Problem with my parents and getting a job
Offline I have a number of problems, not the least of which is the fact that I am unemployed at the moment. I was trying to get certified to teach high school math in the public schools but just as I was getting to the end of the program a big tax cut was passed and the schools in my state had to stop hiring people. Even now, even if I were to get a job, there are going to be far less resources available this year than any other year, and seeing as this is the career I want, I would rather enter during a year where I will have more choice in what school I will teach at, whether or not to have a mentor, and everything else that is supposed to help get us through the hardest year of our careers, the first one. If I were to crash and burn on my first year, I can kiss the career goodbye. So what I intend to do is wait and look for a job in that career later, when the conditions are better. As it is now, I am a substitute teacher but I'm living with my parents right now since I don't make enough to live on my own and pay the plethora of student loans I have. I am looking for a second job, like at a gas station or something but I haven't found one yet.
And this is what leads me to this post. My father, a Christian, is pressuring me to look into teaching at a private school. The only private schools in this area are religious ones. I, being an atheist, have a number of objections to religious schools and the feeling is almost certainly mutual. I would need to be interviewed by a priest and that would entail questions such as "what church do you go to and how often?" "What is the name of your priest, could he give you a letter of reference?" and other such questions that I could not bullshit though. Not to mention, 3 years of living a lie at a facility that indoctrinates children into a philosophy I believe lacks any merit what so ever.
He feels that I should suck it up, and that I can't afford to be an atheist in a place like this. The fact that he doesn't agree with my beliefs probably doesn't help. We just had an minor argument about it. Am I the one being a snob here?
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Well, I personally think it would be fun to see a lawsuit of discrimination, but that's probably not possible since they're private.
My only advice is to avoid going the religious route. For several years after I became an atheist, I continued to work at churches since that's really easy money for a musician. I can tell you that it's a real pain in the ass to not let on how much all the religious shit gets to you. In my case, it really was living a lie, and the toll on my psyche was high.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
So long as you are living in his home, when in Rome do as the Roman's do. Man do I hate saying that. Gas stations do not pay well, but that beats the hell out of private school that you probably wouldn't get in anyway.
wow, a rock and a hard place!
As Hamby said, too bad they are private, asking questions like that during an inteview most other places could lead to a nice little pay off for you
Have you given any thought to working for a company that needs training materials created? As a teacher I am sure companies would love to have you in their training/learning department.
Slowly building a blog at ~
http://obsidianwords.wordpress.com/
Try security work, the pay's not that high but most companies pay above minimum wage and you'd probably have no trouble working their schedule around your school substitute job. Also, the only thing they want to know about you is that you're not an ex-felon or been arrested for theft related crimes, accused of rape, murder, etc. Most companies are always hiring.
As far as your dad is concerned, try working into the conversation sometime about what it would be like working for religious (not fanatical) muslims here. Pose it as a question while watching the news when they do a story about muslim businesses in Iraq or whatever. Don't mention anything about teaching or private schools or even your job, it might tip your hand. Your dad will undoubtedly say something that will be nearly identical to what your reasons are for not wanting to work at a private christian school. Hopefully, it will also conatain some kind of statement like "I wouldn't work for them if that was the only business in town."
Sucking it up is fine but it's not always appropriate. If your principles are important enough and you take a thorough look at all the possible outcomes and decide you can survive without taking on a particular job then, there is no reason to take that particular job. If, however, you would find yourself homeless as a result of not taking it, I would suggest looking at it again and see if you couldn't just suck it up. Get hired, don't let on that you're an atheist and you could come out of it with a best selling book, an inside look at xtian private schools of indoctrination. Might want to line up a good psych before you start something like that. If you're like me you'd need one to come out half way normal.
"Erecting the 'wall of separation between church and state,' therefore, is absolutely essential in a free society." Thomas Jefferson
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I was a Maths (I still find it weird how Americans say 'Math') teacher for 2 years in public schools here in Australia. I quit in 2006 because it was 90% babysitting. I love teaching but hate trying to control thirty 14 year olds who know that there's absolutely nothing you can do the punish them when their parents won't back you up.
I'm now a database programmer. The job is easier and the pay significantly better but I feel that I'm not really doing anything important. A job in education would be so much more rewarding but I don't want to go back to the public school system. A friend has suggested I look at private schools.
When I was studying teaching I decided that I would only work in the public school system. It seemed to me that education and religion have opposite goals. One opens minds the other closes them. I'm not so sure any more. I've met too many christians who are more open minded than some atheists. I now think that religion can and has been used to stop people thinking for themselves but it is not always the case. I'm begining to doubt If I can consider it to be even 'often the case'.
I've also been thinking back to my own education. I attended a Catholic school for the last 3 years of highschool. I resented the occasional compulsary masses but really there was no indoctrination. There were religion classes but they were mostly broadly exploring things like values, morals and ethics. Very little of it was specifically Catholic or even theistic. Beliefs were discussed but not forced and we even spent time learning about other religions.
I'm pretty sure most Catholic schools would be like this. I'd have my doubts about some other denominations. The very idea of a school run by baptists still scares me.
Oh, a lesson in not changing history from Mr. I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!
You know what, Fire? Try some private christianic school. If you manage to get through the initial interview, it should be easy, in religional school kids should have more discipline, I hope. Here certainly yes.
You can try the innocent attitude of "I'm just a math teacher, I never thought about God much in my life, is that a problem?" If they need a maths teacher, they should hire one, they want the kids to learn a normal high school maths (equations, power, square root, goniometry, and so on), not a special Biblicalized math, like Junior + Father + Holy ghost = Holy Trinity.
Beings who deserve worship don't demand it. Beings who demand worship don't deserve it.
I did a dictionary search on "christianic" and came up with nothing. No dictionary recognizes it. Then, much to my chagrin, a google search turned up 812,000 hits on the word. A lot of them appear to be connected to the musical artist, Tristitia, who has a song called "Christianic indulgence." She also has a gem called "When Tears Cry."
There's also someone on Youtube named Christianic Shabazz. I didn't click the link because it had the words, "milli freestyle," and that scared me. A lot.
The bulk of the rest of the hits seem to involve "christianic photos" -- warm fuzzy images of Jesus and little children surrounded by deer and bunnies.
There are a few references to "Christianic Christian Counselors" of Edwardsburg, MI. Why they chose to use the word "Christianic" before Christian is a puzzle to me.
I was comforted when I found that approximately 800,000 of the hits for "christianic" were actually hits for "christian" that seemed to be part of google's efforts to figure out just what the hell I might have been looking for, if not Tristitia.
I must conclude, after a good fifteen minutes of incredibly dull internet research, that "christianic" is not a word. I think you meant to say, "Christian school."
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
You caught my interest with the name Christianic Shabazz. Shabazz is the family name for Malcolm X, a black muslim so when you add the name Christianic in front of a black muslim name I couldn't resist looking it up.
He is a no talent rapper from Cleaveland Oh, he does not mention Malcolm and I do not believe he is a relative. I must admit that I liked the movie Malcolm X with Denzel Washington yet I must admit that I did not see the first nine Malcolm movies.
"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."
VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"
If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?
Maybe it's an ideologic problem - thou shalt not show that you understand a sentence which was incorrectly written, instead have a great diffculties and then complain a lot.
Well, you see, I'd need a job in USA too, to learn the speech.
Beings who deserve worship don't demand it. Beings who demand worship don't deserve it.
"Anyone can repress a woman, but you need 'dictated' scriptures to feel you're really right in repressing her. In the same way, homophobes thrive everywhere. But you must feel you've got scripture on your side to come up with the tedious 'Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve' style arguments instead of just recognising that some people are different." - Douglas Murray
Et'z ahlzo varee wll knwn tht ppl hwo lern 2 uz langwedge korektly R perseev'd az mor intllgnt thn ppl hoo dunt tayk thuh tIme 2 eckspres themslvs clrly. U R wll knwn 4 blving NEthing SEW lng azz itz neet-O sownding. Nawt knwng basik EEnglsh iZ jst nther strkke agnst U.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
Lie, God will forgive you.
Is it scarey to admit that I could read and understand that!?!
How goes the hunt ??
no, not really. The problem is, the individual it was directed towards is quite possibly the only one who didn't get it.
Vote for McCain... www.therealmccain.com ...and he'll bring Jesus back
Beings who deserve worship don't demand it. Beings who demand worship don't deserve it.