Fear, Violence, and Religion

I've always been put off by the major organized religions. Catholics (which I am), for example, seem to gather support by instilling the fear of going to hell (and let's not forget those dirty pedophile priests). Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons (at least in my town) actively recruit with pushy door-to-door tactics. I've never felt that I needed to sit in a church and hand over large chunks of my paycheck to have a relationship with God, but that's just me. As far as the Muslim faith is concerned...well, I'll be honest in saying I don't know very much about the Muslim faith...but it does seem that it is marked by extremism and violence when things don't go a certain way. They call it "jihad," a blanket term that can mean anything from ongoing peaceful struggle to full out bloodshed. I call it a sorry excuse to have a temper tantrum with explosives.


Take for example the reaction to the Pope's comments this week:

CNN



How many times have important figures in the Muslim faith denounced Christians publicly...yet they get pissy when someone throws a stone back in their direction. And now that the Pope hasn't apologized sufficiently (as far as they're concerned), extremists are going to run around killing people until he does.

"If the pope does not apologize, Muslims' anger will continue until he becomes remorseful."

The Muslim community at large is pissed at the Pope for saying that their religion has been historically spread by violence, yet they are resorting to violence to force an apology?

If an important figurehead in the Muslim community had said something similar about Christians, it wouldn't even have been a blip on the radar. The Pope certainly wouldn't be calling for his followers to start blowing up mosques and gunning down innocent people.

The Muslim community wonders why the rest of the world views them negatively in general. How are we to understand their beliefs if their first reaction to any kind of criticism is to blow shit up?

Before anyone gets pissy with me, I'm not saying that all Muslims are terrorists or that they are bad people, just as I am a Catholic and I don't run around molesting altar boys. I just find it sad that those who are considered leaders of the Muslim faith aren't more responsible in their rhetoric, and that they passively encourage violence among their followers.


It's shit like this that will bring on the end of the world. I think we're definitely on the path.


Religion, in my opinion, should be about helping people, the greater good, spirituality, finding peace...all that happy crap. Why is it that NONE of the leaders of mainstream religions seems to be interested in these things???

Dog Butts & Maggots

A Comcast customer from Castro Valley, California found me with this query. Fabulous.

With her finger and her thumb in the shape of an L on her forehead...

Fuck.


[cry]

Crap.

So I had my interview this morning. Turns out the position is in a middle school, tutoring ESL students. I have no idea why they called me, since I have no experience teaching middle school, nor as a tutor, nor as an ESL teacher, nor does my certification cover middle school. Odd. But the interview itself seemed to go well, and they sure seemed desperate, and I'm supposed to get a call by the end of the day.

My 300th post

I had hoped it would be something far more interesting, but alas, here it is. Thank you to those 75 or so people who still loyally check my blog, even though this place has pretty much turned into Fresh sKWeez'd weekly. You guys rock.

I talked to some higher-ups at work (people I've worked for in the past who are pulling for my promotion) and someone must have talked to my pieceofshit boss, because he's now decided to review my packet tomorrow night as opposed to in 2 weeks. Thank you for your positive thoughts, and a special thanks to Sue, Sandi and Riss for their kind words...a special shout out to Riss for so eloquently (and violently) using filthy language to describe the goat fucker. It brought a smile.

Tomorrow morning (9am sharp, no sleep for me...AGAIN!) I have an interview for a tutor position. 20 hours a week, 30 bucks an hour. Unemployed loser say WHAT!?! If I get this job, I'd have the best of both worlds: great health insurance (which is pretty much all the hellhole is good for) and between the two jobs I'd FINALLY be making decent money.


There is light in my tunnel, I don't dare to hope. Pray that I don't fuck this up, you guys.

Hellhole Strikes Again

For the last month, I have been working as a menial wage-laborer in preparation for being re-promoted to being a supervisor. I took a huge pay cut, and was told from the very beginning that the supervisor job was mine and that me working was just a matter of paperwork and a bunch of union crap. Whatever. I've been busting my ass, running around like a nut, and doing a good job while I am stuck in the position I'm in. It's not like I'm biding my time and doing the bare minimum, because that's not who I am. When I do something, I do it right. Never mind that my paperwork was screwed up by some clerk and I have yet to get paid even after a month of working, never mind that I have been jerked around and told a dozen different stories about when I would be promoted...I do my job well.


Monday, I came back from a few days off (I had management approval to take the week off, and was told I'd be promoted the week I came back) to find that the job I was supposed to have was given away to some bald-headed teenaged guy. I didn't even hear this from management, I heard it from another hourly employee. Needless to say, I was upset, as that position was promised to me by the manager weeks ago.


The whole week, my boss blew smoke up my ass, telling me that he was waiting on my paperwork to sign off so I could be promoted. He played it off like it was no big deal, and that it was in fact a done deal. I waited, and waited. Thursday came, nothing.


Thursday night, for some reason, my boss was really riding my ass. He had me doing the work of 2 people, and it was a bit much for me. I was coming off of a week of bronchitis, and I've been really tired lately adjusting to the vampire schedule, and HELLO I'm a chubby chick, so running around like a nut is a bit rough for me in my already compromised respiratory state. I asked him to ease up on me a bit, and was very honest in telling him it was too much for me. He told me to suck it up. He was so callous about it that I actually left work in tears. And that is something I simply don't do.


I came in last night and he said that he wouldn't have me doing 2 jobs that evening because "he doesn't want me to get all upset again," since I'm apparently an hysterical female who needs to be handled. At the end of the night, he called me into the office to go over my supervisor paperwork, and he informed me that he would not be approving it at this time. Based on the incident the night before, he thinks I have a "bad attitude," that I am "unable to multitask," that I am "taking for granted that I was a supervisor previously," and that he "doesn't feel that I respect him." He said that he will review me again in 2 weeks, during which time I'm "just going to have to impress him."


I feel ill.


I don't kiss ass, that's not who I am. Everyone I've ever worked for in that company has had nothing but good things to say about me and my work. I had a glowing performance review just before I left, and was given the maximum raise. I was Supervisor of the Month for fuck's sake, yet this piece of shit eg0-laden powertripper thinks I am not ready to be a supervisor because I have no interest in standing around and listening to his stupid stories about his master's degree and his son and how he's a single father and wah wah wah. For 2 weeks, I am supposed to "impress" him, and all I want to do is punch him in the nuts.


I came home bawling. The husband wants to find the guy and beat the hell out of him. As attractive as that sounds, I know it would solve nothing. He also thinks that unless I can get this resolved with the powers that be (who were all on vacation this week) on Tuesday, that I should just quit.


I don't see how quitting is an option. I am jobless. My kids need the health insurance. I won't find another part-time job that offers benefits, so I'm looking at doing the normal 9-5 thing, which would take me out of the running for teaching jobs. I feel like I've worked too hard and put up with too much bullshit to give up on that. I don't have the luxury of telling pencildick to go fuck himself, I need the job.


I'm starting to cry again just thinking about going back there on Tuesday. Why can't anything just go smoothly? I'm sick of being told that I'm not good enough in EVERY FUCKING ASPECT OF MY LIFE. I'm sick of feeling like a failure.