Sunday, November 26, 2006

Holiday Meltdown. And So Early...

(Warning - do not read this post if you are sensitive in the religious regions.)

Actually, thanksgiving wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Sister in law was in a great mood and even apologized to me for not saying thank you for all the ornaments I made her. The dinner was really yummy – you couldn’t tell it was gluten-free, and there was even a real pie for us normal people.

The next day was a bit different. We were supposed to go to the in laws to help decorate for Christmas. Mike kept having these weird conversations on the phone with his mother – “do you want us to come? No, we’d love to come. So you wanna do it tomorrow? We can come today if you want”. From my side I couldn’t figure out what the fuck was going on. And when it was established that we were going, my dear mother in law asked us to give “some” of the decorations she gave us back (gave us – as a present, not borrowed, not let us hold for a few minutes. GAVE US – to take home and decorate are house with. What the fuck were we doing? Babysitting the Christmas decorations till she needed them???). At this point I had a meltdown. I guess I was raised differently but in my world, you don’t ask for a gift back. To me it’s one of the most impolite things you can do.

Now let me pause here to give you some background info – My parents are practicing Jews, they eat kosher, don’t work on Saturday and all that’s included. Mike’s parents are Christians, Zionist Christians but Christians nonetheless. Now - I don’t believe in Jesus, I don’t even believe in god. When we go to see my parents, everyone has the decency to talk about anything but religion. When we go to mike’s parents all everyone (except mike and me) talks about is god and Jesus and how fucking awesome they are. How the bible shows us the way and anyone who doesn’t believe in it or god or Jesus is going to hell. They talk about Islam and how evil it is. They talk about how one day, Jesus will come back and all the stupid Jews (especially) and the godless heathens (like yours truly) and the evil Muslims will all realize they were wrong wrong wrong and accept him as the messiah. I apologize for taking this tone but I’m venting here. I live in a country where there are many beliefs, even within Judaism there are many ways. Jerusalem is a city of many faces. You walk down the street you will see a secular Jew, an orthodox Jew, a nun and a Muslim (sounds like the beginning of a joke). We all live together and tolerate each other by doing one simple thing – respecting each other’s right to believe whatever the fuck they want as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else. Mike and I are able to be married and have different religious beliefs because we respect each other this way. But I guess some people are just that insensitive. Some people have to cram they’re belief down your throat every time they get the chance.

So I had a meltdown. I screamed at mike for about 10 minutes and then got into bed and just cried for about half an hour. I didn’t mean to take it out on him and put him in the middle but it just all came shooting out of me. I love my in laws but when I’m over there I’m always on edge. I’m always thinking twice before I speak, I’m never really myself. But I guess that’s everyone. I calmed down and apologized to Mike and we ended up going over there and decorating their house for Christmas. Then we went home and decorated ours. We had such a good time and the house looks absolutely beautiful. Except it’s sunny and there’s no sign of the winter ever getting here… I promise I will take pictures and post very soon!

3 comments:

SarahReznor said...

you too deb - thanks :)

Lizzle said...

I hate when people only love their god enough to alientate other people... I was always taught that Christianity was all about acceptance of your fellow man. People seem to think that believing in any god doesn't entail that anymore... It's so sad!

Unknown said...

Fresh - you should talk to my friend Melinda (from my site) She is also a practicing Wiccan. She is one of the most awesome persons I know.

Sarah - I believe that you can believe in whatever you want to. In my world, God loves us all (except for Murderers and baby hurters). I dont care who or what you believe in as long as you dont blow me up. and even then I dont blame the whole religion. I blame the person who did that. Christians did some very bad things back in the day too. Those who live in glass townhomes shouldnt throw bricks.