this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2024
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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.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

My uncle was forced to write with his right hand for the same stupid reason. Stupid catholics.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

south east asian

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Next time you see them slide your right hand up into your sleeve and tell them you cut it off. Fight ridiculous with ridiculous

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Maaaaaan, I wish I had someone like that in my life right now that I could feel really good about telling off.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I'm a Christian (Seventh Day Adventist, found this post by sorting by local-active) and yeah their grandparents are going on about some rubbish there. "Left-handed people are bad"/"The left hand is the devil's hand" is not Biblical in any way, shape, or form.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

the overwhelming majority of the hateful, bigoted shit these people believe is not biblical.

Cause they don't want to be biblical. They don't want to be christian. They want to be hateful assholes with a self gratifying justification... and whats more wonderful self gratifying justification than the power of religion.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Well, it was common for schools back in the early-mid 1900s to force lefties to write with their right hands. Not just Catholic specifically, my grandmother's public school forced her to write right-handed.

But I can say that no one in the family was ex-communicated for being a lefty, and if they were, it was prior to the 1900s. You're right, OP's grandparents are just crazy unless OP was born in the 1920s or something.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

early-mid 1900s

It was still happening in the late 1980s. That's why I have bad penmanship with both hands.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

My ex can write with both hands because her parents wouldn't let her be left handed. I can tell you she's significantly younger than you're thinking. She was also catholic

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

My mom is left handed, was raised catholic, and if I remember correctly my grandpa had to tell a teacher to fuck off who wanted her to learn to write with her right hand.

I'm not disagreeing that the superstition exists, but anyone who was still preventing children from being left-handed after WWII was either old or a fucking moron. Now maybe there's some correlation between religiousness and susceptibility to superstition (/s) but I think that's where the catholic church's involvement ends. There's enough terrible things to blame them for, no need to make stuff up.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Well i can say this not a common belief. But dam that's harsh family.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It was extremely common up until about the 60s, so anyone born in that era may hold the same beliefs. My grandmother was forced into right handedness (in Jamaica).

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I know a guy who was forced to write right-handed in school in Massachusetts. He's about 25 now. It's crazy to think that there's still people out there believing this stuff.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

what that would break the law.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Seriously if your brother finds out that's not on you or your mum. That's 100% your grandparents' fault.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (3 children)

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]

Dude, there are like 27 people total on Lemmy. I think he's going to figure it out. 🤔

/S

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

There are dozens of us! DOZENS!

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Why the /s? I ran into my sister a couple of times already. First time she recognised my nick, second she didn't and quoted my own comment back to me in real life because it was funny. I just told her to check the username when I recognised it.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Your sister recognised your WHAT?! ... Oh, sorry, I read that wrong. Nevermind, carry on.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

What are you posting, step-brother?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

This is a reddit repost. I know you posted the /s indicator, but just for clarity since this is the top comment, I think it's worth pointing out.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

My mother was disfellowshipped from our Kingdom Hall, because my father committed adultery. The lesson is, don't expect even a cunt-hair's worth of logic from religious institutions.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Sad to say I know enough about religious fuckery to know why it makes sense in their mind.

Men can't be expected to control their urges. So its the wife's responsibility to keep the husband sexually sated so he doesn't think about cheating. Therefore, its her fault.

Truely disgusting and unfair :/

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

I've said it before; blind faith is just a socially acceptable mental illness.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Yeah, I've been rather rose-eyed about Catholicism in childhood because of part of my family being in identity that, but not in such things.

Now I know better.

Still, I think the right behavior in Catholic ethics would be for them to accept that as God's judgement?.. I mean, nobody expects Christians to follow Christian ethics, that'd be stupid.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

This used to be a thing even if you were not a religious nutjob. I lot of babies were forced to use their right hands if they showed any left handed tendencies.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I was pushed to write right handed, and then broke my right arm as a kid.

Wrote left handed for a while, then broke that one and went back to right.

To this day I have terrible penmanship with both, but am a programmer who types like machine gun fire so who cares.

Still a lot of little things I do left handed, put in contacts, ride goofy foot, etc.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Typing with both hands? Believe it or not, straight to hell

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