The other day a new person commented on HDC. They have recently deconverted (yay!) and shared an uncomfortable story from work:

I recently had an experience today at work which made me so angry, but valuing keeping my job, I held my tongue.

Two hasidic Jews walked into the store I worked at and they were dressed in the typical hasidic style and were carrying around a pillow with Hebrew words on it. One of them approached me and asked me if any of the employees at my store were Jewish. I inferred this to mean that they did not want to do business with a non-Jew. (Today also happens to be their Sabbath so maybe that had something to do with it). I found it inappropriate to ask for many reasons. Firstly I felt insulted that my non-Jewishness somehow taints me from a normal business interaction. 2nd it’s not my business to know my co-worker’s spirtiual beliefs if any. Naturally I wanted to tell them to shove it, but since I’m not looking to be fired, I simply replied with “I’m sorry but I don’t know specifically what my co-worker’s beliefs are”. They looked disappointed and walked away.

Has anyone ever had an uncomfortable experience in the work place regarding either co-workers or customers/clients who frustrated you with either arrogance of their religion or pushing their ideas on you?

It’s a great question they ask. So I’ll ask you:

• Have you had any experiences at work that were frustrating or uncomfortable regarding religion?
• Are you “out of the religious closet” at work?
• Any proselytizing at work?
• Who have you had problems with, if at all? Co-workers? Customers? Bosses?
• Have you said anything in return? If so did you get in trouble for being non-religious?
• On the other hand, have you had any good nonreligious experiences at work? Are you able to be out of the closet?

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On the other hand, I feel that we have to do whatever we can to make things as good as possible, individually and collectively. This means doing stuff like voting, which is a responsibility, not a luxury. Plus, if you don’t vote, then I feel you have no right to complain about whoever gets elected.

Then, as we get closer to the election, I become increasingly alarmed by what I’m hearing and seeing about the candidates. Below is a short Associated Press video of Matt Damon talking about Sarah Palin. He basically sums it up in under 2 minutes why I have to vote against McCain/Palin.

From what I gather of Palin, if she gets into higher office, it seems like we’re doomed. She’s a pentecostal. She believes in armageddon. Not just figuratively, but literally. Which means she doesn’t care about the world, or peace. If the violent biblical prophecies happen then they’ll be closer to getting to heaven. So World War 3 would be just dandy to someone who believes in armageddon.

Palin told her Assembly of God church earlier this year that the war in Iraq is “a task from god.” Literally.

As an atheist I’m mortified that this country can even entertain the idea of a total crackpot as the vice president. Not only would she be the vice president, but the chance of her becoming president when McCain dies during his term are very real and terrifying.

The Friendly Atheist wrote up a post about Sarah Palin and her theology. She belongs to the Assembly of God church. Dan Barker, co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, used to be a preacher of that denomination. Then he became an atheist. But Palin is quite happily embracing her religion. And the Republicans chose her to pander to the disenfranchised Hillary supporters.

Personally I find it all rather disgusting, with no one getting to the real issues and everyone pandering and saying whatever they think will win over the most people, not what they really plan to do with their term in office, if they win.

I have to say, I don’t really care for Obama’s stance on religion and faith based initiatives either. But damn, at least he seems relatively sane compared to Palin, who supported the “sport” of shooting wolves and black bears, including cubs, from planes. She offered $150 for the left front paw of every wolf. Read the story about it here, or search “Palin” and “hunt” in google for yourself.

Well, then, I guess, even if my vote doesn’t count, I have to at least make an effort to vote against McCain/Palin. I just wish my vote meant something.

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Well, Middletown School District in Rhode Island has started a pilot program to monitor students by implanting these little chips in their schoolbags. The district is in partnership with MAP Information Technology Corp. and together they are going to tag 80 students. Two school busses will be outfitted readers for the chips and with GPS devices.

Parents and school officials could then log onto a school website to track the children, see if they are on the bus, when they had exited, and the bus’s current location by the GPS information.

Since the pilot program didn’t cost the school district anything, it never went through the Rhode Island Ethics Commission for approval.

Personally I find this very disturbing and for once I agree with the ACLU because they are upset about it, too. Is this necessary? NO. Can this be used in a negative way against the children? YES. Can bad people get access to RFID readers or the website and track these kids for evil intent? YES. Can some parents use this as an excuse to be even more lazy in their parenting? YES.

What if a child gets off the bus but leaves his book bag on there, or in his locker? Or kids get sneaky and take them out, put them in each others’ bags, or switch bags? It’s not foolproof. It provides no significant advantage, and many disadvantages.

I’m not saying that in some small way, it isn’t good to know if your kid got off the school bus or not, or to know if you’re child’s bus is on time. Sure, this information can be helpful and practical for good parents to make their lives easier. But the potential for this to go bad is definitely there.

Not to mention the slippery slope of tagging children at all. What comes next? We all get tagged so someone can watch us and make sure we are where we say we’re supposed to be? Actually embedding the tags in the children? Then in all of us? Read 1984 and you’ll see why this is so disturbing. This is dangerous ground. It’s just another right of freedom that is taken away in the name of implied safety.

Found Here

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