Something I Really Hated to Do!

I did something recently that I really hated to do. I’ve given it a lot of thought and I’m certain that it’s something I’ve never done before. I pray it’s something I never have to do again.

I work with a young Fundamentalist man. He’s half my age physically and spiritually, chonologically speaking, only one tenth. (Not that that matters.) The point is, he is impossible to talk to if you don’t tow his Fundamentalist line.

Let’s call him….Jerry Lee.

Jerry Lee and I have had many conversations about the Lord and the Bible. He is, I think, very sincere and studious. Many times, he has sought me out for my opinion on spiritual matters as I have done to him. All in all, we’ve had a very good relationship, but there have been times of, shall we say, stress. Our discussions, on occasion, have gotten testy, but I’ve never been one to back down from a fight and have always relished the give and take of differing thoughts. Jerry, sad to say, is not that thick skinned. (This also makes him typical of Fundamentalists.)

My first clue that Jerry Lee was one of “those people,“ was when he, after knowing me for only a matter of weeks, decided that it was time to corner me and tell me just how carnal I am. He started to accuse and attack before I knew what hit me. Well, I am prideful enough that I refused to sit still for that. I explained that he knew nothing about me and I’d appreciate it if he would not sit in judgment of me, since I felt that wasn’t his place. I further explained that he had not known me long enough to be that familiar. It was not an easy conversation.

Well, Jerry Lee backed off and I hoped that this would not put undue stress on our relationship. It seemed that we both got over it.

Now Jerry Lee, as we’ll call him, is one of those pre-millennial, King James only, fire-and-brimstone breathin', sinner hatin', (my words,) pew hoppin’, dancing-with-a-potted-plant Fundamentalists. (Yes, he once bragged about his pastor running around the sanctuary, clutching a potted plant.) The kind that has caused me, over the years, to take a certain amount of offense at when counted among their numbers.

On more than one occasion, Jerry Lee has become beyond extremely irritated with me. He would become bent out of shape with me, as well as others, if we didn’t surrender the floor completely, allowing him ramble on and on about his views. Worse yet, he would, on a regular basis, get so angry with me that he would just stomp off in full pout. Once, he didn’t speak to me for three days. I finally caught him alone, and told him that I was sorry if I hurt his feelings and that I thought we should bury the hatchet. After that, we pretty much returned to our standard back-and-forth.

Well, this worked, more or less, for a while. Occasionally, though, Jerry would get angry again and march off in a huff. I tried to tell him, probably not as patiently as I should’ve, that he needed to toughen up and that if he couldn’t take it from me, he didn’t stand a chance against sinners. Needless to say, that didn’t go over as well as I had hoped.

Regretfully, after that incident, I spent the next almost three months going out of my way to avoid any sort of religious discussions with Jerry. Gladly, our relationship continued to be amiable, but anytime he started quoting scriptures to me or anyone else in my presence, I simply cut out.

I wasn’t sure if he was taking the hint, but I no longer desired to reenter any sort of conflagration with him concerning religious matters. I tried to keep in mind that Jerry is a relatively young Christian and the last thing I wanted to do was hurt his, frankly, all too tender feelings. Sometimes, even when you’re right, you can be wrong. Being an offense to him, no matter who was right or wrong, was not the role I felt like playing.

Well, just recently, I was alone at the sales counter when Jerry Lee appeared and began asking me questions about what I thought about some preacher and his daughter and her revealing clothes and him, the preacher, being a “double married” preacher and a bunch of other hooey coming at me too fast to keep up with. I smiled, mumbled, “uh, huh,” and started making my move away from him. Regretfully, he wouldn’t be denied. He persistently followed me across the floor, incessantly asking me crazy, annoying questions about Lord only knows what!

At this point, I surveyed the storefront, determining that there was no one there but the Lord and us. That’s when it happened!

I said that I just really believed it best if he and I didn’t discuss anything of a spiritual nature, (or words to that affect.) Of course, he was shocked and asked me why not. I asked him not to ask. He pushed the matter further. I tried to walk away. He followed. He said that he wanted to know why and practically demanded that I explain.

So, I told him that I was sick of looking at the back of his head every time I said something he didn’t like. I chided him that he needed to be thicker skinned and not to start discussions with me that would only make him mad. I continued about how rude it is to just slog off from a debate or even an argument. Especially if you are the one who instigated it. As you can imagine, the conversation completely deteriorated at this point.

I tried to tell Jerry Lee, even through my agitation and exasperation, that I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. I told him that I realize he is a young Christian and, perhaps, not as strong as he might one day be. I tried to tell him that the last thing I wanted to be to him is a stumbling block. That’s why I was trying to avoid getting into anything with him. (He wasn’t listening.) I did tell him that I was praying for him and believed that he was praying for me and that we should leave it at that.

During the entire episode, I could feel my heart racing faster and faster and my stomach was tightening by the moment. My hands were shaking and, no doubt, my voice was quivering. I desperately wanted to avoid this confrontation! I know I didn’t handle it as calmly as I should’ve. Nope, not by a long shot!

He tried to repeat some mishmash about how important my opinion is to him and how much it hurt him for me to laugh at him. (A ploy he had attempted before.) I pointed out, as in times past, that I laugh at everyone including myself. I closed the conversation by stating that I will laugh at him again if we have any more of these debates. Therefore, if he didn’t like what I had to say, he should simply not start any more arguments with me.

Well, I’m glad to say we were interrupted and that was pretty much the end of that. I was fretful for the rest of the day and worried if I had done the right thing. (I still wonder about that.)

I didn’t see him for an hour and I puzzled if he would still be speaking to me. I was told that he was complaining about someone, someone he said he wasn’t going to speak to again. When asked who that “someone” was, he lied and said “Joe.”

To his credit, when I saw him later, we spoke briefly, but cordially. We even sort of cut up about some work related stuff as we are wont to do.

Not long afterward, I stumbled onto a religious conversation he was having with another employee. I think I caught the end of a scripture quotation. Jerry Lee seemed to cut his eyes toward me cautiously as I approached and the conversation waned. At least, I reckon that’s what happened.

Now, it’s been a few weeks since this incident. Jerry Lee and I speak to one another on a regular basis and even cut about things of work and things of the world. Still, we don’t speak of things of the other World.