Let's try this again, shall we? I tried discussing this on the main site and became THOROUGHLY frustrated. Part of which is my PMS. The other part is that I just wanted to talk about something that was on my mind. You know... ON MY FUCKING BOARD. Yeah, so anyway...

Religion has always been a touchy subject for people. Most are happy with their (non) beliefs and have no interest in discussing anything that may rock the boat. Anytime I try discussing religion it's from a Jewish standpoint which immediately puts people on the defensive. I guess I can respect that... even though it's not my intention. I love to learn about other religions. Other lifestyles. Other everything. I want to understand where someone is coming from. It's easier to walk in someone's shoes for a mile if you actually know what they look like.

I miss my one friend at work who used to discuss religion with me. That's all I had. ONE person who felt comfortable enough in their religion (Catholic) to discuss it as a whole. Now the people I know are either agnostic or atheist. Any discussion is slapped with a 'that's why I don't believe' answer. Sometimes I want MORE than that. I want to understand.

The preacher guy from Obama's camp made some statements that seem very unbecoming of a preacher. While I understand that we are human, he is supposed to be able to guide people. That's his job... moral guidance. How can you guide someone with blasphemy and racial dividing? How can you teach about higher powers when your statements are about what consumes you on earth? Wright isn't the only one. Hell, his statements are mild compared to some of the other people. Fallwell blames homosexuality for 9/11. He preaches like G-d has some special place in his heart for America. Again, they seem to think G-d blessed our borders personally and the rest of the world can go fuck off. Just because man placed the word "G-d" on their currency doesn't mean we own him.

Once again I'm sitting in a place where I have questions with no answers. No explanations. No condemnations. The only thing I have is frustration from sharing a personal thought. Religion shouldn't be a scary thing to discuss on it's points. It shouldn't be a war causing, enemy making, blood spilling conversation. Should it?

Please... go away. Seriously... just GO AWAY. On Friday I had to endure four people trying to shove their samplings of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' food in my face. Each time I VERY politely declined... even after the last person almost made it a threat. To that I smiled and pleaded 'please just respect my wishes'. This morning a coworker (who's usually REALLY good at these things) came by to tell me the food was ready. I smiled and said no thank you. She slapped her head and said "I totally forgot'. Then added. 'come on... it's FOOD!' I repeated my no thank you and simmered quietly.

If it were Good Friday or Lent and I offered the wrong food they'd decline. If I pushed it they'd insist on declining. If I said 'It's just FOOD' they'd be offended. So why is it so fucking different when I say it? My religion says not to celebrate other religious holidays. I try so hard to follow the rules. It is so fucking hard to just accept that and move on? I don't make comments. I don't thumb my nose to their celebrations. It has nothing to do with me being anti Christmas. Hell, I love to look at the decorations (on other peoples' homes) and love the Christmas music. I always support my coworkers enjoying themselves to the fullest. Apparently sitting and doing my job is too much of a distraction for them to handle. *grumbles*

I care for them so the temptation to smack them upside the head is diverted just enough to annoy the fuck out of me. Take my one friend for instance... the one that ended up helping my boss give me grief about the upcoming holiday season.

My friend: How about if we got together at whatever time you like over the Yule time xmas. Say on Tuesday the 25th. I don't want to mention xmas, Hoewever we have created a tradition. whether you like it or not. It is up to you

My response: I can't believe you went there. Oy. You can mention Christmas all you like. It's not like it doesn't exist... ass. :p The 25th is just fine with me. Again... ass.

I swear to G-d I'm going to list my religion as FSM and insist on having Friday Mass at work. A little garlic bread, some spaghetti and the funkiest music I can find... set on high. For the holidays I'll hang strings of pasta around the desk, along with some garlic cloves to really stink up the place. You want me to get involved in the holiday spirit? You got it!

A woman who works in our office just came back from a mental stress leave. After three months of being off (part of which she was institutionalized) she is trying to get back into the swing of things. We talked about her being on medication and the stigma that it created... even losing friends because of it. I told her that they weren't real friends in the first place if they judge you on that. It's hard to accept that in this day and age mental illness is still so taboo. I explained to her that it's like any chemical imbalance. Diabetes, heart conditions, and other health problems can all be controlled by medication. It doesn't make the person any less of a decent human being. The nice thing was that she wanted to talk about it. She wanted people to know. She figured that way they could make their decision and she would know where they stood. I admire her for that. We had a nice conversation and she really looked happy about talking to me about it. It's one of those awkward situations where you want to tell someone... you just don't know how.

An interesting tidbit was how she spoke about her culture (she's black) disregards mental illness. She's going through horrible depression and they're telling her to pray, put her faith in G-d, etc... As if she's just not religious enough and that's her problem. Why do people rely on religion for everything? As if everything else is just a way to stick it to G-d. I told her the next time they're on death's door with a cold and have enough snot flowing to drown a cow... tell them they need to pray instead of taking that Cold medicine. Let's see how fast they backtrack on their opinion when *they're* the ones suffering. Oh, and then duck. Nyquil bottles can cause a nasty bump on the noggin when thrown... even from a weak bible thumper.

Unforgiven and I were talking about a troll who posted about their town getting back to Christian values and shops closing on Sundays. He went on to offer the businesses that were open up for review by their council to see who would stay open. As a coupe de grah he said their also shouldn't be any drinking on Sunday, G-d's day of rest. To say the least, I wasn't amused. What about the non Christians who live in their town? Should they be made to stay home and act like Christians too? He also stated that they shouldn't drink on Sundays either. Riiight. Armchair bible thumpers are the worst. they preach to the Heavens about what's right and wrong without knowing the actual answers.

I have lived this way my whole life. Part of me feels guilty for not following my religion more. Frankly, I can't afford to take off during Jewish holidays and my job doesn't work on Christian ones. I don't protest (to them) and respect their holidays. I don't bitch about decorations unless they expect me to put them up. All in all I think I'm pretty fair about the whole 'not my religion but you have fun' stance. It only gets me riled when some moron decides to preach about how we should be following Christian ways, blah blah blah... as a society. Some people see it as a harmless albeit insensitive gesture. To me, it's an insult. Not only to myself, but to my friends who are also non Christians. Be they Jewish, Muslim, Atheist or other... they deserve the respect of not having to volley insensitive comments about living their life. I'm not asking for much. I don't want the society to be sooo PC that you can't say 'Boo' without offending a Satanist. I just want a little common sense used when asking for changes that affect society as whole, and not just your local Church goers.

I was driving home spewing the usual curses that accompany a drive on the 405 when I stopped in mid curse. "Oh my fucking G-..." It hit me... I am so going to Hell just for my mouth alone. Then I thought about the judgment day, when your life passes before you and all your sins are played back to you. I figure at this rate G-d might get tired of the endless flow of profanity and let me slide just to not have to listen to it. Hey, it's worth a shot...

We had a meeting to discuss holiday dishes and the subject of Ham came up. I smiled and said nothing while a coworker chimed in, "Isn't that something you don't eat?" I responded that she was correct, Jews don't eat ham. With that my boss blurted out, "Well I don't let something like religion get in the way of eating food." After I found my jaw and re-attached it I simply said, "How nice" and left out the part about hoping she'd feel the same when I converted to Satanism and preformed human sacrifices for lunch. I was highly annoyed to say the least.

My coworkers decided to do the 12 days of Christmas food this year. Each day someone brought some dish for others to munch on. Wednesday was Titos day. Titos Tacos is a well known Mexican food joint that cooks old style food. They line around the block to get some. The girls happened to mention that it was cooked with pork fat and I politely declined to taste. My boss started to fuss then thought better. I guess I had the 'say it and die' look on right. I swear she's going to be my first sacrifice...

Why do people get all bent out of shape when someone chooses not to eat their food? Suddenly I'm a poor sport for not going against my religious beliefs and munching on reheated tacos. I don't celebrate Christmas. I'm Jewish. Hello? What part of 'Not the Messiah' do you not understand? I've been called a Scrooge for refusing to put up decorations. Every year I go through the same shit. I never demand they put up Chanukah decorations and change their decorations to generic holiday crap. You want to put up a tree? Go for it. Wreaths and ornaments more your thing? Have at it. I have no problem with people celebrating their religious holidays... Just don't thrust that shit on me. Bah, humbug.

And by 'kingdom' I mean 'older one bedroom apartment with three cats, a recuperating blonde and a grumpy Texan'. What's up with all the hatred? Recently I got hate mail for being Jewish and a dear friend got attacked for being gay. Religion and sexuality are NOT contagious. If it's not for you then just move along. Jeesh. For some reason people feel the need to attack what they don't understand. To those people: You have no idea what you're missing. Do not fear the unknown. Learn from it. Respect it. Maybe... just maybe you'll walk away learning something about yourself. Not that you're a Jewish gay man... but someone who's able to talk to people without feeling threatened. That's a good thing.

Politics... Ahhh, the pandoras box. The Pink Rocks video that I linked a while back is still getting insane hits from Stumble Upon. Hate it. Love it. Just talk about it. People on both sides are meshing it up. The one thing I always laugh about is how personal people get when they talk politics. If I don't like the President I'm a Liberal. A traitor. The insults start flying. You can agree that people like their meat cooked differently, but their political choices had damn well better be the same. Why? We are told to question our leaders. That doesn't mean 'as long as they are not your choices'. Instead of insults and attacks you should be supporting them. We have freedoms. These freedoms are slowly slipping away because people are so afraid evolving that they would rather vote for someone who doesn't give a damn than someone who can lead us forward. You're going to look pretty foolish in that cave in a couple of years. I'm just saying...

Once again my open mind is dented by hatred. A minister in Iran states Jews created Tom and Jerry as a PR stunt. I never thought of mice as a derogatory term. Then again I used to have one as a pet. How a simple cartoon changed into some devious plot is beyond me. It's like they were trying to brainstorm on ways to bring hatred back in the news and had a mental block.

I don't hate by race or religion. For the most part I don't 'hate' at all. I have friends from all walks of life that became close because of who they where inside. That's what matters. Have you ever met someone online and they turned out to be completely different than what you thought? Did that change your feelings for them? Sometimes I wish the world would go blind. Imagine not knowing who you were talking to. Would you welcome the conversation... or fear the chance it might be one of *them*?

I saw my first nun. I was driving home while talking to Jake on my cell phone (using the headset, of course) and recounting the day. I glanced over and sitting in traffic going the opposite way was a nun. In a Honda. A nun in a Honda. It blew me away. Yes, I know they are allowed to drive. At least I think the religion allows them. Who knows with all the whacky rules. But this was my first nun. I was excited. After telling Jake he quipped, "You're lucky she didn't smack your hand with a ruler." I retorted, "Honey, I'm Jewish. She'd do a lot more than that."

My Catholic friends always talk about the nuns from hell. I've heard countless stories about evil nuns and their heavy rulers, smacking children at will. The funny part is, some of the wildest people I know went through Catholic School. It's like the idea had the opposite effect. It's like the real goal is to keep em penned up until they're legal... then unleash their wild asses onto the world.

I've always thought nuns were evil. Well, except for the flying nun. They walk around in comfortable shoes and never ever think about sex. Their only enjoyment is the punishment of children, whether they deserve it or not. You never hear of nun scandals... The preachers chase altar boys around while the nuns sharpen their rulers... JUST in case. Anyway, she looked cranky.