Aaron Rodgers' Family 'Dismayed' by the Quarterback's Comments on Religion as Their Feud Continues

[JonLP24]

Aaron Rodgers‘ comments about his Christian upbringing and questioning his faith have raised a lot of eyebrows — especially those of his estranged family.

During an intimate conversation with girlfriend Danica Patrick on her Pretty Intense podcast, Green Bay Packers quarterback said that he had trouble connecting with his religious community as a child.

“Most people that I knew, church was just… you just had to go,” the Super Bowl XLV champion recalled.

(Snip)

“I don’t know how you can believe in a God who wants to condemn most of the planet to a fiery hell,” he said. “What type of loving, sensitive, omnipresent, omnipotent being wants to condemn his beautiful creation to a fiery hell at the end of all this?”

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/aaron-rodgers-family-dismayed-quarterbacks-011503545.html

[VMA131Marine]

1. It's almost funny

Aaron Rogers expresses what his beliefs are without mentioning his family at all and his family take it as an attack against them.

[lkinwi]

3. I agree.

He is an adult who has every right to follow or not follow his family’s religion. If that’s considered as an attack, someone needs to grow thicker skin.

[Voltaire2]

10. Religious privilege includes taking offense

from anyone expressing disbelief.

[ramen]

17. Totally. That is insane. n/t

[Cosmocat]

18. Victimization

is instrumental to the fundamentalist psyche ...

[riversedge]

2. I love you Aaron.

[bluedye33139]

4. Olivia Munn always said that they were bad people

[Bleacher Creature]

5. This says more about his family than it does about him. NT

[lark]

6. I like this guy more all the time.

Never was a Green Bay fan, but I had Rogers his first year in GB on my fantasy team, so have always had a soft spot for him ever since. He has been a great qb.

[PJMcK]

7. A loving god?!

This god is like Trump: Loyalty is a one-way street. Do it his way or he'll burn you, flood you, starve you or send locusts to your farm.

Real loving, huh?

Or how about these: children who get cancer or Puerto Ricans who haven't recovered from the divine hurricane only to then get hit with earthquakes. These are things from which a loving god would protect his creations. There are countless examples of god working in mysterious ways. Mysterious, my ass. More likely uninvolved.

Rodgers impressed me with his thoughts about religion. His team in last Sunday's game, however, not so much.

[Alpeduez21]

13. This means one of two things

Either god doesn’t exist or god’s an asshole

[rickyhall]

26. My thinking exactly.

[Dream Girl]

33. I have always thought that we created god in our own image

I do feel there is a higher power/force but is unknowable at least for now. There is no Christian/Muslim/Jewish god. Of that I am sure.

[FiveGoodMen]

45. His followers exist, so there's only one option for them

[PJMcK]

46. Agreed (n/t)

[Voltaire2]

8. I am now a fervent packers fan.

First: they are a socialist enterprise, and second: their quarterback is an outspoken atheist. What’s not to love about that?

[rainin]

9. This kind of pile on is effective at silencing people.

There are views on DU that aren't allowed without a predictable pile on. It's a reality I hope he was prepared for and I hope he stands his ground. There are no believers in this house, except for the elderly fox news viewer. Religion prepares you to believe without evidence. Fox then exploits it

[Duppers]

14. Nailed it!

"Religion prepares you to believe without evidence. Fox then exploits it."

[defacto7]

31. Perfect

[quarbis]

11. Sounds like me

I spent 5 years in the seminary. I wanted to be a priest but I began to question and came to much the same conclusions 53 years ago. As thinker and questioner I don’t believe the same as my youth. Call me naive back then.

[amuse bouche]

12. It's difficult to escape the Family Cult

Been there done that. Good for him

[Duppers]

16. A lot of us have b.t.d.t.

We're considered black sheep and are treated as such.

I've always liked Rogers, btw.

[flying_wahini]

15. I think the best part was the next part, when he said

“ Rodgers did not specifically refer to himself as an atheist, but he said that religion can divide people.

“Religion can be a crutch, it can be something that people have to have to make themselves feel better,” Rodgers continued. “Because it’s set up binary, it’s us and them, saved and unsaved, heaven and hell, it’s enlightened and heathen, it’s holy and righteous … that makes a lot of people feel better about themselves.”

I couldn’t agree more!

[Joe Nation]

19. As a life-long Vikings fan I am obligated to hate the Packers but

I have always admired Aaron Rodgers as a player and a human being. Anybody that loves bourbon that much can't be all bad.

[Ferrets are Cool]

20. Good on him. Got to love those "loving, compassionate" "christians"

[rpannier]

21. Always laughed at that line by Weird Al

from Amish Paradise
'Cause I'll be laughing my head off when he's burning in hell

Because that is exactly how I see fundies, they take some sort of perverse pride in everyone else going to Hell

[CaptYossarian]

22. It sounds like somebody went to college.

He got to meet a diverse student body with diverse professors and heard diverse ideas. All at the right age when we learn about ourselves and think for ourselves.

I've detested the (local) Packers ever since they gave Favre that big contract. The district where my wife teaches had an annual budget that was less than the $10 million per year that Favre was collecting. This district was educating 1,000 students.

The rednecks around here complain that teachers only work half a year. I always point out that there are 16 games in a season, there are 60-minutes of game time, and the offense is on the field for half of that. Using their logic, Favre was making $10 million for 8 hours of work. I end with, "And how much money did you make yesterday?"

Rodgers got my attention a couple of years ago when the entire stadium of GB fans booed a Muslim family right after some tragedy occurred overseas. After the game, he ripped all 50-some thousand a new orifice. That impressed me greatly.

[JonLP24]

27. I wouldn't worry about the contracts athletes receive

From an economics point of view the big 4 sports leagues not counting the NCAA (which has the monopsonic rule where they don't pay student athletes but that is another topic) bring in a lot of revenue and the athletes are the labor. You can't have football games without football players just like you can't have a city transit system without bus drivers. In some cases they are probably making less because of the hard salary cap.

Of course teachers should be paid more and local governments should quit subsidizing sports stadiums and pay our teachers.

[CaptYossarian]

38. When Reggie Jackson asked for $3 million per year, he said it was "because I'm

the one who puts the fannies in the seats."

But still...one semi-literate person being worth more than the education and futures of 1,000 children?

I guess it's like when a sport has a labor dispute. Are you on the side of the millionaire athletes or the billionaire owners?

[MontanaMama]

23. Sounds like his rwnj family are the folks feuding.

Aaron Rogers sounds like he’s quite reasonable.

[Mickju]

24. My thoughts exactly

I was raised Southern Baptist in Dallas. I never went to church again after I went away to college.

[0nirevets]

25. Used to think I was the only one who struggled with this issue.

Came from evangelical family, and it was like once a Christian, always a Christian. But not for me from early in my life.

And you can't force yourself to believe, like once no longer a Christian, never again a Christian.

Love to all my enlightened brothers, sisters, and LGBTQ family.

[Still In Wisconsin]

28. A-Rod is a good guy.

We love him.

[USALiberal]

32. That means the baseball player to most people! :-)

[Still In Wisconsin]

36. I know but not up here!

By the way I'm all-in for you guys in the big game. My best friend in college grew up just outside KC and got me into the Chiefs back in the late 80s. If Mahomes is Mahomes, you guys win. SF gashed our run defense bigtime and blew us out in the first half. Your run defense is much better than ours.

[Dream Girl]

29. I wondered the same as a child.so much didn't make sense and no one had answers that made sense

Sense either

[CaptYossarian]

40. It's the same as Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.

Except this one belief lasts until death for most people.

Now watch me walk under this ladder.

[USALiberal]

30. Kids dying from cancer turned me into an atheist. nt

[defacto7]

34. To answer his qiestion

A god who hates us,
A god who mocks his creation like it's a practical joke,
Or a god created from the dreams and nightmares in our own minds.

[capechacon]

35. Imagine that...a football player that actually has a brain and questions convention.

'Must be the result of his having attended that degenerate, nasty, dirty U.C. Berkeley place.

[CaptYossarian]

41. It'll be a damn shame when CTE sets in.

[House of Roberts]

37. Danica Patrick has a podcast?

And she's dating Aaron Rodgers?

See, I hang out here at DU and learn all sorts of stuff!

[TheRealNorth]

39. Espn had a great interview/article on Aaron Rodgers a couple years ago

"The Search for Aaron Rodgers".

Very interesting read .

[KG]

42. he's a bit of an outlier - so many pro athletes wear their xtianity on their sleeves

[CanonRay]

43. I like him a lot better now.

[msongs]

44. god sends the best tsunamis yet his children are so ungrateful nt

[LisaM]

47. Ah yes, when things get boring, there's always the Rodgers Family Feud.

It's not number one on my radar, but it entertains me.