Before I get in to anything, I would love to hear what you have to say on this matter? How would you have handled this? Did I over react? Should I have just kept quiet and minded my own business?
For anyone that knows me, they know I am a person with thick skin. I am someone that you can joke with and I will joke back. As a matter for fact when it comes to humor as a whole I can get in to some pretty dark areas of what I define as funny. Some people do not share my humor and I can respect that and I get it. However, yesterday something managed to get through this Rhino Skin of mine.
At work, there are a number of liberals there, this is expected since I work in a major metropolitan city and a number of the people that work there are die-hard Democrats. But there is one co-worker that is either a die hard Marxist or pretty damn close. She is something that in our conversations see people like Che Guevara and Karl Marx as revolutionary thinkers and that we should model our society after their philosophies. Some times I will just ignore what she has to say, other times I call her out. There is an ebb and flow. And in all honesty, it does entertain me from time to time.
As I noted, yesterday was different. I was sitting at my desk doing the work I am being paid to do while this individual and a few others were being disruptive with some song and dance. And yes, it was literally a song and dance they were doing. So being the productive person that I am and feeling their noise was being an interference between myself and my clients on the phone I asked them to claim down. The response I got blew me away.
I was literally told: "What you don't like my singing like Kayne West being Jesus and Gandhi"?
At this point I about soiled myself and not because of any humor.
As I said, I have a dark sense of humor. I make some very, VERY off color jokes all the time. I say the things that most people only think. I even find religious humor to be funny when I see it on things like Family Guy or others shows. But for some reason this not only made me pause but set me off. However, being in a professional business environment I could not just go off as I would wish. I simply stated to her that she should keep her blasphemy to herself.
Now at this point her boss comes over and asks, "Well what if she does not believe in Jesus Christ"? To which I reply, her beliefs are irrelevant since I not only for the fact that I do but her belief is not required for Jesus Christ to believe in her. This lady, a lady who claims faith all of the time, then pressed the issue with me in front of our entire staff. At this time, I felt myself boiling over and simply asked if she really wanted to continue with this conversation. I must have done this 3 or 4 times. At a certain point when someone pushes an issue with me I feel compelled to accept the challenge and this is what did happen.
We must have talked for about 20 minutes and during the conversation the topics of not everyone believing the same things came up. I could only respond with the fact that while that may be true not only did I not care but I will not tolerate people taking cheap shots at my Lord and Savior and that while others may be quiet from this point if I hear or see anything like this, I will make it a point to bring it to light and stir the pot. As someone who knows me fairly well, she knew this was no bluster and that my word was indeed my bond. At the end of the conversation it was noted that this would not happen again.
At the time of this written it has been 27 hours since this event has taken place.
I am not one that wears my faith openly or on my sleeve. I believe that my relationship with the Lord is a personal one and one that I hold dear. I have my doubts of course and I reflect and pray upon it. I am secure in my faith and feel no need to bring it up all of the time. But what happened yesterday struck a nerve and one that has not been struck in a very long time.
Was I just in my anger? Did I do the right thing?Was it my place to say or do anything?
Maybe. But what I do know in my heart of hearts is that if a person claims to be a person of honor and integrity and something like this happens we have a duty and an obligation to deal with this head on. This is how I saw it and after a day and a half of try to calm down this is how I continue to see it.
So I ask you, the Reader: What would you have done?
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