badblood44 (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} badblood44) wrote,@ 2008-04-24 10:40:00 |
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Faith
My wife teaches 3-year olds at a Baptist church as a part time job. She loves kids and in most everyone's eyes is a great teacher. There is no doubt she loves the kids in her class. Although the job pays very little comparatively speaking, it's worth it to her in many other ways. Even when her job puts burdens on me, I'm happy to bear them because I know how much her job means to her.
When we got back from vacation, she was called into her boss' office for a discussion. Her boss questioned her growth. Not her growth as a teacher, nor her growth as a person. But her growth in her faith. My wife's relationship with her religion does not match that of her boss.
I'm not a very religious person. My views are pretty simple. There may or may not be a God. I'm not so arrogant to assume that humankind with all its faults and its physical restrictions on its existence will ever know or even be able to discern evidence of one. Our collective knowledge grows every day. That which used to be unknown to us historically has been ascribed to the supernatural. That data space grows smaller each day. Atheists believe, I think, that at some point in the future, humankind will find answers to all its questions. If that came to be, perhaps the question of God's existence will also be answered. I don't think we'll ever know. But I'm human, and can most certainly be wrong.
My other philosophy is also not to force my beliefs or non-beliefs on others. Each person's spirituality is a personal choice, a decision that works for them. There are zealots. And while I don't agree with them, I understand that this is the choice they've made for themselves. When they try to force their beliefs on others, that's when I begin to have problems.
My wife's boss made my wife feel like her own beliefs weren't good enough for the church where she teaches. I personally think that's a horrible thing to tell another person. My wife was in tears during this conversation, but she wasn't so upset that she couldn't tell her boss that she had nothing to be ashamed of. Her relationship with her religion is her own business. Her growth within that relationship will go at her own pace.
My wife believes that she won't be asked back to work there next year. I told her that it was fine with me whatever she decided. If she finds work somewhere else, her new class of kids will be the one that will be rewarded. Her current boss will lose out on a valuable asset, a teacher of children whose first concern is the welfare of her kids. I'm sure each child's parents value my wife's work with their kids.
It's a shame that one woman's close-mindedness will cost her school the valuable asset it currently has. That's not growth in faith. That's being petty. Controlling. And sadly, human.
My wife teaches 3-year olds at a Baptist church as a part time job. She loves kids and in most everyone's eyes is a great teacher. There is no doubt she loves the kids in her class. Although the job pays very little comparatively speaking, it's worth it to her in many other ways. Even when her job puts burdens on me, I'm happy to bear them because I know how much her job means to her.
When we got back from vacation, she was called into her boss' office for a discussion. Her boss questioned her growth. Not her growth as a teacher, nor her growth as a person. But her growth in her faith. My wife's relationship with her religion does not match that of her boss.
I'm not a very religious person. My views are pretty simple. There may or may not be a God. I'm not so arrogant to assume that humankind with all its faults and its physical restrictions on its existence will ever know or even be able to discern evidence of one. Our collective knowledge grows every day. That which used to be unknown to us historically has been ascribed to the supernatural. That data space grows smaller each day. Atheists believe, I think, that at some point in the future, humankind will find answers to all its questions. If that came to be, perhaps the question of God's existence will also be answered. I don't think we'll ever know. But I'm human, and can most certainly be wrong.
My other philosophy is also not to force my beliefs or non-beliefs on others. Each person's spirituality is a personal choice, a decision that works for them. There are zealots. And while I don't agree with them, I understand that this is the choice they've made for themselves. When they try to force their beliefs on others, that's when I begin to have problems.
My wife's boss made my wife feel like her own beliefs weren't good enough for the church where she teaches. I personally think that's a horrible thing to tell another person. My wife was in tears during this conversation, but she wasn't so upset that she couldn't tell her boss that she had nothing to be ashamed of. Her relationship with her religion is her own business. Her growth within that relationship will go at her own pace.
My wife believes that she won't be asked back to work there next year. I told her that it was fine with me whatever she decided. If she finds work somewhere else, her new class of kids will be the one that will be rewarded. Her current boss will lose out on a valuable asset, a teacher of children whose first concern is the welfare of her kids. I'm sure each child's parents value my wife's work with their kids.
It's a shame that one woman's close-mindedness will cost her school the valuable asset it currently has. That's not growth in faith. That's being petty. Controlling. And sadly, human.
