A short detour from my usual office anecdotes...

I’ve always been a huge fan of religion, but never of the people who represent it. My family is very scientific in their approach to religion. We like to learn about it, but not necessarily to follow it strictly. We view it as a history lesson with important implications for living, i.e. not reproducing the mistakes of others, good over evil, etc…

For instance, my uncle does extensive research on world religions, gives associated lectures, teaches courses and has been writing textbooks on his subject matter for as long as I can remember. To summarize years of this research in just a couple of sentences, he hypothesizes that there is a common thread that ties all religions together; that ultimately all major religions are rooted in common truths. His mission is to identify that thread.

Last night I watched the History Channel’s presentation of the documentary “Exodus.” Seeing as how Moses has been my favorite Bible (Torah, for some readers) character since I was old enough to have one, I’d been anticipating this show all week. Long story short, my love for the story was only reconfirmed upon watching the 2-hour long documentary. But, my thoughts toward people who represent religion remain the same.

Peoples' actions turn me off to religion* ("Wait, your religion makes you act like this? Thanks, but no thanks.") It's quite unfortunate since, as I stated, I embrace the history.

In metaphorical news, last month I was walking through a mall in Florida with the girl I’ve been dating. Some random lady approached us dead-on and said, “Can I ask you a question?” I was surprised when my friend stopped and bought into the scam. Usually she’s got thicker skin than this and a radar for shifty sales techniqes. Essentially the lady wanted to introduce us to Dead Sea Skin Care products. She did a demonstration and my friend was absolutely sold. I told the sales rep. we’d think about it and come back. After we walked away I made fun of my girl for getting taken by such cheesy sales techniques. I told her she’d been had. She argued that she didn’t approve of the techniques either and agreed that they were tacky, but said she’d heard good things about the product and wanted to buy it. The sales lady’s gaudy tactics turned me off of the products, despite anything my friend could say.

My point is that the representatives of the product are just as important as the product itself. Many a person will ignore your product or misjudge it due to your actions.

And, this concludes today’s lesson.

*The current religious wars in the Middle East are an exaggerated manifestation of this phenomenon.

(That said, I’ll be back shortly with a story about the publisher’s kids, who unfortunately take after their mother.)