Man tells babysitter not to pray with his son who has cancer. AITA?
When this mom feels uncomfortable with her babysitter's behavior, she asks Reddit:
'AITA for telling our sitter not to pray with our son?'
Our 8yo son Owen was diagnosed with leukemia. His prognosis is excellent because it was caught early and he's an excellent candidate for BMT and was quickly found a match. However the treatment has been brutal and it should go into maintenance by fall when starts the 3rd grade.
Unfortunately he can't really play with other kids because his immune system is compromised. We're lucky that we have a sitter who can be a playmate and a caretaker who isn't a parent if me or his mom can't be there. Someone who knows how to dispense his meds, bathe him, follow dietitian guidelines and keeping him entertained.
The other day our sitter asked if it would be okay to pray with Owen. I was taken by surprise because in the few years that we've known him and worked for us, he's never mentioned religion. I thought he was Mormon because he has five brothers and his family look like they're from the 1950s.
I'm a closet reluctant atheist and my wife is agnostic. Our kids go to a private Catholic school mainly because for its academics and extracurricular activities and it's mostly secular. If our kids want to follow a religion then that's up to them as adults. Our sitter knows this.
I told him I'd rather have him take care of Owen. I believe prayer is BS like Bigfoot and no need to make Owen feel like a prayer is going to cure his cancer. That's false hope. I said he's free to pray for him, not with him.
Ever since then things have been awkward between us. I think I offended him in some way by declining a prayer. AITA?
Let's see what internet users had to say.
shallwestartthen writes:
NTA- he can pray for him in his own time, at his place of choice. You can respect his belief, but he needs to also respect yours. You have a sick child, the last thing you need is emotional blackmail from a 'well-intentioned' Christian.
embarrasedmath9 writes:
YTA. You think you offended him? You def did. And very cruelly at that. What if it were something you believed in & someone called it BS & false hope? Don't you think that would be offensive? There was no need to say those nasty things to him. All you had to say is the last part. Pray for him but not with him. That would've been enough. And you owe him a sincere apology for shitting on his beliefs.
frostyfoxfamily writes:
NTA. It's not his place to ask for such a request. If you wanted that then you would have asked him or done it yourself. The problem is religious people think what they are doing is some amazing gift they are sharing when it's not.
I think we all know if this person said they wanted to do a crystal treatment and use his spiritual energy to help give him more peace hardly anybody would be faulting OP. Same crap different cult.