Stranger in a Strange Land: Help a heathen among the believers

wordsmythe wrote:

And I love maple syrup, but that's no call for me to send emails to others in my office implying that if they don't love maple syrup they probably do other awful things.

I dunno; people who prefer the corn syrup varieties seem awfully suspicious.

Tanglebones wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:

And I love maple syrup, but that's no call for me to send emails to others in my office implying that if they don't love maple syrup they probably do other awful things.

I dunno; people who prefer the corn syrup varieties seem awfully suspicious.

I'm pretty sure all those folks are actually lizard people.

garion333 wrote:

What if your maple syrup love was on par for your love of god?

I like God a fair deal more, but my point was that it's not OK to seriously imply that my coworker is a lizard person because of his breakfast choices, unless he clings to walls and eats bugs.

My Canadey-sense was tingling, causing me to discover this thread. Trichy, I'm really sorry to hear what you're going through—it's absolutely inconceivable to me that religion (or lack thereof) should be a barrier in the workplace in a supposed democracy. I've read this entire thread and, for what it's worth, your situation has at least provided for one of the most interesting and as-yet-not-locked threads on atheism on GWJ so far (hope I didn't jinx it). So... small comfort?

Also, special shout-out to HPL for this fantastic bit:

H.P. Lovesauce wrote:

America was founded on an explicit promise of religious freedom and with an implicit barrier between church and state and so became riddled through with evangelicism and magical thinking. Canada was founded with no more mention of God than was needed to appease the French and thus became the anarcho-Satanic wasteland it currently is. it all makes perfect sense.

Hope everything works out for the best for you, trichy. It's nice that the CEO is in your corner, but you need him to show some teeth. This is about making the workplace better for everyone, not just tut-tutting yet another inappropriate e-mail.

I'll add that I've been that person before—That Guy. I got on a co-worker's case after I overheard she was using a so-called water ionizer, then dredged up her anti-flu vaccine beliefs. I had facts and it was, I believed, out of concern for her health (and wallet); but it was inappropriate, not what I was paid to be there for (at the least), and constituted harassment and creating a hostile workplace. Nothing came of it, externally, but internally I know I was wrong, I regret it, and I'll always remember it—not least because enabling conversations about alternative medicine and vaccine skepticism weren't limited to that one co-worker or that one time.

wordsmythe wrote:

And I love maple syrup, but that's no call for me to send emails to others in my office implying that if they don't love maple syrup they probably do other awful things.

If you love maple syrup, you're supporting a brutal, oppressive regime!

http://business.financialpost.com/fe...

wordsmythe wrote:
garion333 wrote:

What if your maple syrup love was on par for your love of god?

I like God a fair deal more, but my point was that it's not OK to seriously imply that my coworker is a lizard person because of his breakfast choices, unless he clings to walls and eats bugs.

Sounds like someone knows a whole lot about how lizard people behave.

Quintin_Stone wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:

And I love maple syrup, but that's no call for me to send emails to others in my office implying that if they don't love maple syrup they probably do other awful things.

If you love maple syrup, you're supporting a brutal, oppressive regime!

http://business.financialpost.com/fe...

I love it in absentia, with lamentation and gnashing of teeth.

I'm really big on gnashing my teeth. Dentist says I should stop.

Bonus_Eruptus wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
garion333 wrote:

What if your maple syrup love was on par for your love of god?

I like God a fair deal more, but my point was that it's not OK to seriously imply that my coworker is a lizard person because of his breakfast choices, unless he clings to walls and eats bugs.

Sounds like someone knows a whole lot about how lizard people behave.

Or it's that.

Fun comment today. My mother's breast cancer has come back. Fortunately, the scheduled screenings caught it fairly early, so they're thinking that a lighter round of chemo should knock it back on their heels. One of my coworkers today swung by my cubicle to wish my family well, which was very kind.

Until he said, "I just want you to keep something in mind. Just think how much healthier your mom might be if you were praying for her each day. It effects her, too." He patted me on the shoulder, and walked away.

If only I wasn't so selfish.

Dang that's cold. I wish people could truly hear themselves when they say things like that.

trichy wrote:

Fun comment today. My mother's breast cancer has come back. Fortunately, the scheduled screenings caught it fairly early, so they're thinking that a lighter round of chemo should knock it back on their heels. One of my coworkers today swung by my cubicle to wish my family well, which was very kind.

Until he said, "I just want you to keep something in mind. Just think how much healthier your mom might be if you were praying for her each day. It effects her, too." He patted me on the shoulder, and walked away.

If only I wasn't so selfish.

Yet "God" is eternally loving...except for letting your mom get sick because of something you did. Perhaps if God didn't have such an ego that required so much praise the world would be a better place.

trichy wrote:

Fun comment today. My mother's breast cancer has come back. Fortunately, the scheduled screenings caught it fairly early, so they're thinking that a lighter round of chemo should knock it back on their heels. One of my coworkers today swung by my cubicle to wish my family well, which was very kind.

Until he said, "I just want you to keep something in mind. Just think how much healthier your mom might be if you were praying for her each day. It effects her, too." He patted me on the shoulder, and walked away.

If only I wasn't so selfish.

You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.

I would have smashed his sanctimonious face in with my keyboard.

trichy wrote:

Fun comment today. My mother's breast cancer has come back. Fortunately, the scheduled screenings caught it fairly early, so they're thinking that a lighter round of chemo should knock it back on their heels. One of my coworkers today swung by my cubicle to wish my family well, which was very kind.

Until he said, "I just want you to keep something in mind. Just think how much healthier your mom might be if you were praying for her each day. It effects her, too." He patted me on the shoulder, and walked away.

If only I wasn't so selfish.

I'd report that right away. That's totally uncalled for, unprofessional, and - considering how much you've had to navigate to establish boundaries, incredibly provocative.

So sorry that you work with assholes, Trichy.

OG_Slinger wrote:

I would have smashed his sanctimonious face in with my keyboard.

Yeah, probably with a follow up "Just think how much healthier you'd be if you'd respected my beliefs instead of trying to call me selfish."

Set up a Chinese altar and explain that you're burning incense and praying for her health. Burn lots of incense. Oh, and get a nice big statue of Guan Gong for the altar, complete with polearm...

Hey, at least it's a religion.

OG_slinger wrote:
trichy wrote:

Fun comment today. My mother's breast cancer has come back. Fortunately, the scheduled screenings caught it fairly early, so they're thinking that a lighter round of chemo should knock it back on their heels. One of my coworkers today swung by my cubicle to wish my family well, which was very kind.

Until he said, "I just want you to keep something in mind. Just think how much healthier your mom might be if you were praying for her each day. It effects her, too." He patted me on the shoulder, and walked away.

If only I wasn't so selfish.

You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.

I would have smashed his sanctimonious face in with my keyboard.

I am pretty sure I would have gone all Menace 2 Society and asked him what he said about my mamma.

Trichy :
Most importantly I hope things go well for your Mom.

Way lower on the scale - what a jerk.
He sounds like the kind of person that at the same time is likely to dismiss when bad things happen to people he thinks do the right things (like himself) as 'God's mysterious ways' or 'God's master plan'.

It really shouldn't be so hard to remember the compassion parts.

When your co-workers have family members who die, do they bring in a cake and balloons to celebrate how the deceased is now in a better place? You should start that tradition if they aren't doing it already. "Congratulations on your brother's death! I hope he puts in a good word to Jesus for you!"

Sorry about your mom. Good thing God made her get it detected early.

Good luck for your mum, Trichy.

So sorry you work with people who feel justified outsourcing their compassion.

If it comes up again you could always point out that study from 2006 that found that patients who know they're being prayed for tend to have more complications and take longer to recover.

Maq wrote:

people who feel justified outsourcing their compassion.

Oof that is a good line.

Thinking of you and your mom, Trichy. And not in a creepy way.

Yes, because devout, praying Christians are so much healthier than everyone else and rarely get deadly diseases... What a dumbass.

Atras wrote:

When your co-workers have family members who die, do they bring in a cake and balloons to celebrate how the deceased is now in a better place? You should start that tradition if they aren't doing it already. "Congratulations on your brother's death! I hope he puts in a good word to Jesus for you!"

Sorry about your mom. Good thing God made her get it detected early.

YESSSSS. Maybe not everyone, but that guy? I would so do something like this, totally straight faced if someone they knew died.

And Trichy, I'm sorry to hear about your mother. Even with a positive outlook, it sucks that she will have to go through another round of chemo. Best to all of you

"And maybe if YOU prayed a bit harder, you'd be less massive an arsecanoe."

Seriously though, you should call him on it. Something like "You know you basically just said that I'm responsible for my mother's cancer. That it's my fault. Think about that for a moment. Think how you'd feel if someone told you that your mom's cancer was YOUR fault. It's incredibly tone-deaf, extrememly hurtful and downright mean. Even if that's your heartfelt opinion, the Christian thing to do would have been to keep that opinion to yourself."

Jonman wrote:

"And maybe if YOU prayed a bit harder, you'd be less massive an arsecanoe."

Seriously though, you should call him on it. Something like "You know you basically just said that I'm responsible for my mother's cancer. That it's my fault. Think about that for a moment. Think how you'd feel if someone told you that your mom's cancer was YOUR fault. It's incredibly tone-deaf, extrememly hurtful and downright mean. Even if that's your heartfelt opinion, the Christian thing to do would have been to keep that opinion to yourself."

Well, the Christian thing to do would have been to... you know... offer to help the sick in whafever capacity was open to them.

Yeah I'm not a Christian any more but when I was I would have thought the Christian thing to do was to say "I will pray for your mother. Do you need anything".

The fact that I felt like I was the only person in my congregation who felt that way because everyone else was too busy acting like Trichy's colleague is why I stopped being a Christian.

Real talk here? While I feel bad for Trichy (aside from the worry/relief for his mother in this case), I kinda salivate whenever I see this thread has new posts.

I had a recent visit from a relative from godless Soviet Cancuckistan, who was thrilled to experience an environment with a high background count of christianation. I kinda want to trade houses with them.

H.P. Lovesauce wrote:

Real talk here? While I feel bad for Trichy (aside from the worry/relief for his mother in this case), I kinda salivate whenever I see this thread has new posts.

I had a recent visit from a relative from godless Soviet Cancuckistan, who was thrilled to experience an environment with a high background count of christianation. I kinda want to trade houses with them.

Where they from? I grew up in the "bible belt" of the west coast and being from a non-religious family made almost every social gathering awkward and hilarious.

Vector wrote:
H.P. Lovesauce wrote:

Real talk here? While I feel bad for Trichy (aside from the worry/relief for his mother in this case), I kinda salivate whenever I see this thread has new posts.

I had a recent visit from a relative from godless Soviet Cancuckistan, who was thrilled to experience an environment with a high background count of christianation. I kinda want to trade houses with them.

Where they from? I grew up in the "bible belt" of the west coast and being from a non-religious family made almost every social gathering awkward and hilarious.

Does this exist? That's about the opposite of anything I experienced on the west coast, PNW specifically.

Yellek wrote:
Vector wrote:
H.P. Lovesauce wrote:

Real talk here? While I feel bad for Trichy (aside from the worry/relief for his mother in this case), I kinda salivate whenever I see this thread has new posts.

I had a recent visit from a relative from godless Soviet Cancuckistan, who was thrilled to experience an environment with a high background count of christianation. I kinda want to trade houses with them.

Where they from? I grew up in the "bible belt" of the west coast and being from a non-religious family made almost every social gathering awkward and hilarious.

Does this exist? That's about the opposite of anything I experienced on the west coast, PNW specifically.

He was talking about Canada.

Jonman wrote:
Yellek wrote:
Vector wrote:
H.P. Lovesauce wrote:

Real talk here? While I feel bad for Trichy (aside from the worry/relief for his mother in this case), I kinda salivate whenever I see this thread has new posts.

I had a recent visit from a relative from godless Soviet Cancuckistan, who was thrilled to experience an environment with a high background count of christianation. I kinda want to trade houses with them.

Where they from? I grew up in the "bible belt" of the west coast and being from a non-religious family made almost every social gathering awkward and hilarious.

Does this exist? That's about the opposite of anything I experienced on the west coast, PNW specifically.

He was talking about Canada.

Ah. I'm almost equally surprised it exists up there, but no personal experience with it.