My Religious Coworker -- II

Today we had another one of our "little conversations." The conversation started out strange off the bat. My religious coworker P said to me (and I have no idea what brought that on), "Live everyday as if it is your last." Now I have heard that saying before, even heard a funnier version of it: Live everyday as if it is your last, cause one day you'll be right. And I have always taken that as a joke. I mean, true as it might be, what am I suppose to think of it. So I laughed. Big mistake. She was *serious* about the comment. I mean, hello, she's a Catholic, why would I even think that she was joking? So she went on to tell me, "No, really, my friend lost her husband last week blah blah blah..." and how she went to wake her husband up in the morning and only to find out that he has passed in the night. So that was very depressing talk and I was about to end the conversation and go do something else.

Said lady went on to say to kiss your kids and kiss your husband in the morning and pray for them blah blah blah. At which point I felt that I had to say something, again.

I said to her, "My husband and I are atheists."

After a pause (we were actually typing to each other on the company equivalent of AIM), she responded "I understand" in a very tolerant manner.

I felt that I need to drill the point in, so I escalate the conversation up one notch, "We don't believe that there is a God."

And once again, "I understand." In a way that really means "even though you are WRONG I can see it from your point of view. NOT!

Not backing down, I responded, "I am glad you understand."

With a short pause, she said, "I am not judgemental." Um.... the way she said it is problematic in and of itself. It's really no different than someone saying how they are "non-judgemental" towards homosexual folks. The statement itself had already lumped them into the "weirdo" category, but I am tolerant. Like hell you are. (Kinda like how Mr. Bush said, "I believe that people of color can self-govern" huh? No, I'm not a racist, people of color (though less intellectual) are entirely capable of self-governing. Riiiiiiiight.)

So I said, "I am not judgemental towards those who have a religious belief either."

And she quickly changed the subject.

On hindsight, I should have drove the point home during this encounter.