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People Share The 'Plot Holes' In Their Religion That They Find Hardest To Reconcile

People Share The 'Plot Holes' In Their Religion That They Find Hardest To Reconcile
Photo by Clarisse Meyer on Unsplash

Religion can be a beautiful thing...


But even the most devoted can notice flaws. While learning the stories behind your faith, or reading religious texts, there may be some passages that make you do a double take. Maybe it's outdated or completely lacking logic, but sometimes there can be humor found in it.

Redditor u/sebastian-yrigoyen asked people to share the plot holes they've noticed while practicing their religion, and some people made very good points.

Could someone explain the rules for heaven?

Late to the party, but in Islam there's the belief that God knows everything you will do before you're even born. Meaning that we don't control our own actions. At the same time, to get into Heaven, you need to-- of your own accord-- pray 5 times daily, read the Quran, etc. So my thing is this: If God knows what everyone is gonna do beforehand, and He knows people aren't gonna do what it takes to get into Heaven (cause he is omniscient); doesn't this then mean that God has already decided who goes to Heaven and who gets Hell? Cause there's no possible way in any Abrahamic religion (cause they all operate under the "do this to get into paradise" thing and all have God knowing everything before it happens) that we'd be able to try to get into Heaven. And this is just the tip of the iceberg on questions

tartarcassy

We are created as we should be

I would say about 3/4 of hardcore Christians think being LGBT is wrong and against their god, but then also say that "God created everyone exactly how he wants them to be" like ?????

IsMyNameGage

Many people die in that book

I want to know why so many Christians say that murder is wrong but ignore all the killing that God did in the Bible. Like, how do they justify drowning everyone except Noah and his family?

Arkady2009

When was sin created?

I am a Christian and a thing that has really puzzled me is that if Adam and Eve ever gave birth to a child wouldn't it be a sin even if marriage wasn't a thing back then? Like despite marriage not being a thing back then it would still technically be a sin in the future. Or did God make marriage a thing in the future and just brush it off since Marriage wasn't a thing back then? I am confusion.

TacoRaco1

The mysterious story of Easter 

Why did they roll a big rock over the the entrance of the cave where Jesus's body was taken to after he died? It seems like something that was insanely impractical for people to do at the time. Was it common practice to throw bodies in a cave and then seal it? If so, was Jesus the last body to be put in? To a non-believer, it just seems like something the story added to make the story more convincing, but it doesn't really make sense outside of the set up for a resurrection story.

On the same subject, I've heard a preacher talk about how Jesus basically teleported out of the cave after the resurrection, but god apparently sent an angel to sit on the boulder which was moved out of the way (for no reason). That implies that not only was there a resurrection, but god thought it wasn't miraculous enough and had to add a dash of showmanship to the whole coming back from the dead thing. What's up with that?

piejam

To see is to believe

Why has there been no "holy magical" moments in our time like there's nothing to actually show gods presence. And that's why I'm secretly unreligous(my parents are religious)

YolospaceP

The ridiculous life spans of Biblical figures

Christians claim that the people in the Bible lived to be absurdly old. For example, they say that Noah was around 650 years old when he built the ark and didn't die until he was older then 900. How could this even be remotely possible? It doesn't make sense because they would have lived much shorter lives then we do in the present. They wouldn't have had access to modern medicine or anything.

I_Miss_You_Babe

Plot points were suddenly abandoned

So we all know that Jesus is the main focus of the new testament, but my biggest question is, what happened to him between the ages of 12 and 30

In the entirety of the bible itself,a number of immaculate creatures were named (such as the Behemoth, Leviathan,etc.) but not heard of after being mentioned and no one has ever interacted with them ever since

(Although I've read other christian texts, this is going to be one for people have not) where did giants come from, and even more astonishingly, where did they go

Micah_the_grxat

No one ever told you about the aquarium on the ark?

What happened to all the fresh water fish in the flood

notyourgod1

Noah had a 50 gallon aquarium on the ark

Corleone_Michael

Careful who you say that to

I was raised a Scientologist. There are many plot holes.

vonshiza

This is the trouble when your messenger is a 2 bit sci-fi author with fraudulent tendencies.

DMMMOM

The dating pool was pretty nonexistent 

"In the beginning there was Adam and Eve" Ok, I'm following that. 2 people on the planet.

They had 2 sons named Cain and Able. Yep, still with it. 4 people on the planet.

Cain killed Able. Ok, thats down to 3 people on the planet.

Cain took a wife. Wait, wut?

WiganLad82

Mythology is all over the place

This isn't my religion, but I always found it hypocritical that the gods punished Oedipus for sleeping with his mother without realizing it, despite the fact that Zeus married his own sister while being fully aware that they were siblings.

6x6-shooter

Loki's backstory is actually tricky

why doesn't Sleipnir have the same sentience as his half siblings when they're all children of Loki? where does all the extra mead from Heiðrún go? and that's only the beginning.

dsnano

This person just admitted they're a viking and no one noticed.

paganbreed

I imagine they were hard to miss

theme park dinosaur GIF Giphy

The lack of dinosaurs.

PalookaOfAllTrades

Fun fact the bible has a few verses in it describing monstrosities that could be dinosaurs. Even dragons.

SirpoSpin

Why does he make us suffer the foxes?

the fox band GIF Giphy

If God is the all knowing intelligent being that created everything, what was his reasoning around making foxes mating noises, if Humans are his children and he loves us why make us suffer every night listening to screaming of little horny foxes.

SnooTomatoes1254

Is there a grey area?

If good people go to heaven and bad people goes to hell, and also we'll see again loved one after death, what happen when a good people love a bad people? (Think a mother with a serial killer son for instance)

Is the good people condemned to spend eternity without their loved one? How is it fair?

inckalt

Surprised I scrolled down this far to find this, but this was a problem that I raised a lot in my religious classes a child. Never got an answer, usually I was met with a strict scolding.

About the closest I ever got to an answer was that in heaven everyone will be so perfectly happy it will be as if our connections from earth won't matter. Obviously they didn't know and were speculating but that actually made me feel even worse.

mynewplan

Who does Satan think he is?

Why would satan punish humans for rebelling against god, something that he himself once did. I've always thought of it as hypocritical, and that satan would reward the human for exercising their free will and living a life free of religious constraints.

SensationalSavior

It's a special privilege 

God is perfect and cannot sin. There exists "the wrath of God." Wrath is one of the seven deadly sins.

6x6-shooter

Yes but He has a special permit

ipakookapi

JUST the 2 of "US?"

If Adam and Eve were the first two people on Earth and are responsible for the birth of all people ever, than the entire human race is the product of incest.

Although, to be fair, that does explain quite a lot.

Norman_Brownbutter

Bingo!

Giphy

My wife and I got married in the church that her and her family went to growing up. Part of the process of being married in the church meant that we had to do pre marriage classes. During these classes we had to discuss a variety of topics including sexual relationships between husband and wife.

We were told that the catholic church does not believe in any form of birth control, a child is a gift from god. Couples looking to engage in intercourse just need to keep track of a woman's cycle and that would be fine. Kind of seemed like someone trying to rig a lottery.

Reddit

The Lost Years

What happened to Jesus in his teen years though?

musicpisces

There's actually a really good and funny book called "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pall" that takes place during his teen years where Jesus (Joshua in the book) and Biff go out and try to figure out how he's supposed to be a prophet. And I take that book as full cannon.

Aviator506

because HE said so....

jesus GIF Giphy

If man is not perfect, but man wrote the Bible how am I supposed to trust what I'm reading from the Bible. How do I know they didn't mess anything up?

21DrunkPilots

Because it Christian faith the Bible was written by God through people, so they only wrote down what He told them to.

J_C_Wizard49

Meant to be the Villain

I don't know if this is considered as a plot hole:

Judas Iscariot was essential to Jesus' plan. If he didn't sold Jesus out then the prophecy will not come true. Why then is he considered a villain? He should be at the top! He got the job done!

sk8er_saix

The belief was that although Judas couldn't disregard his role in betraying Jesus, the fact was that he chose to kill himself (hanging himself from a tree) as opposed to genuinely repent. We see that Peter also betrayed Jesus but ultimately seeks forgiveness etc.

pastanuggets

Forgive them yourself?

If you're God and you need to split off part of you to send to earth to die for the sins of mankind, wouldn't it just be faster to like... forgive them yourself? I mean you aren't scoring points from me for this convoluted story of some Virgin getting knocked up by you to give birth to a form of you that I'm supposed to feel bad about when they die for my sins even though that was their whole purpose.

gingerly_said

Keeping Records....

We can read Egyptian hieroglyphics. They kept extensive records. No mention of using Jewish slaves to build the pyramids, them revolting, a royal named Moses or a Red Sea parting.

Existing_Hope

Although interestingly Moses is actually a fairly common Egyptian name but the guys who wrote the Bible didn't seem to know that. They made a different story about the name's origin (She named him Moses (Moshe), saying, 'I drew him out (meshitihu) of the water'.)

It's very weak, of course, but it's a hint that there might be some truth to the Moses was in Egypt story.

StopWorthyPlatitudes

Gotta start somewhere....

keanu reeves whatever GIF Giphy

An omnipotent being is used to explain the origin of everything in this universe, but there's no explanation for the origin of said omnipotent being.

AllGarbage

Where is the lineage?

Adam and Eve had 3 sons...

sandchild111

The bible (and most ancient scripture) is notorious for not listing daughters of people unless they have a key role to play in the religion and/or government. Normally only list the males because of the "lineage."

nzcnzcnz

Mary's Tale

Virgin Mary had a child. Glances suspiciously at churches/catholic schools stating abstinence is 100% effective in avoiding a pregnancy.

PutABowOnTop

Political Optics

Not really a plot hole in the Christianity , but a plot hole in the interpretation of it.

Christianity was originally highly Jewish based and they didn't like Romans, a few centuries later it was Roman/ European based and they heavily discriminated Jewish people. What?

theroxanmorroxan

This one is easily explained and historically substantiated. Rome was working furiously to kill all the Christians. However, it just wasn't working. It seemed the more that they killed, the more their numbers would grow. Constantine saw a political opportunity and followed the advice of the old adage "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" and officially changed the religion of Rome to Christianity. Most consider it a politically motivated decision. The Catholics say he converted himself and the entire country and they recognize him as an important figure in the history of their religion.

redditorhowie

Lilith?

Lilith, who was Eve before Eve. She was created first to be equal to Adam, but didn't take kindly to constantly being told what to do, so she was kicked out of paradise (or left of her own will maybe). She supposedly had sex with angels or something, creating other tribes. Then God was like, "Well, screwed that one up. Next one will be a total sub." And so he made Eve out of a piece of Adam to make sure we always remember that women are owned by men.

HostilePasta

To the Point!

I could live my entire life, adhering completely to the Christian moral compass, save millions of lives, treat every person with the utmost respect and dignity, refuse all toxic thoughts and actions, and yet (according to most Christian dogma) I would still burn in hell for eternity if I didn't believe the Christian God exists.

That sentiment alone tells me that morality, and the course of our lives in general, is irrelevant in the end. All that matters is that the Christian God gets recognition. That God, to me, sounds more narcissistic than benevolent and loving. And therefore, is not a God I wish to worship.

There's also issues such as, if God is truly omnipotent and omniscient then he could have purged the world of all suffering and pain. But he hasn't because... he loves us? Because somehow the gift of free will, and therefore the gift of imperfection is more important than letting your children suffer and experience pain? Some children are born into poverty, beaten, starved, and killed before 10 years of age, without ever seeing kindness. What's the lesson there God? Why must you treat the creations you love with such disdain solely to "make a point."

I could go on. There's so many issues I have with that belief system and narrative.

BlueMosity

It's about Me! 

God teaches us that it is a sin to be envious, and to be prideful, and that we must have compassion and understanding for others. And yet he will literally condemn someone to an eternity in hell for not worshiping him, even if said person has literally never heard of him.

bjb406

Morals be damned

No longer religious, but one of the biggest contradictions in Christianity is that human beings by nature are morally imperfect beings. Yet a necessary component for the forgiveness of sins includes having the right sort of beliefs toward Jesus. How does it make sense that a person's eternal destiny relies solely on an imperfect being having a specific belief. I think we can all agree that human beings are morally imperfect, but I'd argue that they're far more imperfect when it comes to having true beliefs (assuming Christianity was true). It seems entirely unfair that that is the thing that people are judged on. People would have to be epistemically perfect to be judged on their beliefs.

StaticCoutour

Woof

don bluth 80s GIF Giphy

The concept of eternal peace and joy in heaven sounds very psychologically degrading long term. It sounds like living like a pet dog.

SolomonKhalifa

Huh?

It's said that god's first plan was to just create Adam. Then Adam started complaining about him wanting to be alone and out of parts God took from Adam he made Eve.

But here's my question, how would Adam have reproduced if he wouldn't have felt the need for a female companion? Gay sex? With himself? Did he have reproductive organs that could just spit out Adam 2.0?

1111stfu

525,600 Minutes....

idina menzel GIF by Rent the Musical Giphy

That the earth way created in 3 day. How tf were there days before the earth existed? Was God measuring 'days' based off another planet he created?

Lakna_Rokee

Well first he separates light from darkness and that's the first day, right? Assuming whoever wrote that down wasn't aware of other planets or that the earth revolved around the sun or even turned, just that light is intermittent and one cycle of light + dark is a day. Not great, but it does make sense.

ipakookapi

Fake Prophets

I know someone who's Baha'i. They believe that every prophet talked about the same God, but according to what He wanted/thought was best at that certain time, and they believe that god is only good. No need to get deep with that second thing, and for the first one, smthg that kinda pisses me off, seeing how incoherent it is, they recognize every prophet, until Baha'u'llah (19th century).

The ones who came after, welp, don't care. But according to their faith, they should follow the most recent religion. Tho, they also say there are some fake prophets who act for their own pleasure etc etc. So here's the thing, and i guess i should ask, to see if they all believe that.

Juliette-Eih

To Hell! 

Not my religion, but why a Christian will condemn someone to Hell for being gay (condemning someone to Hell also being forbidden), because Leviticus, while eating shrimp and covered in tattoos, also Leviticus. Then telling the gay person it's ok for the Christian because Christ loves them, and he's cool with it. Isn't sin, sin? Is there only a 30 day sentence for eating shrimp, but death penalty for loving someone of your same sex?

SewingCookies

So spiteful....

morgan freeman i'm god GIF Giphy

The fact that God literally killed humanity because they were all sinners, but then he says love your fellow human.

_barlas_

billions & billions....

I used to be Catholic; I'm now an atheist.

But, if Jesus came to save everyone from sin 2,000 years ago, what about all the other human beings who lived and died 150,000 years before he showed up? Why weren't they saved? Christians will tell you that God saved them anyway, but why do we then have to deal with the can of worms Jesus opened and we have to follow the Ten Commandments and go to Church and tithe and everything else when they didn't have to?

There are about 100 billion galaxies each with about 100 billion stars; the odds are very favorable that intelligent life exists elsewhere containing civilizations who will rise up and go extinct before we ever even get CLOSE to finding them. Are they saved? Why didn't Jesus go to them?

The Bible is an arbitrary collection. Works were edited, things were lost in translation, books of the Bible were accumulated over time and voted on by councils; some made it in, some didn't. Given that it's basically held together by centuries of drafts and edits and additions and subtractions, how can we trust it? Yet, it's supposed to be THE word of God.

...I could go on.

There's nothing like being raised Catholic to make you a nonbeliever lol.

70U1E

To Valhalla! 

The best warriors are chosen upon death and half of them is sent to Valhalla.

The problem is that it's the worse half of the chosen. So you have to get enough battle prowess but not too much if you want to get to Valhalla... or you can use the Persuasion skill, of course.

King-Bjorn-of-Asgard

Outside the Lines

Not really a "plot" hole, but an ethical one. In the guideline book for my religion, it makes several references that the means is justified by the end.

"Lets flood the entire planet and kill off trillions of life forms to get rid of evil."

"Reduce a city to ash for sinning, and anybody who looks at it turns to ash too."

"Im gonna make this one guy in particular lose literally everything he has; job, family, estate, etc., to prove that he will still worship me" -God

Even outside of the book of guidelines, people say it all the time.

"God is only putting us through this hardship so that we come out better."

I heard someone say that God made Coronavirus so that we could develop faster as a planet.

Someone said that school shootings were good, so that kids could get more protection in school.

But really? You're telling me that the hundreds of thousands of lives that have been lost are all worth it? Yeah, we've come a long way. But I would rather have these kids alive, right now.

That_one_cashier

Timeline Issues

I am Jewish. I am also a massive ancient history nerd.

In one of the first parts of the Torah, Abraham "returns to the land of the Philistines."

Problem: There were no Philistines at the putative time of Abraham. Even from the perspective of Biblical narrative.

The Philistines arrive at the end of the 1200s BCE and were only barely established in the current Gaza area by the time the Israelites start establishing themselves in portions of modern0day Israel/Palestine.

The chronology is just plain wrong.

amsterdam_BTS

No Matter What

It's not my religion but....

"I love everyone no matter what" followed by "You better love me back or I'm gonna hate you forever and torture you for eternity" followed by "I don't love those people neither should you, what you should do is make their lives a living hell."

Reddit

And on the 5th?

I don't believe in any kind of God but I've always found it funny how in the bible, God made the sun on the fourth day. How could there have been any days before that?

darkmatter280

Yeah so I believe in the original translation it says God created the world in 4 time periods, not really days. So it could have taken thousands of years, and Moses just used "time periods" because he wasn't there and didn't know how long God spent on each creation.

elijah_ehrisman

Loosed Inspired By

writing GIF Giphy

Literally every biblical story. The more I read it, the less sense it makes.

Also the fact that we have to listen to some men who were "supposedly inspired by God" to write misogynistic crap and give stronger grounds to their own selfish need for power.

Phckinandroids

Bad with Names

If Jesus' mother was told by an angel that she was going to bear the messiah in the book of Luke, why did she and the rest of the family go chasing after Jesus telling everyone he was out of his head in the opening pages of Mark?

CallMeTwoSocks

Three separate storytellers and written down 70-110 years after the death of the Messiah by others, not the actual apostles.

kitchen_clinton

Lack of....

Evidence.

stephenamccann

This is my problem with some religions: Why would you condemn us to hell if there's no/circumstantial evidence for your specific religion? If God just wanted us to have faith, why would he think we wouldn't worship other deities with the same amount of proof? Agnostic btw.

CBass189

Without Logic

It's harder to believe than fiction.

despalicious

But fiction (usually) tries to follow a path of logic and is at least somewhat reasonable in events and characters. Also the plotholes are usually few are defendable as "the character didn't think of that". The same cannot be said for any religion I have looked into.

LinkBrecken

Satan the Great

devil satan GIF Giphy

If Satan punishes those who sin, wouldn't he be considered a good guy?

Alternatively, if Satan is a bad guy, why would he punish other sinners?

afrozone100

Perfect Word of God

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all have different conflicting accounts of what happened regarding the empty tomb. Did just Mary go alone or did the other Mary go too? Was there an earthquake or did the stone instantly move away or was the stone already rolled away? Did one or two or no angels show and talk to them? Did they go and tell everyone or were they too afraid to? Did they find Jesus was gone and then called the disciples to come see or did the angels tell them to go tell all the disciples? Did Jesus appear in the tomb and talk to Mary?

This is one of the plot holes that led me from being a firm believer fundamentalist to an agnostic wishy washy whatevs guy :D

Now my Christian belief system has to come to terms with the Perfect Word of God and the imperfect accounts in the Old and New Testaments.

kgold0

The Third

Idk about plot holes in my religion, but I like one thing the most in my religion, it mentions a third form of life (apart from a man and woman) and I realized ancient India was very gender fluid, in fact even today whenever a baby is about to be born or is just born, Transgender people go to the new baby's house to give the baby blessing, it is considered auspicious. But ever since Britishers left India, LGBTQ+ community has been looked down upon. I hope they get the same recognition like the ancient times.

I am not that religious, I just was more curious about hinduism in quarantine coz boredom was eating me up so I thought let's try the spiritual way what my parents do lmao.

akiteeg

Do you read?

Raised Catholic, now Protestant. As a Catholic, I looked at the Protestants and thought "WTF, 1500 years after Jesus and suddenly you create your own church?" Now I'm like "Have you Catholics even read the Bible?" Main conclusion I've come to is that people are limited in what they can fully understand, so we all try to hold onto that small part we can grasp. So I'm chill with anyone who affirms Matthew 22, Chapters 36-40.

WillingPublic

Silly Humans

party dancing GIF Giphy

Humans just invented religion to have a little more sense in life and how everything is the way it is. For humans everything must have a meaning, since all the things we invented make a sense and have a function, even we people ourselves need to have a function, but that's maybe not how the world is built, we are not here for any reason, it's only a happenstance that we exist, that life on our world exists. That's why I believe more in aliens than I believe in any kind of god. Sorry for the bad english by the way.

theironyofvroni

I'm right here Y'all! 

That Judas betrayal of Jesus doesn't make sense.

Jesus wasn't hiding. He rode into Jerusalem in broad daylight. Everyone knew he was coming. Judas' help wasn't needed to catch him.

ITouchedElvisHair

Blasphemy! 

I'm a lapsed catholic. Idolatry is one of the biggest "plot holes." If you worship the virgin Mary or any other saint you are as a matter of fact doing blasphemy. Don't come with the argument of them being a "middle man." Speak to god directly. The worship of saints is pretty much polytheism with yahweh (christian god) being Zeus's equivalent.

mizukata

So Many ???

Confused Dogs GIF by moodman Giphy

Former catholic.. still waiting for somebody to explain Jesus's DNA situation is.. is he haploid? Where does his Y chromosome come from? So many questions.

Shotkong64x

Watch & Learn

Bring on the downvotes bc I know I'm going to get them.

No bible is the word of God written by man. They are the words of MEN written by MEN.

FFS there are over 1,000 denominations of Christianity alone, each knowing their version is the right one and all others are blasphemy.

Not to mention every bible from each religion is packed with contradictions...

siamesetwinning

REDDIT

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People Describe The Creepiest Things They Ever Witnessed As A Kid

"Reddit user -2sweetcaramel- asked: 'What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?'"

Four mistreated baby dolls are hung by barb wire
Photo by J Lopez

For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.

Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.

The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.

Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:

"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"

Serious Danger

"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."

"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."

oofboof2020

Waiting for Food

"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."

"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."

nowhereboy1964

Captain Hobo to the Rescue

"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."

"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"

"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."

FartAttack911

Survival

tsunami GIF Giphy

"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."

faithfulpoo

These Tsunami stories are just tragic.

On the Sand

Scared The Launch GIF by CTV Giphy

"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."

oyloff

Be Clever

"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."

OstneyPiz

Bad Jokes

"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."

Alegan239

YOU

Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN Giphy

"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"

PrettyLola2004

Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.

No one should talk to others in the dark though.

Woman stressed at work
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

When we hear about other people's jobs, we've surely all done that thing where we make assumptions about the work they do and maybe even judge them for having such an easy or unimportant job.

But some jobs are much harder than they look.

Redditor CeleryLover4U asked:

"What's a job or profession that seems easy but is incredibly challenging?"

Customer Service

"Anything customer-facing. The public is dumb and horrendous."

- gwarrior5

"My go-to explanation is, 'Anyone can do it, but few can do it for long.'"

- Conscious_Camel4830

"The further I get in my corporate career, the less I believe I will ever again be capable of working a public-facing job. I don’t know how I did it in the past. I couldn’t handle it in the present."

"I know people are only getting worse about how they treat workers. It is disturbing, embarrassing, and draining for everyone."

- First-Combination-12

High Stakes

"A pharmacist."

"You face the public. Your mistake can literally kill someone."

- VaeSapiens

"Yes, Pharmacist. So many people think their job is essentially the same as any other kind of retail worker and they just prepare prescriptions written by a doctor without having to know anything about them."

"They are very highly trained in, well, pharmacology; and it's not uncommon for a pharmacist to notice things like potentially dangerous drug interactions that the doctor hadn't."

- Worth_University_884

Teaching Woes

"Two nuggets of wisdom from my mentor teacher when I was younger:"

"'Teaching is the easiest job to do poorly and the hardest job to do well,' and 'You get to choose two of the following three: Friends, family, or being a good teacher. You don't have enough time to do all three.'"

"We all know colleagues or remember teachers who were lazy and chose the easy route, but any teacher who is trying to be a good teacher has probably sacrificed their friends and their sleep for little pay and a stressful work environment. There's a reason something like half quit the profession within the first five years."

- bq87

Creativity Is "Easy"

"Some creative professions, such as designers, are often perceived as 'easy' due to their creative nature. However, they may face the constant need to find inspiration, deal with criticism, and meet deadlines."

- rubberduckyis

"EVERYBODY thinks they are a designer, up until the point of having to do the work. But come critique time, mysteriously, EVERYBODY IS A F**KING DESIGNER AGAIN."

"The most important skill to have as a designer is THICK SKIN."

- whitepepper

Care Fatigue Is Real

"Care work."

"I wish it could be taken for granted that no one thinks it's easy. But unfortunately, many people still see it as an unskilled job and have no idea of the many emotional complexities, or of how much empathy, all the time, is needed to form the sorts of relationships with service users that they really need."

- MangoMatiLemonMelon

Physical Labor Generally Wins

"I’m going to say most types of unskilled labor and that’s because there’s such little (visible) reward and such a huge amount of bulls**t. I’ve done customer service, barista, sales, serving, etc; and it was all much harder than my cushy desk job that actually can be considered life or death."

- anachronistika

Their Memory Banks Must Be Wild

"I don't know if I'd call it incredibly challenging, but being one of those old school taxi drivers who know the city like the back of his hand and can literally just drive wherever being told nothing but an address is pretty impressively skilled."

"Not sure if it's still like this, but British cabbies used to be legendary for this. I'm 40 and I don't think most young people appreciate how much the quality of cab service has gone down since the advent of things like Uber."

"Nowadays it's just kind of expected that a rideshare/cab driver doesn't know exactly where you're trying to get and has to rely on GPS directions that they often f up. Back when I was in college, cabbies were complete experts on their city."

"More even than knowing how to get somewhere, they could also give you advice. You could just generally describe a type of bar/club/business you're looking for, and they'll take you right to one that was spot on. Especially in really big cities like NYC."

- Yak-Mak-5000

Professional Cooking

"Being a chef."

- Canadian_bro7

"I would love to meet the person who thinks being a chef is easy! I cook my own food and it’s not only OK to eat but I make a batch of it so I have some for later. So, to make food that is above good and portion it correctly many times a day and do it consistently with minimal wastage (so they make a profit), strikes me as extremely difficult."

- ChuckDeBongo

Team Leading, Oof

"Anything that involves a lot of people skills and socializing. I thought these positions were just the bulls**t of sitting in meetings all day and not a lot of work happening but having to be the one leading those meetings and doing public speaking is taxing in a way I didn’t realize."

- Counterboudd

Not a Pet Sitter At All

"Veterinary Technician."

"Do the job of an RN, anesthesiology tech, dental hygienist, radiology tech, phlebotomist, lab tech, and CNA, but probably don’t make a living wage and have people undervalue your career because you 'play with puppies and kittens all day.'"

- forthegoddessathena

Harder Than It Looks!

"Sometimes, when my brain is fried from thinking and my ego is shot from not fixing the problem, I want to be a garbage man... not a ton of thinking, just put the trash in the truck, and a lot of them have trucks that do it for you!"

"But if the robot either doesn't work or you don't have one on your truck, it smells really bad, the pay isn't what it used to be, you might find a dead body and certainly find dead animal carcasses... and people are id**ts, overfilling their bags, just to have them fall apart before you get to the truck, not putting their trash out and then blaming you, making you come back out."

"Your body probably is sore every day, and you have to take two baths before you can kiss your wife..."

"Ehh, maybe things are not so bad where I am."

- Joebroni1414

Twiddling Thumbs and Listening

"Therapist here. I’ve always said that it’s pretty easy to be an okay therapist—as in, it’s not that hard to listen to people’s problems and say, 'Oh wow, that’s so hard, poor you.'"

"But to be a good therapist? To know when your client is getting stuck in the same patterns, or to notice what your client isn’t saying? To realize that they’re only ever saying how amazing their spouse is, and to think, 'Hmm, nobody’s marriage is perfect, something’s going on there'?"

"To be able to ask questions like, 'Hey, we’ve been talking a lot about your job, but what’s going on with your family?' And then to be able to call them on their s**t, but with kindness and empathy? Balancing that s**t is hard."

"Anybody can have empathy, but knowing when to use empathy and when and how to challenge someone is so much harder. And that’s only one dimension of what makes being a therapist challenging."

- mylovelanguageiswine

Constant Updates

​"For the most part, my job is really easy (marketing tech). But having to constantly stay on top of new platforms, new tech, updates, etc etc is exhausting and overwhelming and I really hate it."

"Also, the constant responsibility to locate and execute opportunities to optimize things and increase value for higher-ups. Nobody in corporate roles can ever just reach a point of being 'good enough.' More and better is always required."

"Just some of the big reasons I’m considering a career change."

- GlizzyMcGuire_

Performing Is Not Easy

"Performing arts and other types of art. People think it’s a cakewalk or 'not a real job,' not realizing the literal lifetime of training, rejection, and perseverance that it takes to reach a professional level and how insanely competitive those spaces are."

- ThrowRA1r3a5

All About Perception

"I suspect everything fits this. Consider that someone whose job is stacking boxes in a warehouse has to know how to lift boxes, how many can be stacked, know if certain ones must be easily accessible, know how to use any equipment that is used to move boxes around."

"Not to mention if some have hazardous or fragile materials inside, if some HAVE to be stacked on the bottom, if a mistake is made and all the boxes have to be restacked, etc."

"But everyone else is like, 'They're just stacking boxes.'"

- DrHugh

It's easy to make assumptions about someone else's work and responsibilities when we haven't lived with performing those tasks ourselves.

This gave us some things to think about, and it certainly reminded us that nothing good comes of making assumptions, especially when it minimizes someone else's experiences.

Left-handed person holding a Sharpie
Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

Many of us who are right-handed never even think about how the world is designed to cater to us.

It probably doesn't even cross your mind that 10% of the world's population is left-handed.

Because of this, there tends to be a stigma for being left-handed since society tends to associate the left with negative things.

For example, the phrase "two left feet" applies to those who are clumsy and therefore, incapable of dancing.

Curious to hear more about the challenges facing those with the other dominant hand, Redditor johnnyportillo95 asked:

"What’s something left-handed people have to deal with that right-handed people wouldn’t even think about?"

If only manufacturers appealed to an ambidextrous world.

Furniture Obstacle

"Those desks or couch chairs that have a small desk attached. They do make left handed/sided ones but they are few and far between."

– Prussian__Princess

"And they’re only on one side of the lecture hall, and it’s never a good seat. There is ONE front row, lefty desk in the entire room and it’s in the far corner, obscured by an ancient overhead projector."

– earwighoney

Everyday Objects For Everyday People

"as a left-handed person myself, one thing we often deal with is finding left-handed tools or equipment. many everyday objects, like scissors or can openers, are designed with right-handed people in mind, which can make certain tasks a bit more challenging for us lefties. we also have to adapt to a right-handed world when it comes to writing on whiteboards or using certain computer mice."

– J0rdan_24

Dangerous Tools

"The biggest risk is power tools. I taught myself to use all power tools right handed because of risks using them left handed."

"Trivial, I love dry boards but they are super hard to write on."

– diegojones4

It's hard to play when you're born with a physical disadvantage.

Sports Disadvantage

"Allright, Sports when you are young. Every demonstration from PE teachers are right handed. You cant just copy the movements they teach you you need to flip them and your tiny brain struggoes to process it. As well, 98% of the cheap sports equipment the school uses is right handed."

– AjCheeze

No Future In Softball

"I tried to bat right handed for so long in gym class growing up because the gym teacher never asked me what my dominant side was and the thought never occurred to me as a child to mention it! Needless to say I never became a softball star."

– Leftover-Cheese

Find A Glove That Fits

"In softball and baseball we need a specific glove for our right hand that's often impossible to find unless you own one, and we have to bat on the other side of the plate."

– BowlerSea1569

"I was one of two left-handers in a 4-team Little League in the 1980s. Nobody could pitch to me. I got a lot of "hit by pitch" walks out of it."

– Jef_Wheaton

These examples are understandably annoying.

Shocking Observation

"Having right handed people make comments whenever they see us write, like we’re some kind of alien."

– UsefulIdiot85

"'Woah! You're left-handed????'"

"I find myself noticing when someone is a lefty, and sometimes I comment on it, but I try not to. I'm primarily left-handed (im a right handed wroter but do everything else left), and every single time I go to eat with my family, someone says, "Oh hey, give SilverGladiolus22 the left hand spot, they're left-handed," and inevitably someone says, 'Wait, really?' Lol."

– SilverGladiolus22

Can't Admire The Mug

"We never get to look at the cute graphics on coffee mugs while we’re drinking from them."

– vanetti

"I just realized…I always thought the graphics were made so someone else could read them while you drink. Hmmm."

– Bubbly-Anteater7345

"I'm right-handed and I often wondered why the graphics were turned towards the drinker instead of out for others to see."

– Material-Imagination

The Writing On The Wall

"Writing on whiteboards is a nightmare. I have to float my hand, which tires out my arm quickly, and I can't see what I've already written to keep the line straight."

– darkjedi39

"Also as a teacher, it means I'm standing to the left of where I'm writing, so I'm blocking everything I write. I have to frequently finish writing, then step out of the way so people can see, instead of just being able to stand on the right side the whole time."

– dancingbanana123

Immeasurable

"Rulers."

"How the f'k is no one talking about rulers? It's from 30cm to 0 cm to me, or I have to twist my arms to know the measure I want to trace over it."

– fourangers

Just Can't Win

"EVERYTHING. The world has always been based around people being right handed. As a Chef, my knife skills SUCKED until I worked with a Left Handed Chef. Then it all made sense."

"Literally, everything we do must be observed, then flipped around in our heads, then executed. This is why Lefties die sooner, on average, than Righties."

"I had to learn how to be ambidextrous, just to complete basic tasks (sports, driving a manual, using scissors, etc). I am used to it now, and do many things right handed out of necessity, as wall as parents and teachers 'forcing' it upon me."

"But, at least we are not put to death anymore, simply for using the wrong hand (look it up, it happened)."

"Ole Righty, always keeping us down."

– igenus44

The world doesn't need another demographic to feel "othered" for being different.

But if you're right-handed and tend to make assumptions about left-handed people, you may want to observe the following.

Ronald Yeo, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Texas-Austin told CNN:

"We shouldn’t assume much about people’s personalities or health just because of the hand they write with."
"And we certainly shouldn’t worry about lefties’ chances of success: After all (as of 2015), five of our last seven U.S. presidents have been either left- or mixed-handed."

Word.

Dog lying down on a bed
Photo by Conner Baker on Unsplash

Not all pet owners have the same relationship with their pets.

While anyone who decides to become a pet owner, or pet parent as some say, love their pets equally, some never ever let them leave their side.

Taking their pet with them to work, running errands, even on vacations.

Many pet parents even allow their pets to share their bed with them when going to sleep.

For others though, this is where a line is finally drawn.

Redditor Piggythelavasurfer was curious to hear whether pet owners allowed their pets to share their bed with them, as well as the reasons why they do/don't, leading them to ask:

"Do you let your pet sleep in your bed? Why/why not?"

The Tiny Issue Of Water...

"Absolutely not."

"I have fish."- Senior-Meal3649

Everyone Gets Lonely Eventually...

"I adopted an eleven year old cat the day before Halloween."

"She has mostly lived in my closet since I got her, and she hasn’t been too interested in coming out."

"Last night, she came out of my closet and jumped up on my bed, and crawled under my covers and curled up by my feet to sleep."

"I was so happy!"- YellowBeastJeep

The Comforting Reminder That You're Not Alone...

"I recently lost my Greyhound but I used to let him sleep on my bed with me."

"The company was nice and he was no trouble to have on my bed."- HoodedMenace3

Hungry Cookie GIF by De Graafschap Dierenartsen Giphy

What Do You Mean Allow?

"I have no choice."

"She is a cat, cats do whatever they want."- Small_cat1412

"He lets me sleep in my bed."- Poorly-Drawn-Beagle

Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way

"I carry my old boy upstairs to bed every night."- worst_in_show

Hug GIF by The BarkPost Giphy

Who Needs An Alarm Clock?

"I let my two cats sleep with me."

"They're so full of love and just want cuddles all the time."

"And so do I."

"We've all developed a lil routine."

"Get to bed, oldest sleeps on my feet to keep them warm, youngest lies in my arm while I lie on my side (she the little spoon), then when I snooze my alarm for work in the morning the youngest paws at my face and meeps loudly to wake me up."- GhostofaFlea_

Whose Bed Is It Anyway?

"Yes."

"They're also kind enough to let me squeeze into whatever space they've left for me."

"Although I do get a few dirty looks off them."- Therealkaylor

"I found this tiny kitten screaming her head off under a car."

"Would not come out."

"Got some food and some water in dishes."

"I stood by the tire so she couldn't see my feet."

"She got curious about the food and water and started gobbling it down."

"I thought she would bolt when I squatted down."

"She was too busy eating."

"I grabbed her by the nape of the neck and all four legs went straight out and she tried to scratch me to death."

"I got her in the door and tossed her toward the couch."

"She ricocheted off the couch as if she was a ping pong off a table and I lost sight of her."

"I put out food and water and a sandbox and did not see that kitten for three days."

"On the third day, I came home and she was on my bed pillow."

"I thought she would bolt when I came near, but she didn't."

"I wanted to sleep so I tried to scoot her little butt off my pillow."

"She would not go."

"I put my head down to sleep and that is the way it was from then on."

"She ran the roost."- Logical_Cherry_7588

sleepy kitten GIF Giphy

Sleeping Is A Prerequisite...

"No, he's a cat and he cannot keep still during the night."

"He walks across the headboard, opens the closet doors, jumps into the windows and rustles the blinds, etc."

"If he would sleep he could stay, but alas, he's a ramblin' man."- Spong_Durnflungle

Saying No Just Isn't An Option...

"'Let'."

"Lol."

"It's a cat's world and I'm happy to be on her good side."- milaren

Felines Only!

"The cat does, the dog doesn't and the horse certainly does not either."- Xcrowzz

Angry Tom And Jerry GIF by Boomerang Official Giphy

Is That My Hair On That Pillow?

"My dog is perfect."

"She comes up, cuddles til we start to fall asleep, then gets down to sleep on her bed so she doesn't get too hot."

"Jumps back up in the early morning for wake up cuddles."

"The hair everywhere is the only downside but she is so cozy, what can you do."- HoodieWinchester

It is easy to understand how some people are able to fall asleep more easily knowing their friend and protector is there, in bed, with them.

Though we can't blame others who don't want to run the risk of being scratched or bitten in the middle of the night either...