Not long ago, my significant other and I bumped into one of her former co-workers. I'll call her Sally, for the sake of this article. We talked for a while, and at one point, the conversation touched on another former co-worker, whom I'll call Betty.
Betty is a deeply religious Baptist, and was often starting conversations about religion at work. Sally is Muslim, and obviously sees religious things a bit differently than Betty.
I learned during our conversation that Betty evidently feels it is her role in life to "save" Sally. She even has gone so far as to describe herself as Sally's "savior." She's pointed out that she "hates" (her own word, not mine) the fact that Sally goes dancing, drinks alcohol, and (gasp!) goes on dates. And of course, she really hates the fact that Sally is Muslim.
In short, Betty is a presumptuous, arrogant, shallow, pain in Sally's ass.
I've known people like Betty, before. Thankfully, none of them ever became my self-appointed savior. But these people really make me angry. They cannot see how insulting their behavior is. These people are so insecure that they must justify their own beliefs by forcing them upon others.
These people need a good whack upside the head with a reality bat.
These are the kinds of people who become or support missionaries, too. I've always felt that missionary work is abominable. Even when I was religious, I believed that religion was a personal, private thing that one engaged in of one's own will. The very concept of missionary work, especially when they're sent to invade other cultures, always struck me as being rude and intrusive.
How dare these people thrust their beliefs in others' faces? How dare people like Betty "hate" the fact that someone has a different religion than they do? This is the epitome of arrogance and thoughtlessness.
But then, the religions of these people promote such actions and attitudes, so the blame really belongs on the religion, doesn't it?
People are constantly telling me that religion promotes tolerance and love of one's neighbor. I somehow doubt that Sally would agree.
