by HL Borden

Created on: October 28, 2008   Last Updated: January 26, 2010

When I get bored at work, I'll wander around and read the random stuff posted on the breakroom wall. Thanks to this habit, I now know the schedule of every person I work with, when each paid holiday occurs, and what to do in the unfortunate event of an anthrax attack.

I also got to witness a lovely piece of bigotry.

Our news station had recently held a telethon to raise money for charity. I can only assume that the conspicuously placed flier which showed up that day was from one of the volunteers. Since it was a new piece of paper, it immediately captured my eye. I started reading it only to discover that it was a prayer for the citizens of the Middle East. I think, "That's nice. Not enough is being done for them. They can use all the good vibes and well wishes they can get."

I am not a religious person. I went through a Jewish phase back in high school, but that's as close as I ever got to God. On my birthday this year, I did venture into a really cool Unitarian Universalist church (they were throwing a Roe v Wade anniversary party!) but found the service to be much too boring to ever bother going back to. Now, while I am not a religious person, I truly believe in religious freedom with every fiber of my being.

The lovely little "Prayer for the Persecuted" on our bulletin board quickly went awry. It made a drastic and destructive turn toward "we need to save their souls" territory. Apparently, the citizens of these war ravaged countries had only themselves to blame because they had not yet accepted the almighty and powerful Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. It was now up to us, the chosen messengers, to save their poor pathetic souls from eternal damnation through prayer. Only then will the war end.

Um .... what the heck?

Like I said, I am all for religious freedom. If that prayer were posted on a personal website, I would be offended but move on. However, I will not stand idly by while something that hateful is posted on the wall of a public area. Yes, I took it down, wadded it up, and threw it in the garbage with all the other trash where it belonged. Perhaps it was a juvenile reaction, but gosh darn did it feel good.

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