It is I, the Great and Powerful Rachel.
Today's post is brought to you by Coworker Nightmares. Yes, the invigorating, colon cleanser of society.
I know I won't be the first person to have qualms with a coworker nor will I be the last. In fact, if you don't have a bothersome coworker at work you're probably not working for real...or way too nice.
My coworker nemesis is the complete opposite of me. But opposites attract right? Not when the oppositions all have to do with religion and politics and etc.
We'll call said nemesis Catholic Man (you can say it like Trojan Man if you want).
So that brings up the first topic: religion. As I have said before, I am atheist. I'm okay with my religion/lack-of religion and am okay with every other religion as well. Catholic Man is, well, Catholic. I have no problems with this. I can respect a personal choice. I may not agree that 'God is the light', but I also don't think it's inherently wrong to believe so.
So you'd think that Catholic Man (Trojan Man!) would respect my beliefs as well. Not quite so much.
Instead of taking, "I don't believe in a higher power" to heart and letting it be, he takes it further.
What do you mean you don't believe in God? I just don't.
Where do you think the Earth came from? Not absolutely sure yet. I'm certain science will prove how one day; however, I am certain it wasn't created by a great spirit entity.
How do you think we got so amazingly complex? Evolution? There are many complex organisms much smaller than humans.
So you honestly think we came from a few proteins? Yes. Easier to believe than the Magic Man semen-ed us up from nowhere.
You can't just not believe. There has to be a reason. You now how you believe full-on? Well, just reverse that. There you have it.
Now this also leads into other territory. This territory being, IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD, WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IN?
Why do I have to 'believe' in anything? Science then if I need an answer.
Catholic Man also plays off the fact that I used to be religious. I was raised Methodist and I did believe in God until early high school. So then questions turn into: WHY DID YOU STRAY FROM GOD, YOUR ONE TRUE SALVATION?
The main reason being I just stopped believing. Pure and simple. I saw more truth in science, more truth in facts, and less truth in the Bible. It wasn't some "divine moment" of clarity. It was a slow process of questioning my faith and fearing for my salvation before slowly coming to grips with the fact that I just didn't believe anymore.
Losing your faith is not some grand rebellion against Ma and Pa and the farm. It's about finding who you are and what you understand. I understand myself as someone who just can't believe we are here because God got bored. I'm not trying to be disrespectful. That's just my thought. It's not wrong. It's not right. It just is.
Do other things contribute? Sure. Like the illness in the world. Children dying by the thousands in 3rd World Countries from bullshit like AIDS. Daughters, mothers, sisters, and grandmothers getting breast cancer like it ain't no 'thang. Fathers succumbing to a fucking aortic aneurysm at the age of 30 for no reason. Good people dying in horrible ways and for what?
Religion gave me the answer of 'God is good', 'God has a plan', 'Satan is the evil that seeds this world, including illness'. And that's shit. It never was a good enough answer even when I was Christian. At least without religion I can just say 'life fucking sucks'. It isn't always fair that someone young and sweet dies while a murderer roams free and healthy. It isn't always fair. And I can deal with that.
I cannot deal with the possibility that God is real and just fucking playing a huge game of 'Fuck You' in his big Sky Daddy home.
Is that the only reason I don't believe in God? No. It's not even the main reason (which I listed). It just makes it easier for me to not believe.
Of course Catholic Man, takes this as a sign of me loving God and just needing guidance. Seriously? Piss off. Not everyone is having a Spirit Daddy 911 Complex.
Catholic Man also likes to state that without religion there are no morals. I do not believe that. Sure I was taught that stealing is wrong, just like adultery and murder, but I didn't need the threat of Hell to know that. Humans have the capability to know what is right and what is wrong. I know murder is wrong because it's wrong. Not because Moses brought down the Ten Commandments and said so.
Before I was pregnant Catholic Man made it a point to tell me that a child raised without religion would be without morals and thus a piece of jail-trash from the start. Excuse me? Bullshit!
Another fun topic: gay marriage. I'm of the complete opinion that gays should be allowed to get married. Because the only legit argument against it is 'God says no!'. Well, Separation of Church and State bitch! I know a few gay people, a few wonderful, amazing, just-like-me people. Why the fuck can't they say vows and wear rings and get fucking benefits? Fuck that.
Catholic Man says it devalues marriage? What?! That does not make sense. With all the divorce and money-marriages, are we really talking value here? Marriage has no value. Marriage is what each individual couple makes it. There is no set 'value'.
Another favorite of mine is 'call it a civil union, not marriage'.
Why does that remind me of a certain civil rights thing called: SEPARATE BUT EQUAL?
Also, Catholic Man thinks lesbians are hot. Fuck you if you think that yet fight against gay marriage.
Catholic Man also likes to whine about abortion. I'm pro-choice so you can see where this is going. Catholic Man thinks abortion should be completely illegal - no if's, and's, or but's.
We've argued this before:
Me: So no abortions at any point during pregnancy?
CM: You're taking a life selfishly for your own gain. It's wrong.
Me: What if the child has a life-debilitating disease that will cause it to die upon birth?
CM: That child still deserves a chance. God is gracious and works miracles.
Me: What if the child will have a severe handicap which will cause the parents no end of medical bills and hardship?
CM: So murder a child because it will make the parent's lives a little easier?
Me: What if you are raped?
CM: A child didn't rape you. That child is innocent and a gift from God.
Me: What if your father raped you?
CM: A mentally handicapped child deserves life and love, too. God made them special for a reason.
Me: What if the mother will die if she doesn't abort?
CM: She made the decision to be a mother. A mother does not murder her child to save her own life.
I know how hard this argument is. If you believe life starts after conception, you think it's murder and thus find any talk of abortion hard.
It just grates on your nerves to have these discussions. I can understand the 'no-abortion-during-healthy-pregnancy'. I don't agree but can understand. However, if the child is going to die upon birth anyway...why be a dick? Why make the mother and father suffer extra? Why make them birth a full-term child and watch it die? How is that the unselfish option?
And why is keeping a severely handicapped child the selfless option? How is putting yourself in massive debt and living your life - your whole life (all 70+ years) - taking care of your child the great option? Most debilitating illnesses are detectable in the first trimester before a fetus knows anything, before my definition of life.
Rape? Fuck. Are you kidding me? Force a woman to live every day of her pregnancy remembering what happened to her? Remembering the terror and helplessness she went through? Making her carry a child she could very well hate to term? What the fuck isn't selfish about forcing that on a rape victim?
Incest? This shouldn't even be considered for anti-abortion propaganda. Forcing a woman to carry her father's, brother's, uncle's, etc's. baby is sick and twisted. Oh yeah, you're doing the great thing for that child. 17 years down the line when you tell that child who their parents were and how they came to be...I'm sure they'll be fine.
The life of the mother...the life of the mother is just as important as the life of her child. Why is it that people suddenly forget about the woman when the fetus comes along? What is so special about a bundle of cells as compares to a living, breathing, feeling, understanding mother? Any pro-lifer is an idiot for thinking that the fetus is more important. I can tell you right now, I love the child I'm pregnant with but I'm not sure I could die to give it life. I want to live too. I want to stay with my love, Tyler. I want to raise my family with him. I don't want to rot in the ground leaving him to fend for himself and my offspring. Not when I have a choice. I don't care if that's selfish. Fuck that thought.
What is even more hilarious about Catholic Man's argument is this gem:
Me: So you'd be willing to tell a woman she has to die so her child may or may not live?
CM: No. I wouldn't be able to tell anyone that.
Me: Yet you advocate for it. You're a fucking coward. You can't justify your argument if you're not even willing to shout it out loud.
I know I'm being harsh with this post. And the funny thing is that Catholic Man and I get along pretty well...
It's just....all this stems from what he said to me last Friday, what he actually stopped me to say.
Note - I'm 25 weeks pregnant. I have a fairly large and definitely noticeable bump.
CM: Blah, blah, blah Obama is a black Muslim, hate-monger, race-war starting, hypocrite, anti-Christ!
Me: Mm-hmm...*trying to walk away*
CM: You know, on an overall basis children born out of wedlock make the world a more terrible place.
Me: *pausing in my step* What?
Note - I am not married to the father of my child. Our child will be born out of wedlock. I find nothing wrong with this. Our child will be loved just the same as if we were married. If we get married later on, so be it. If not, so be it.
CM: You have to agree, and I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but it's true.
Me: *listening politely while screaming in my head* HOW IS THAT NOT DISRESPECTFUL?!!!!
CM: Blah, un-wed mother's, father's, etc. Bad government. Bad image for marriage. No God. No morals.
Me: *walking away flabbergasted*
I don't see eye to eye with Catholic Man usually. We are pretty much polar opposites in all the heated topics, but I have never actually gotten offended by his statements...until now.
Why would you go out of your way to confront a pregnant unwed woman about 'BABIES WHO ARE BASTARDS ARE SO FUCKING SATAN'?
Where do you even get the balls? Yes, it's disrespectful. Yes, it's ignorant. Yes, you're a fucking asshole.
And you know what? My child will be fucking fantastic, a real fucking winner.
Unlike your child who resents you for making her go to fucking Mass every fucking Sunday. Or your other daughter who had a child at like 15 and then her child had a child at 15 and then her child is now pregnant. Congratu-fucking-lations, Catholic Man, you're a whore-damned great-grand-pappy at fucking 50.5 years of age.
Fuck you.
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