So, my son is sick. Nothing major, just the sniffles and a productive cough. He felt yucky, though, so I kept him out of school and made him a doctor appointment. I called his father too, because I am cool like that, and asked him if he would like to accompany us to the doctor's office. He said he would, and so I picked him up. The fight started nearly immediately because of the fricken shirt I was wearing, which is one of my many blasphemous shirts, but the least aggressively offensive. It is a black T-shirt that I got about a year ago from the Richard Dawkins website. It says "We Are All Africans" on the front. The really "blasphemous" stuff is on the back, but you can't even see it, as my hair is very thick and long, and hangs all the way down my back to about the middle of my ass.
Anyway, he made a face when he saw it, and went on to say that he was embarrassed to go to the doctor with me wearing that shirt, to which I replied that the doctors were well aware that we are all Africans, and to get over it. He pretty much kept his mouth closed until we got to the doctor's office. When they put us back in the exam room, he went over to my son and said, "Son, the only way you're going to get over this is to love Jesus and pray for him to heal you."
I promptly ejected from chair as if he'd just started beating him, and punched him so hard in the face that his nose bled. It is a knee-jerk reaction that I now regret, but at the moment it seriously felt to me like I was watching my child be abused, and that's something with which I have a huge problem.
The look on my son's face was heart-breaking, and that, mind you, is my sole reason for regret. He started screaming at me, the doctors and nurses rushed in, and of course, he told them that I had cold-cocked him in the face, and the sea of glaring eyes were thrust upon me. Once everyone calmed down, and I was able to share my side of the story, the doctors were more sympathetic towards me, because that sort of talk offends them, and the nature of scientific healing to which they have devoted their lives.
To make a long story short, we pseudo made up right there in the exam room, and kept our cools until my son was examined, and we left. In the car he continued his preaching to my son, who became furious. Through a flurry of tears, he yelled at his father with a passion and anger that I had never seen before. He said he knew evolution was true because he's smart enough to understand things like that, and not only did I show him the evidence, but his teacher did too.
Then he became even angrier when his father suggested that if his knowledge of human origins didn't come from the bible, it was all knowledge of lies and nothing more.
To paraphrase my son's response:
"You know nothing! You know nothing at all! Where is your god to heal Dane's arm? (Dane is the 7 year old son of the people who adopted my baby who was born without his left arm) If your god can heal his arm, he won't and what kind of screwed up god is that, huh? Dane's never hurt anyone! I'll tell ya who is gonna give Dane a new arm! Science! That's who! He's getting a bionic arm! Maybe it will even have missile launchers on it so we can team up and I'll kick all the stupid, ugly crosses down with my mega kick and he'll blast them all down with his missile arm, and we'll replace all of them with schools and mommy can teach at them because she's smart and I am glad she punched you!"
All said in through angry tears.
His father looked at me, and accused me of "warping his mind". Then he went on to say. "Maybe Dane was born without an arm because his mother is a godless piece of trash."
My son unbuckled himself, leaped from the backseat, and began punching his father in the skull. I pulled over, and promptly removed my son from his father's skull and got him calmed down. When we got back in the car, my daughter, who had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout all this madness, very calmly said, "Dad, we're all primates, not skymates. Get over it."
I burst out laughing through my tears, and we got on with the business of dropping the crazy motherfucker off at his house. I spent all evening having good conversation with my kids, and have since reproached violence, including my own, and tried to make them understand the best I can.
If you've read this whole thing, thank you. If you would like to give me some feedback as to how to handle further issues like this, it would be much appreciated. I apologize for the length of this post, but you here at this forum are the only friends I have that would understand my side, and I needed to get it out. Thank you for listening.
Anyway, he made a face when he saw it, and went on to say that he was embarrassed to go to the doctor with me wearing that shirt, to which I replied that the doctors were well aware that we are all Africans, and to get over it. He pretty much kept his mouth closed until we got to the doctor's office. When they put us back in the exam room, he went over to my son and said, "Son, the only way you're going to get over this is to love Jesus and pray for him to heal you."
I promptly ejected from chair as if he'd just started beating him, and punched him so hard in the face that his nose bled. It is a knee-jerk reaction that I now regret, but at the moment it seriously felt to me like I was watching my child be abused, and that's something with which I have a huge problem.
The look on my son's face was heart-breaking, and that, mind you, is my sole reason for regret. He started screaming at me, the doctors and nurses rushed in, and of course, he told them that I had cold-cocked him in the face, and the sea of glaring eyes were thrust upon me. Once everyone calmed down, and I was able to share my side of the story, the doctors were more sympathetic towards me, because that sort of talk offends them, and the nature of scientific healing to which they have devoted their lives.
To make a long story short, we pseudo made up right there in the exam room, and kept our cools until my son was examined, and we left. In the car he continued his preaching to my son, who became furious. Through a flurry of tears, he yelled at his father with a passion and anger that I had never seen before. He said he knew evolution was true because he's smart enough to understand things like that, and not only did I show him the evidence, but his teacher did too.
Then he became even angrier when his father suggested that if his knowledge of human origins didn't come from the bible, it was all knowledge of lies and nothing more.
To paraphrase my son's response:
"You know nothing! You know nothing at all! Where is your god to heal Dane's arm? (Dane is the 7 year old son of the people who adopted my baby who was born without his left arm) If your god can heal his arm, he won't and what kind of screwed up god is that, huh? Dane's never hurt anyone! I'll tell ya who is gonna give Dane a new arm! Science! That's who! He's getting a bionic arm! Maybe it will even have missile launchers on it so we can team up and I'll kick all the stupid, ugly crosses down with my mega kick and he'll blast them all down with his missile arm, and we'll replace all of them with schools and mommy can teach at them because she's smart and I am glad she punched you!"
All said in through angry tears.
His father looked at me, and accused me of "warping his mind". Then he went on to say. "Maybe Dane was born without an arm because his mother is a godless piece of trash."
My son unbuckled himself, leaped from the backseat, and began punching his father in the skull. I pulled over, and promptly removed my son from his father's skull and got him calmed down. When we got back in the car, my daughter, who had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout all this madness, very calmly said, "Dad, we're all primates, not skymates. Get over it."
I burst out laughing through my tears, and we got on with the business of dropping the crazy motherfucker off at his house. I spent all evening having good conversation with my kids, and have since reproached violence, including my own, and tried to make them understand the best I can.
If you've read this whole thing, thank you. If you would like to give me some feedback as to how to handle further issues like this, it would be much appreciated. I apologize for the length of this post, but you here at this forum are the only friends I have that would understand my side, and I needed to get it out. Thank you for listening.
42
unless ABSOLUTELY Necessary!!
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