This blog will now be a sort of personal diary for me. A place to post whatever happens to cross my mind, or where I can just bitch it out. Today is one of the days that I need to just yell.
This has been bugging me for a while and I just need to get my thoughts out. And, yes, I do have John's permission to talk about it.
My father-in-law was talking to John recently and told him that he was surprised that we were actually on track for getting the house. He said he never thought we would because we "aren't getting any help from upstairs." He is convinced that we will never have anything go right in our lives until we "came back to Jesus." What the fuck? That actually physically hurt me when he said that. It hurts that he can't open his damn eyes and see that his son is happy with what he has in life. I know that John would do anything for his parents. He is a wonderful, caring, and compassionate person. He just so happens to not follow any religion. Because of that ONE thing, his father does not think of him as a good person, but rather a fool. If he keeps it up, he is going to ruin the relationship he has with his ONLY child.
As for the praying aspect, answer me this. Are there still starving children in this world? Are there still people who don't have a roof over their heads at night? How about the poor man in New Philly who sleeps in a make-shift tent that he built out of garbage bags, who has to beg and scavenge for food? What is going to help him more, me buying him a warm meal and a few extra blankets, or wasting my breath on meaningless phrases and hoping he gets by? Isn't it outright SELFISH to pray for one's own happiness before the needs of the rest of the world?
As for praying itself, people have been praying for CENTURIES to end world hunger and the like and it hasn't exactly worked, now has it? Thanks, but I won’t waste my breath and instead actually try to help out. John and I don’t have a lot, but you better be sure as hell that we donate to organizations who do actually help. Doctors Without Borders is our favorite. And what does my father-in-law send his money to? Already rich preachers who have their own mega churches and who claim that they can solve all the worlds problems. When we went over recently, his dad had a program running about how if you sent in $7, $77, or $777 to this guy you could help convert 7 Jewish families to Christianity! I am willing to live and let live, but when religion starts interfering with people’s personal choices, IT HAS TO STOP!
This makes me sound like I hate my father-in-law. I don't. Indeed, I am very grateful to him for being willing to help with John's loans. But he's getting to the point of being so out of touch with his son and his feelings that I don't know what to do. I guess I'll just keep trying to keep the conversation nuetral between them and steer it away from politics and religion as much as I can. Maybe one day, he can just agree to disagree and just enjoy his son for who he is.
