Update- 4/15/17 So, after a 4-hour conversation with my son’s classmate’s father I decided that I had to update this story from a couple weeks ago. Rather than enjoy my Spring Break alone, I had the pleasure of babysitting my 2 1/2 year old son and his classmate. Fortunately, his school/daycare closed for a week during my break, so we didn’t have to search for daycare for a week; however, I didn’t spend the week as I had planned.
I digress, again. To the point of the story’s update- I made the mistake of telling this kid’s father that I was pissed about receiving an email from one of the school’s administrators and she concluded her email (which was sent to every kids’ parent) with the words “Have a Blessed Easter Weekend!” I admitted that I may have been overreacting, but I’ve already had to deal with my son’s teachers making all of the children pray before they eat lunch.
So, needless to say, I was just pushed over the edge and into slightly full rage mode. The boy’s father immediately said to me, “oh, you’re one of the those people” then spent several minutes describing how he has to deal with that shit at his job, and people need to be reminded of the fact that America is, in fact, founded upon Christian values. When asked to elaborate on that fact, he was unable to do so. In the end, he just conceded the fact that the majority of Americans are of a Christian flavor, so people just need to deal with it. He works with several immigrants and Muslims, and is apparently tired of being “forced to be respectful to others.”
Fuck, I could spend hours writing about our conversation last night, but will just focus on one thing he said to me- You just have to believe in something. The dude kept saying that again and again. He even went as far as pointing to my oscillating fan and saying “you could believe in that fan….at least you’d believe in something!”
There is so much fucked up with that statement! The dude admitted that it’s ok to even know what you believe is false, just as long as you believe in something. So what THE FUCK is the point?!
I’m sure at some point I will write more about our conversation. His ignorance and bigotry just pull my fucking mind! Oh, by the way, now I know why, after talking with him, how Trump was able to sway some black voters. This dude said that he’s not a Trump supporter, nor did he vote for Trump, however he spent an hour talking about Trump’s good ideas! The only difference between this dude and the majority of Trump voters is their skin color.
But the one thing he said that really burns my fucking ass is don’t you have faith that you will be safe in an airplane up 30,000 feet in the air? Holy fucking shit, this dude lost every ounce of respect from me that he had left at that point. He actually fucking said that we have faith that we will remain safe in an airplane. That rationale may have worked 300 hundred years ago, but, dude, we actually know how airplane operate. Now, HE may not understand how planes operate…but real engineers and scientists fucking do. Hint- it’s not a god or fucking rainbow fairies riding unicorns carrying the plane across the sky. Dude, we understand the science behind flight. It requires absolutely fucking ZERO faith. No faith. None. Get the fuck out of here! When I fly, I do not have faith in the pilot’s abilities. I have trust and confidence, because of science, in the flight team and plane engineers. And, of course, he added that airplane travel is the most dangerous mode of transportation. Fuck you dude, it’s not.
END OF UPDATE
I have heard “but you must believe in something” so many fucking times, I’ve lost count…endless! From when I came out to my family in my early 20s to last week in my therapy session with my psychologist.
It seems they’d rather me believe in anything- Allah, the Old Testament blood-thirsty sick fuck Yahweh, the prophet Joey Smith, just name it- but just not nothing! Hell, they’re ok if I say I’m agnostic- well guys, you know, I’m not sure about the whole god thing. Fuck that! They don’t care what I believe in, just as long as I believe in something.
My therapist, whom I really trust and admire, told me “everyone believes in something…we all need to believe in a bigger picture.” I’m not so sure about that, doc. First, please define bigger picture. From The Merriam-Webster online dictionary:
Definition of believe:
1a : to have a firm religious faith b: to accept something as true, genuine, or real ideals we believe in believes in ghosts
2: to have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something believe in exercise
3: to hold an opinion: think I believe so
I’m not sure I believe in anything. It’s such an overused word. I have trust and have confidence in many things, ideas, or people. But I cannot reach and say that I believe in god(s) or that we are all connected by an invisible web of life in the Universe (although the latter sounds beautiful).
I trust my wife is faithful to me, because of her actions and behaviors during our 5 1/2 years together. However, I do not have complete trust or confidence in America’s Education system (for a later post). Don’t forget that I’m a 16-year veteran in our public school and charter school systems.
Neil Degrasse Tyson put it best. “Does it mean, if you don’t understand something, and the community of physicists don’t understand it, that means God did it? Is that how you want to play this game? Because if it is, here’s a list of things in the past that the physicists at the time didn’t understand [and now we do understand] […]. If that’s how you want to invoke your evidence for God, then God is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance that’s getting smaller and smaller and smaller as time moves on – so just be ready for that to happen, if that’s how you want to come at the problem.”