Especially the Sacrifice Feast. It lasts for four days and Muslim families that can afford it kill a sheep or a cow and handle the meat on the first two days. They give some of the meat away to charity and keep the rest to themselves. They visit family and friends on the last two days. It disgusts me deeply, even more when people send me celebration messages.

[EquALLity]

My parents have been away since Monday with my brother at a college orientation, and my grandmother has been watching my sister and I. My grandmother doesn't drive, so my boss(?) offered to give me rides yesterday and today to 'work' (I don't get paid this year).

Today, when she was driving me to the camp (which is at a Catholic school, that I actually used to go to), she pointed to the church I used to go to, and our conversation went something like this:
Her- "Is that the church you go to?"
Me, a bit flustered and after a few seconds: "No."
Her- "I shouldn't even be saying that, really-"
Me, laughing uncomfortably- "Yeah, I'm not religious."
Her- "Yeah, but are you of a religion? Like how were you raised?"
Me- "But I've been there before (about the church). I think I was baptized there."
Her- "That's a shame... It's such a big part of my life."
Me, trying to be polite- "Yeah, it's different for everyone."
Her- "I just feel like people don't really follow anything anymore. Sometimes it's like I'm in the minority."
Me- "Yeah. Well, most people are religious."
Her- "Really?"
Me- "Yeah."

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