19 August 2008

OK, But If EVERYONE Did It...

Let's pretend you're a bigoted jerk. Suppose you had an awful experience playing Super Mario Kart Dash as a child and now you have a real problem working with Italian people. Let's say you run a business and you don't hire any. Probably, unless you live in a mostly Italian neighbourhood, no one's going to notice. And hey, I'm all for a great workplace environment, and if I were Italian, I wouldn't want to work with an idiot like you, anyway.

But suppose EVERYONE has similar opinions on Italians. Where are they going to work and live?

Same thing with colleges. I'm reading about how colleges want to select graduates of high schools offering those classes they feel prepare students for courses at the college level. Sounds great, until you figure out that most universities dislike Christian coursework because it discourages individual thought and the like. Extremely conservative Christians can go rot, because they can accept a few Unitarians and call themselves a free and diverse campus :].

Housing? What if you don't want to sell to a former child molester? Or a totally legally practicing abortionist? Should there be these equal housing laws in place to make sure you're "fair" to all purchasers? Or maybe you're just a plain ol' bigot and don't like Mexicans. What then? Should we be of the opinion that it's your house and you can be a closed-minded pig if you want to hold out for a white purchaser?

I really hate the government getting all involved in every aspect of our lives, but it does bother me that people can get away with being nasty. I can understand a law stating that you don't have to rent to illegal immigrants and other criminals. And I can understand if you're looking to SHARE an apartment that you should be able to discriminate against gay folks or people who make you uncomfortable, because you'll be sharing a bathroom. But I don't understand Christians who say they wouldn't rent an apartment to a gay couple. That it's enabling their lifestyle. Maybe. But would they turn them away from getting their weekly staples at the local Safeway, too? Because nothing enables someone to keep on livin' like food. Where's the love? It doesn't mean you think what they're doing is the right thing if you were to rent them an apartment. Sigh.

OK, so I see both sides of this debate. It bothers me when people are supposed to be professional in a certain area, and then they act bigoted, though.

Our family physician informed us by registered mail that we were NOT to come back to his office ever again, except for emergencies. The office was kind to give us ONLY 30 days of this "grace" for emergencies, too. Oh, and we can transfer our medical records to someone else to the tune of $2 a page. Let's see, with six children and about 20-25 pages each, you figure out who's being treated badly. I think it's because we refused a vaccination on several occasions, but they also refused to give us the REASON for our dismissal. Nice.

So, what if ALL our local doctors on our insurance plan refused to accept patients who refused this vaccination? What would we do then? I can understand the physician having the right to his personal judgment and dismissing patients who don't follow his advice. But wow, if EVERYONE does stuff like that, my kids will be on the curb with bronchitis unless I want to visit the emergency room for every boo-boo. And know what? This attitude really doesn't make me want to get the other shots I *was* accepting before for my kids anyway. Who wins? I guess the answer is, the physician who takes bonuses from MY INSURANCE COMPANY for having great vaccination rates. Kick out the people who don't obey and you look great on paper. Yay.

We've found a physician who just doesn't vaccinate at *all* and we're happy with him. One of my very favourite things is that he doesn't ask stupid questions of my children and interrogate them during visits about how they get along with friends. He doesn't ask a lot of non-medical questions to me, either. They're all friendly there, but don't ask how many bottles J is getting and how much TV he watches, you know? I don't know what I'll do when he retires, because he's quite old. We'll enjoy this office while we can.

:]

10 comments:

  1. We have had problems with doctors too. One telling me that unless I was a doctor I shouldn't tell him anything.

    We haven't been kicked out yet but I am waiting for that too happen.

    I am glad that you found one that you like for now.

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  2. I'm glad you have a good physician waiting in the wings. They are truly hard to find.

    We've had two different peds for our kids, and we don't vaccinate. The first one was very supportive; he didn't vaccinate his own daughter fully, and we are pretty educated about our choice to not vaccinate. (The only reason we're not still with him is that he murdered his pregnant - with his child - mistress. Yeah, great stuff for the kids' baby books.)

    The second ped simply noted it on their charts, and has never brought it up in seven years. I keep waiting for them to insist on my 14yo getting the HPV vaccine, but they haven't.

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  3. Wait. Are you talking about this because of the news piece where the lesbian couple was refused an artificial insemination because the doctor's a Christian?

    People are now saying "doctors refuse treatment to gays". Uhhh, I think artificial insemination isn't treatment. What's the illness?

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  4. Oh, um, no...

    I hadn't even heard that story. It would be different if ALL doctors refused to DELIVER the baby, though. I can't see in good Christian conscience refusing to treat someone in labour or who has HIV if you also treat other patients in the same predicament (ie, that's your specialty).

    I was thinking more along the lines of doctors refusing to see families for medical problems and checkups, and along the lines of selling property, job applicants of certain races being preferred by a business owner, and who really should decide even how much a job pays.

    :]

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  5. Okee doke. I am on the same page with you, just wondering if you heard that one because the news stories are making the Christian doctor sound so mean and evil for not giving sperm to lesbians : S

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  6. OK, doctors should not be giving out sperm to anyone IMO. I just think the whole artificial insemination and test tube baby thing is NOT right.

    I know someone's going to say well, you can't say that because "this kid" was conceived that way, but... it just doesn't seem biblical IMO (which could be wrong ya know) and I think children born from rape might be great kids but that doesn't mean rape is ok!!

    Maybe I should look at the news before I post anything LOL!!!

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  7. You think too much :). You ask very valid questions, though! Me, I prefer to stick my head in the sand.

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  8. Well, I feel someone should have every right to be nasty if they want to be. The government shouldn't require anyone to be "nice" or "fair." People should be free to be dumb, mean, clueless, etc. as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others. (Like you can't kill someone because you are in a bad mood.) Just think what would happen in the government started setting the standard for what was good and nice and fair. Next thing you know they'd be infringing on the rights of private businesses, ministries and individuals left and right! Churches would be required to hire gays, aethists, Muslims to serve communion. I would have to rent my house to gang-members or a polygamist with 5 wives and 20 children. I'd have to teach my children things I find wrong.

    Don't ever assume that the government knows when to stop when they start legislating ideas and philosphies.

    And I speak from experience. My parents had rented a house, only to be turned away on moving day because they were a bi-racial couple. Sure, it was morally wrong of the house owners. However, they have the constitutional right to be narrow-minded. I don't want that right taken away from them. Because I want the right to refuse to rent my house to a lesbian couple.

    See?

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  9. I see that, Daja. I guess it just bothers my sense of justice when people are mean without good reason.

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Non-troll comments always welcome! :)

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