I didn't ask you to

Call this an irritation series or a series on irritation (Let's face it, I probably won't post more than one of these) ...

I hate it when people respond to a statement about something you're doing or going to do with the words "I don't agree with that" like you asked them to. It happened to me more in college when people were more likely to be dumb enough to think I would care. Who does that anyway?

"Oh church is going to be so fun this weekend! We're baptizing a couple of babies and I'm making cheesecake that doubles as finger food and..."

"I don't agree with that."

Did I ask you to? No, I didn't. I told you what we're going to do this weekend. No one asked your permission. You don't ask my permission to do things at your places of worship. I don't particularly enjoy or agree with some of the things your 'people' do but you aren't asking me, are you?

I have the same problem with people who aren't religious. I have the same response. Okay... I knew that. Yep, sweetie, I've known you for ten years, known you were an atheist for about that long, still talking to you, dearest, not going to change.

Speaking of people who don't agree with a lot of what I do... I distinctly remember a girl asking me what I'd do if Jesus walked into my living room while my friends and I were drinking wine and watching horror movies. I looked at her, dumbfounded at the silliness of the question and said:

Offer him a glass and apologize for the quality of the vintage?

Some Clarification please.

I've been having this problem a lot more lately so I thought I'd get a few things out in the open. I know people tell all kinds of rumors about what Christians believe, so I'm going to clear a few things up in the next few weeks.

In other words, this is an attempt at getting myself to post more often...and blow off some steam.

You may have heard about this great war between science and religion. Yes, there has been some conflict over the years but it has largely been manufactured by church officials (in th beginning) and later by the scientific community. It happened in the early 20th century--some idiot decided that you couldn't be rational and religious at the same time and it's been downhill from there.

Here's the thing though: I believe dinosaurs. I do. I believe in microbiology. I believe that the earth revolves around the sun and not the other way around. I don't know enough about evolution to have an opinion about it, but if God took more than six days to create the earth, I'm not going to be offended. If the flood was a local event, that's a lot less creepy than Noah's grandchildren getting with their first cousins.

As for being rational, it's a nice thought but if I've learned anything from studying history is that while humans are capable of rational thought they are not rational. We try. Sometimes. I think this is a good thing. Yes, we still have pockets of the world where people are accused (falsely) of witchcraft and a lot of bad things happen because we just don't think things through. But it isn't logical to take care of people who cannot take care of themselves and aren't going to grow up at some near date and take care of us. I think a little irrational compassion is a good thing. In other words, it is rational to leave the extremely old, the handicapped, the fourth female child, and the insane on the side of the mountain to die of exposure. It's just not very nice. We used to do that, and then this pesky cult called the Way started growing in Rome and being practical fell out of fashion.

Pesky Christians. Ruined it for all the strong beautiful smart people.

Did I mention a lot of us, even a majority believe in dinosaurs? Psychology? Seeing doctors?

I haven't even handled a snake in months.

Religion doesn't kill people...

Religion doesn't kill people. People kill people. (I started to say bears kill people when they're trying to steal pot, but the article says they're docile so I'm back to people killing people.) I've been discussing this furor over the "ground zero mosque" thing with some of my friends and trying to figure out why normally smart people are being so stupid about it.

1) It's more like YMCA with a chapel than the Muslim equivalent of a Baptist Church with a gym out back.
2) I don't see how it's more disturbing to the neighborhood than the strip clubs that are located even closer to the site.
3) They've said everyone will be welcome their so if Christians, Jews and Atheists want to go in and spy on them I'm sure we can.

That being said, let me go on to my point. Religions don't kill people. People kill people. One thing that I've learned about human beings in the last several years is that people have a really hard time separating people who do horrible from things from the religion of the people doing horrible things if they are members of a different faith. In other words, non-Christians have trouble separating Episcopalians who are only fairly certain that people who don't chill the salad forks are going to do time in purgatory from Westboro Baptist Church members who think everyone is going to hell except them. They can't tell Mennonites (pacifists) from evangelicals who lose it and decide to murder doctors who work at abortion clinics. I've also gleaned that it's pretty much universal opinion among non-Christian people meeting me for the first time assume that I don't believe in dinosaurs and think that gay people are all evil. I'm making a point here---it's not just Christians who assume things about peoples of other faiths. I read an article the other day written by what seems like a perfectly reasonable Jew that seemed to assume I and my other brothers and sisters are all bent on ushering in slaughter to bring about the second coming of Christ and that's why Christians are being nice to Israel and cozying up to Jews.

Whaat???? Who said anything about slaughter? Oh....those people again. The rest of us aren't into that honey...

Moving on. All Muslims are not terrorists any more than all Christians are terrorists. Wait? Christian terrorists? We have those? You guys remember the Klu Klux Klan? I don't know about you, but I think hanging men in the night with bags over your head (should have left out the eye holes asshats) without trial and burning a giant cross on people's lawns to intimidate them qualifies. That's terrorism. Neo Nazis? Terrorists. When they get violent anyway. They all eventually do. Call them "sleeper cells" if you must, because they're waiting around for the right provocation. We let them have their buildings. I don't think a lot of us like it, but we let them have their buildings because we know that if we want to be free we have to let them be free. (Until they start killing people, then "we" get to help file a wrongful death suit and bankrupt them, which is the American way of making roaches scatter.)

Guys, it's a community center. If they were training terrorists on site it'd be way smarter to buy land out in the Arizona desert or something where nobody comes around much like and they can play war games and talk about how the government is out to get them... oh wait, that's the white guys already doing that. Maybe not enough room in the Arizona desert?

If you don't want to be painted with the same brush as the assholes who practice your religion, stop being an asshole about this. Cause you know what? By doing that, you're helping convince perfectly sane young people that their country is out to get them and playing into the real terrorists' hands. Cut it out. You're making your own fears come true.