Reasons Religions Suck and Why You Should Hate Them

The reasons religions suck is almost too many to count and list out while you all wait with baited breath. Let me start by saying, religion has caused wars and hatred throughout the entire world. When Christianity was started, it was considered a cult. Can you even imagine being part of something so new, and so radical that you would be considered part of a cult? Well, imagine it my dear! Christianity is still the new kid on the block as far as religions go, but let’s talk about the real culprit of all this terrorism and hatred. I hope that last line helped you figure out that I had you open this blog article under a rouse.

I know, I know, I’m a terrible person. Blame it on my religion. I’m pretty sure one of the commandments tells me to lie…or not. It’s a sad state of affairs in America, when people are more apt to read about something that is negative or bashing one group of people over the next. People that share these memes and negative stories “calling out religion” aren’t any better than the ones condemning Atheists, Agnostics and the LGBTQ community.

Here’s a little anecdote about religion, this will be a short post because the attention span of most folks reading on social media is limited to say the least. Two grown men walk into a local watering hole. Both men order whiskey straight. Now, the man with the brown eyes (did I say they had eyes? Well they do, in case I didn’t make that clear. Don’t want to offend the eyeless) drinks five glasses of his favorite whiskey. Brown eyed guy starts singing along to the music playing and gets up to dance a jig to The Devil Went Down to Georgia. He’s as happy as a clam, always is when he gets drunk. The guy with the blue eyes drinks five glasses of the same whiskey. Blue eyes guy become belligerent and tries to fight the barkeep and everyone that walks in the door. And before anyone says anything, they both had a fabulous day and have a fabulous life with 2.5 kids at home and a supermodel wife. So, no, one didn’t have a bad day and the other is out celebrating. So, now that we cleared that up, who do we blame in this little scenario?

The ALOCHOL!!!!

No. I have never once heard anyone blame the alcohol for existing and people choosing to consume it. Or people blaming the alcohol on how it personally effects them and their, or their partner’s behaviors. People, blame the person for their level of intoxication. Old blue eyes knows that when he gets drunk, he usually winds up getting thrown out of the bar or arrested, but he chose to drink anyway.

So, given the scenario above, why do people of the interwebs insist on blaming religions for terrorism, general hatred and closemindedness? I don’t know any religion that teaches these terrible things. I’ve never in my entire Christian life been to a church where they have told their congregation to hate anyone. Maybe at Westboro church, that could be their mantra, but hey, I don’t know their lives and I don’t pretend to know their walk with God. All I’m saying is, before you call yourself being a truth exposer, expose the right thing. Religion only teaches people to love their neighbor and to live like their higher power would. It also teaches us not to judge. I don’t judge anyone for the religion they practice, or don’t practice. My walk with Christ, is mine and mine alone. Your walk is yours. Let’s not hate the religions, but try to show people what love and acceptance really means. Live your life as an example, not in condemnation of others who don’t think as you do.

Stop Yelling At Me…

~J

Are we becoming a bubble wrap society?

There's something that has been bugging me over the past couple of years. First it was the participation trophies for having your name on the roster. You didn't even have to actually play. The snot nosed kid that sat on the bench crying every game because the grass was too wet or his cleats got mud in them (we all know that kid), well, even he gets a trophy. His total playing time was maybe 30 minutes during the entire season. Johnny Twoshoes that scored 85% of the goals and carried the team because his mother secretly banged Drew Brees (we all know this kid too!), well guess what; he gets the same participation trophy as Snotty McSnoterson over there. I don't think that's completely fair, and neither does a good majority of parents. Since most of us moms weren't lucky enough to have a super secret affair with a professional athlete, we take pride in our child's moderately deserved participation trophy. Heck, that's the only way I can keep up with what sports my kids have already tried and how many years they have been in a particular sport. Don't judge me.

Taking it a step further, there seems to be this "don't embarrass the child/no one should ever have their feelings hurt/completely child centered bullsh*t movement". Is this supposed to prepare our children for the real world? Let me explain where my frustration comes from. I teach pre-k and I absolutely love my job and my kids in my classroom. What I do not love is all of this touchy feely, don't hurt their feelings bullsh*t! We received a memo about a month or so ago about not using time out or separating them from the group as discipline for misbehaving. Now, this is preschool. Misbehaving is something that occurs on a daily...no, hourly basis. Some things are little like running in the classroom. Some things are big, such as slapping your friend with a book because she took the one with the ladybug on the front. Obviously one is more serious than the other. The first scenario needs a quick reminder of "we use walking feet in the classroom". The second scenario should do what?! I don't know, because we were never given a solution as to how to address the issue without using time out.

The reasoning behind this bullsh*t is their little feelings. Some where once upon a few months ago, some idiot did a study or not, I really don't know. Anyway, this a**hole decided that, putting children in time out would hurt their itty bitty feelings and would embarrass them. Well guess what?! It hurt little Lizzie's feelings when Jerkface Jr. smacked her in the face with a book. It hurt her feelings that he was only told to remember the rules. It hurt her feelings that 17 other children saw her get knocked upside the head with the dinosaur book. It hurt my feelings that one of my babies was hurt and upset and I couldn't fix it. Jerkface Jr. will go to kindergarten thinking its OK to smack kids with books, blocks, trucks or whatever her decided to use as a means to get what he wants.

On to the next pile of sh*t. We are being told not to reward the children for good behavior. "Children should behave because it's the right thing to do". I call BULLSH*T! Yes, you have some children that will behave no matter what and we all love those children. Then you have children like Jerkface Jr. that need a sticker chart or some other behavior modification tool, to get him to behave. Eventually, he will learn to do the right thing because it IS the right thing. Right now, bribery is the right thing. It gets Jerkface Jr. to behave occaisonally, so he can have a special treat from the treasure box and sweet angel Lizzie gets treats regularly just for being Lizzie DoGood.

Let's not leave out the parents that don't want to hurt their feelings. This is a class of 4-5 year olds. None of them can tie shoes, and only a few can zip their own jackets. A good portion of my day is spent zipping and buttoning pants, tying shoes and honestly, telling kids to figure it out. These children now days are so behind with everyday things because their parents don't want to hurt their f*cking feelings. I had a child in my class that did not learn how to put his own coat on until after his 5th birthday. Are you f*cking kidding me?!? We parents get so caught up in the rush of everyday that we don't teach our children the simple things and then when we try to teach them...they struggle. After watching them struggle for approximately 30 seconds, we do it for them. We don't want them to lack any confidence by hurting their feelings a little. Even if we aren't the ones hurting their feelings. His f*cking coat is hurting his feelings. I'm not going to be putting on my 16 year old's coat because I didn't want his feelings hurt when he was 2 and couldn't figure it out in under 30 seconds.

I just want to know when we as a society became so caught up on feelings. In the real world, if I slap a kid with a book, I'm going to get time out. I'll lose my job and do some time in jail. Time out at its finest for us adults. If I do an extra special how ya doin' kind of job, I'll get a bonus or raise or even just a small praise from my boss or colleagues. If I suck at something, I'll know because my mom isn't going to jump out of the bushes and fix it for me so I can have this false sense of confidence. Yes, my feelings will be hurt. Yes, I will get over it. Then I'll take the knowledge that I suck at this one particular thing and find something that I'm super awesome at eventually or I'll keep trying this thing I suck at until I rock it out. I don't get a participation trophy for being a mom. I don't even get a thank you for washing their stinky clothes. I know, motherhood is a thankless job, but d*mn it, where's my trophy?!? My kids are polite, sweet, respectful little creatures. They didn't come out like that! I just worry we are raising a society of overconfident, self-centered, egotistical Jerkface Jr.'s. Everyone's going to walk around thinking that their the best until someone says they think their hair is stupid, then they'll run screaming and crying with flailing arms to their moms basements and refuse to come out without their cubbie and a glass of chocolate milk with the special straw.

Ask yourself, are you one of these parents?

~J~

The Escape

I am a writer, have been since I learned how to write. My husband asked me to come up with a description of him. A writer just does not describe someone, they must create a scene, or mood. Here's my description of my husband.

                                                                 The Escape

     But he had the kind of looks that would get any good girl into trouble. Sultry yet, playful green eyes with little flecks of honey sprinkled throughout. He had a clean shaven baby face, adorned with deep dimples and a rebellious goatee. 

     In her eyes, his smile is the reason the sun shone and the moon bated the tides. His hands were those of a working man. Rough, callused and hot. His touch awakened something primal in her. She could feel her mounting pressure release as she breathed in his scent. With all that stirred in her, her heart, mind and body went quiet as she let herself awaken from this daydream. 

     Who was this mysterious god of a man, now standing beside his equally beautiful goddess of a wife. In that moment she allowed herself to be pulled into a fantasy with a complete stranger. A world where her pain no longer existed and she was the desire of a human god. That was her only escape.